So, most posts on this forum deal with mechanical failure of the cooling system. Lack of coolant, thermostat problems, cracked head or block etc..... How about driving habits that contribute to engine failure?? Long driving distances for 3 or more hours? Driving trails for an hour or so at no faster than 5mph? Or could the constant stop and start of grocery shopping cause the breakdown of over heating? Which scenario would bring about premature gasket failure? What can we do as drivers, mitigate damage other that keep up with the obvious??

 

Just drive and don’t worry. Best thing you can do is not let it overheat by constant ultraguage monitor etc

 

@Tomzsix as to off road I have had to re-learn driving habits after driving a manual transmission for many years. The biggest thing is to put the transmission is the lowest gear you can, I run 2nd often on the trails now, and my temps stay in the 183-197 range all the time. Higher gears lug the transmission,and you have very low rpms almost idle level leading to excessive heat built up.

 

Yep out on the trail manual mode on, 4Lo, 2nd gear & I was running 188-193F easy!

 

Just depends on your motivation.

You can add Water Wetter to your coolant.

You can bypass your thermostat or run an inline thermostat mod.

You can add TurboMaxx to your engine oil, differentials, and transfer case (NOT to transmission, though!).

You can run fresh oil and an oversized oil filter as well as experiment with different oil weights or even synthetic (leaks and knocks!).

You can add a heat sink around your oil filter.

You can add an oil cooler.

You can remove your hood when offroading.

You can vent your front fenders and enlarge your front grill intake area.

You can decrease your sparkplug gap and you can insure that your cats+muffler are free-flowing.

You can port your heads and exhaust headers.

You can install all-metal Cometic headgaskets to withstand higher heat.

You can run factory or smaller wheels+tires at factory ride-height (i.e. not-lifted).

You can lube your driveshafts and install fresh wheel bearings.

You can decrease vehicle weight and roll down your windows to turn off your A/C when driving at slow speeds.

New oil pump and bearings.

Larger radiator.