So, I live in AZ, in Tucson to be exact, where its hot. Two days ago I went 4x4'ing on some BLM land in the hot desert. Two days ago, when it was really hot, I forgot to check my coolant levels (my best guess), and two days ago I blew a radiator hose (I'm pretty sure steam pressure built up in the system because heat couldn't be expelled fast enough causing the hose to blow off) while climbing a fairly steep trail full of loose rocks. Obviously most of my coolant ended up on the desert floor. Long story short, I had to slide backwards down the trail, a bit nerve racking at times, and then limp about 1000 feet at a time to the nearest gas station, to prevent overheating, (which, of course, was conveniently out of coolant, and didn't carry distilled water) so that I could put drinking water into my cooling system, so that today I could drain the whole thing and fill it properly. By the way, its super maddening to try and reattach a radiator hose with a pair of needle nose pliers--I also left my wrenches out of the truck that day... Trip included, I wasted about 6 hours of my time because I didn't check the levels. Learn from my mistakes--I frequently make lots so that other people don't have to. On a side note, I was sure to flush out my radiator and refill it with Dex-Cool like these forums suggest

 

dexcool... Noooooooooooooooooo

 

Not Dexcool........

 

Dexcool is fine. It just needs to be changed regularly, not on the "extended" interval that it suggests.

If you test strip your coolant (pH) and change it when it gets to 6 or so you'll be fine regardless of what you put in. The Dexcool issue is that it rapidly degrades into an acidic solution in the presence of air. Change it before then and it won't harm anything.

All antifreeze will turn acidic over time. Dexcool is just particularly bad about it, which is why I avoid it. But fresh out of the jug it's not going to hurt anything.

 

also make sure no one ever tops it off with anything other than dexcool

 

Haha, I didn't actually fill it with Dex-Cool, it was the green stuff.

 

Courious, did you have the original, spring-type hose clamp or a screw-type hose clamp on the hose that came off?

 

Those awful spring-type clamps, which is why trying to use needle nose pliers sucked so much.