Date:         Tue, 18 Mar 1997 02:22:10 -0600 (CST)
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         Austin <austins@ix.netcom.com>
Subject:      Re: Antifreeze Propblem Solved

At 01:25 AM 3/17/97 -0600, you wrote:

>>It is highly possible we have some "newer"
>>stuff here in the Houston area as about 99% of all this mess is made
>>within shouting distance of the Houston Ship Channel. The coolant I
>>investigated was supposed to last 7 years or 70,000 miles with no
>
>That is clearly different than the "460" Prestone I have here.  4 years, 60K
>miles.
>
>Regards,
>Jim Davis
>

Hi volks...

The (orange) Prestone I've switched to is listed as 5/100 (!) - 5 years,
100k miles; states on the container that it is "silicate and phosphate free;
add to any antifreeze including DEX-COOL" (which is GM's in-house anti-freeze).

As an aside - I've been doing a long term coolant and power steering change
as follows;  every 3/4 thou I suck the pressure & expansion tanks dry &
refill them with new pre-mix (5/100 above - takes almost 1 gal. to fill both
tanks).  I realize I'll never attain 100% fresh coolant, but you never do
anyway with the 'factory' procedure, plus I never have to worry about
bleeding/bubbles/accidental overheating (& I'm not concerned ref. flushing
as I wouldn't run caustic cleaners in any case).  As I wrote I've also been
doing the power steering the same way; first time I replaced the filter &
O-ring, & I've been using Valvoline semi-synthetic to refill the resevoir.
(sucker pumps are @ FLAPs for ~ $5-6).

Any comments - ie, am I doing something *really* stoopid; seems to be
working so far.....

Austin