Have a very weird problem...

[ions]

I come home today and my uncle (drunk) tells me he "accidently" put Radiator Coolant/Antifreeze in my "Radiator Coolant Only" tub...why he did this i dont know he told me he drained what was in there in a 2 gallon tub and put that in my moms flower garden and filled it back up with some Radiator Coolant/Antifreeze stuff he found in my dads workshead i have since found the stuff he put in there it is "Peak Antifreeze & Coolant" i have yet to heat the truck up before i asked if this would harm my truck in any way? should i go get the system flushed or am i ok? thanks for the help.

 

[jimbo74]

peak is a brand name? if he put coolant in your truck, then there is no problem... if it is the gm dexcool stuff and not what your truck had in it, then you must drain and refill the whole system... they really dont mix well becasue something in the regular coolant breaks down some of the dexcool stuff, but it really isnt much and not going to huret anyhting... if all it is is your overflow tank, then jsut drain it and fill it with the regualr stuff...

 

[Glacier991]

Antifreeze IS the same as "coolant". Peak is a brand name. If I bought a jug of peak "antifreeze" and poured it into the "coolant overflow" part of the car, the car gods would smile. If I am understanding you correctly, nothing at all in the world is wrong there. relax.

 

[ions]

Yea its PEAK Antifreeze and Coolant i wasnt sure if this would mess anything up since the cap says "Radiator Fluid ONLY" i think he was trying to help me out cause i told my dad i would probably need a system flush cause the stuff that was in there was kinda sludgey. I will probably still get a flush even tho he put the stuff in there and it will not harm it in anyway hopefully as far as i know its just regular coolant/antifreeze.

Thanks.

 

[Glacier991]

yeah well "radiator fluid" is the same as antifreeze is the same as water is the same as peak. He maybe DID do you a favor. I'd thank him and let him know that what he did was perfectly ok. If you have some sludge flush it and refill with 50/50 antifreeeze/water <peak is a good brand> .... my suggestion is to flush it, drain the radiator... add a gallon of pure antifreeze and top up with a 50/50 mix....the water left in the system will make the gallon you add 50/50 (or close).

No such animal in the auto stores as "radiator fluid".. like I said, relax... and THANK your uncle. Sounds like a caring nice guy to me, helpin you out..

 

[ruzztec]

I have to agree, your fine I dont even mix with water i go 100% coolant and 70,000 miles its all good

 

[Glacier991]

Actually, with all due respect, 50/50 is best.

 

[prozachappy]

I agree...You never want to run a rich coolant mix ! 50/50 is optimal...or even a little more water than antifreeze... if you like a cooler engine. Common misconception...people think "Coolant" = cooler, but it is quite the opposite.
To much coolant, and not enough water (rich coolant mix) will cause your engine to run hotter than normal.
If you've ever poured the stuff into a radiator, you no doubt observed that it is much “syrup-i-er” than water. That is, it has a much higher viscosity. This means that it will not flow as fast through the system as water, and the cooling effect will be less.

Further, the specific heat of antifreeze is less than that of water. This means that for a given temperature change, the antifreeze will carry less heat each time it circulates from engine to radiator and back.

So, if the mix is too rich, the cooling efficiency will be reduced because (1) the flow rate is less, and (2) less heat is transferred per cycle of the coolant.

 

[jimbo74]

I have to agree, your fine I dont even mix with water i go 100% coolant and 70,000 miles its all good

in response to what glacier jsut said.. you are not supposed to run just coolant... the reason is it doenst have the water cooling and disipating abilities of water..... if you read the bottle it actually says do not run all coolant! 50/50 is best... 70/30 is acceptable as well.... 100% coolant is not a good thing....