Historically the Number ONE reason for vehicle breakdown regardless of Make or Model is due to Cooling System failure. This is even more the case with today's hitech cars and trucks. With the advent of bimetal engines along with plastics playing a larger and larger role in modern engine design keeping your engine cool has never been more important. While a nominal amount of heat is required for any combustion engine to run efficiently it is also true that too much heat is a far more common problem. Most engine problems are due to excess heat, not excess cold. Logic would therefore suggest that a balanced heat zone of operation is called for. Not too cold, not too hot. Everything from metallurgy to environmental concerns are addressed in such equations. Compromises are made between automotive engineers and government bureaucrats. Such compromises are not always made in the consumer's best interests.
Cool Tip #1
Consider replacing your hot OE Thermostat with a mid-range thermostat-preferably 180 degrees. OE OBD2 goes into closed loop at 170 degrees. All on board electronics are go. Sludge typically begins to boil off when engine coolant reaches 125 degrees so there is no reason to be concerned about combustion buildup. A 180 stat is just right. Not too hot, not too cold. With this simple modification there will be an overall performance gain from the increased mass flow rate of intake air and a reduction in your engine's tendency to detonate. Cooler air has more oxygen in it. Your engine will breathe and burn better. A real hp and torq gain. OBD2 will adjust. Aftermarket modifications to OBD2 allow for even lower temperature operation. Hot rodders and performance enthusiasts already know this. For a variety of reasons I prefer to stay close to stock in my every-day vehicle (96 Tahoe 2 WD 4 DR Vortec 350) and use a mid-range temperature compromise. My Tahoe now has over 100,000 miles on it and it runs like new. It still gets 20 MPG @ 70 MPH on the highway. I do not need to add any oil between extended interval oil changes-twice a year. I have not had to replace any gaskets. All I have done to keep my Tahoe running like new is to use Mobil 1 5W30 and various other synthetics including ATF, BF, PSF, etc., along with a K&N Air Filter in the stock box. I installed new Delco Platinum OE plugs and BWD Select ignition wires at the 100,000 milepost. I cannot tell the difference today in my Tahoe's performance from the day I drove it off the Dealer's lot nearly 8 years ago. I also change out my 5 year coolant every other year. I am looking forward to putting another 100,000 miles on my Tahoe.
Cool Tip #2
You might want to drill a small hole in the top of your new thermostat. This small hole will allow an air (combustion gas) block to pass through when the thermostat is closed so that the stat can then function properly. An air block can cause unexplained overheating that can then lead to a misdiagnosis by the best of mechanics. An air block can cause damage to your engine. If you prefer you can buy a predrilled 180 degrees thermostat such as that sold by Hypertech. There are other brands with said hole as well. With some you will need to pull a temporary plug to enable the flo-thru function. Or you can create a super thermostat by drilling said hole in a FailSafe Thermostat-unless of course it already has one. This small hole (no larger than 1/8") will still allow your vehicle to reach the proper operating temperature zone while also providing reduced wear on the thermostat as it doesn't need to open as frequently. The small hole will also act as a safety valve in case your thermostat should stick in a closed position. FailSafe thermostats fail in an open position. Too large a hole will cause your engine to take too long to reach its optimum operating temperature zone. Air passes through a very small hole. If you regularly drive your vehicle less than 5 miles then I suggest a Sunday drive once a month to keep your engine relatively clean inside. Synthetic oil also helps with internal engine cleanliness.
Cool Tip #3
Stick with the type of Coolant recommended by the manufacturer of your vehicle. Do Not Mix Orange with Green, nor Green with Orange. Where you might want to deviate from industry advice is in the interval between coolant changes. Regardless of which type of coolant your vehicile uses-change the coolant at least every other year regardless of miles. In severe duty cases you may need to go to even shorter intervals. Do you pull a trailer? Do you do a lot of stop and go driving? Do you make a lot of short trips? Then yours is severe duty use. So called long-life coolants sometimes fail prematurely in a variety of ways and for a variety of reasons. Such coolant failure can lead to corrosion and the destruction of gaskets, etc. Coolant failure is a hidden cancer that can slowly or suddenly cost you thousands of dollars in repair costs. A leaking intake gasket can ruin an engine. Warped plastic is all too common. Why gamble? Change out your old coolant at least every other year! Some people simply drain their radiators every year and refill them with a 50/50 mix of coolant and distilled water. Rather than making a complete coolant change every other year this annual partial coolant change effectively changes out all of the coolant every other year with a lot less work. This is what I do. Of course purists would never make such a compromise. Coolant system flushes can sometimes cause leaks.
Cool Tip #4
You might also consider switching to synthetic oil unless you have a high mileage vehicle-75,000 mles or so. Synthectic oil will clean up your engine and can possibly expose a damaged or worn seal that was insulated by sludge. If you have changed your oil regularly you can probably switch to synthetic with no problems and all the benefits of synthetic oil. Among other things engine oil acts as a coolant for such vital parts as the bearings, crankshaft, and timing gears. Synthetics do a better job of cooling the lower engine than dino oil. Any of the major brands are quite good. Mobil, Castrol, Valvoline, Quaker, Pennzoil, Havoline, Super Tech, etc. plus any of the lesser known but possibly superior brands such as Amsoil, Redline, and LE-Lubrication Engineers head a long list of synthetic alternatives to conventional oil. Synthetic purists may want to stay with Mobil, Redline, or Amsoil and possibly LE as they use PAO as their basestock and most of the others have started using hydroprocessed mineral oil as theirs. PAO costs the manufacturers about three times as much to proce$$ as does hydoproccessing mineral oil. Synthetics are superior in every way to conventional oils. The hydroprocessed kinds are superior to conventional oil as well. Castrol led the way with the use of cheaper basestocks in their synthetic formula. Mobil sued Castrol over the definition of synthetic but Castrol won. Our Judicial system is the best money can buy. In Europe non-PAO basestock oils are not recognized as synthetic oils. PAO synthetics dissipate heat better than any other kind of oil. Hotspots do not get as hot. Mobil 1 Synthetic is factory fill in Corvettes, all AMG Mercedes-Benz, all Porshes, Dodge Vipers, Mustang Cobras, and Aston Martins. Mobil 1 is also the oil of choice with NASCAR. I use Mobil 1. I prefer diamonds to zirconia.
Cool Tip #5
Buy a white car. A light colored car runs cooler than a dark colored car. My Tahoe is light beige metallic. My little hot rod is white. My wife's Suzuki Grand Vitara is white. Contrary to popular myth, White is the lowest maintenance color. White can be set off with tinted windows, gray interiors, black wall tires, and black or other color trim features. Statistics have shown that light colored cars are less likely to be involved in accidents than dark colored cars of the same make. For a variety of reasons Silver and then White vehicles are the most visible to other drivers. I prefer White because it covers a multitude of sins better than any other color. Light colored metallics are prone to mottle-bleeding of the metallic during the painting process. A painting defect not limited to GM. I have seen 100 thousand dollar Mercedes and BMW's and their Japaneese counterparts that were mottled. Knowing how to read paint my Tahoe's paint job is nearly flawless. I had to go to more than one dealership. Metallics are also much harder to match than White in a repair or touch up. Of course the metallics are beautiful and there are some great paint jobs out there from every manufacturer. You just have to take a good look. Mottling can be described as a cloudiness or haziness in the paint. It can't be taken out. It can only be ignored or repaired. White is easier and cooler.
DD
Hot Tips 4 Being Cool!
