Has anyone used Prestone productslike their Radiator Flush and Coolant? Are they OK?

I've been using Prestone Coolant for several years now.  I replace the radiator coolant in my wife's and my cars every two years as per manufacturer's recommendation (and also as part of a good automobile maintenance program).  Am quite happy with the Prestone Coolant.  No problems whatsoever.  Just make sure that the cooling system of your car is compatible with an ethylene glycol-based solution.

gumamit na ako ng coolant and ok naman sya. wag mo lang ilalagay ng puro. 50:50 dapat with water.

Quote from: 1 bit on April 09, 2004, 04:23:50 PM
gumamit na ako ng coolant and ok naman sya. wag mo lang ilalagay ng puro. 50:50 dapat with water.

Yup the ratio of the water and the concentrate for protection and the resistance of your radiator from heat dapat 50:50

prestone products are good.  make sure when you change your coolant your radiator is cool.  I thought the recomended mixture is 70:30 ratio for tropical climate?

one more thing - use distilled water instead of tap water when you change your coolant

Tnx for your replies.  I flushed my radiator using Prestone radiator flush, then placed coolant at 70:30 ratio. The coolant was 1 liter and the total radiator capacity for my car is 3 liters. So far no problems.

Did you backflush or reverseflush when you replaced your coolant?  If not, just keep your coolant solution of 70:30 handy.  There's a chance that you'll need more of it once the coolant that you already put in your radiator fills up all those air pockets in the cooling system.

Madman,

I don't understand what backflushing and reverse flushing means.   Can you enlighten me on these terms. TY.  

ok naman...no probs here  

Like most people, I have only tried their coolant with a 50:50 mix and I am satisfied with it

Quote from: kennyboy on April 10, 2004, 12:02:56 PM
one more thing - use distilled water instead of tap water when you change your coolant

OT:
i agree. tap water contains minerals and after boiling leaves residues that clog the radiator. this is what the mechanic from denso told me after i had our accord's radiator repaired. better safe than sorry.

Quote from: jaySiR on April 09, 2004, 09:39:37 PM
Yup the ratio of the water and the concentrate for protection and the resistance of your radiator from heat dapat 50:50

actually i think the 50:50 mixture means that the boiling point goes up by 20%. with the coolant you need 20% more heat before it boils so in effect mas malamig takbo mo.

protection of radiator etc etc feeling ko marketing chu chu lang yan... hehehe

Quote from: hatchfan on April 10, 2004, 10:47:18 PM
Madman,

I don't understand what backflushing and reverse flushing means.   Can you enlighten me on these terms. TY.  

Hmmm.  I'm not exactly a guru regarding these things.  Let me see if I can do justice to your question.

Back- or reverse flushing is a maintenance technique by which one is ensured that he is replacing all his coolant the car engine.  When you drain your coolant by opening the stopcock or the lower radiator hose, and replacing it with a new mixture thereafter, you are only replacing the coolant that was in the radiator.  You have to remember that you likewise have coolant in the engine (which is not drained as easily).  So, by replacing the coolant in the radiator, in effect, you are mixing new coolant with old coolant.

I'm not too sure about the specifics, but I think reverse flushing will entail having to disconnect the upper radiator hose and making the coolant go the opposite direction with the engine running.  Another method is by using a "flushing T," a contraption that I have never seen used even by the most experienced mechanics.  

I would have DIYed this reverse flushing thingey but it's actually a little more complicated to the uninitiated (like me).  Probably best done with an experienced mechanic around.

Now, if you just drained your radiator, and filled it up with a new mixture of coolant, you'll have to bear in mind that your engine will not have 100 per cent new coolant.  If you just drained your radiator and allowed the engine to run for a while with your radiator empty, some of the old coolant from the engine may be expelled.

Also, after replacing your coolant, remember that there will be air pockets in your engine and your cooling system that will be refilled with coolant as you run the engine in the ensuing days.  So, don't be surprised to find out that the amount of new coolant in your reservoir gets lower after a while.  Simply add more 50:50 mixture.  I learned this lesson the hard way a few years back.  I replaced my radiator coolant a day before I traveled to Baguio.  On the expressway, I realized I was close to overheating.  I couldn't understand just yet why this would happen as I had changed the coolant only the day before.  I realized later on that the reservoir had gone practically empty.  Because of the constant use of the engine at high rev on the highway, the coolant I had just put had managed to fill up the air pockets.  Which meant I had to put in some more in the reservoir.  Thereafter, I experienced no more problems.

I don't know if I'm making any sense here.  I don't know if I was of help.  Maybe the more knowlegeable guys could help us out?

madman,

AFAIK tama yung mga sinabi mo.

i'm no expert either pero due na for replacement yung radiator ko so i asked for the flushing procedure from a shop that specializes in rads.

dagdag ko lang...

after you flush the coolant and water from the rad, disconnect the big hose in the upper part of your rad. cover the part where you removed the hose, according to the mechanic, effective daw yung rubber na tsinelas (hehehe).
then start the engine, it will expel the coolant and water through the big hose.  you can continue flushing until it ran out of coolant and water or if you want to thoroughly clean the engine and the rad, keep on pouring water in the radiator until you are satisfied.

when you're done, just follow madman's instructions on refilling and pay attention to his reminder about the coolant/water level going down after a day or so.

BTW, use distilled water.  mineral or tap water contains impurities or "minerals" that gets deposited in your rad and engine.

HTH

Experts, kung may mali or kulang pa paki add na lang.