Coolant System Additives and Cooling Issues, Help.

[GS70350]

OK Guys, i got some questions for ya. I am having some cooling system problems, where when i sit in traffic, at lights iin the daytime, 90 deg. +, my coolant temperature will rise to about 180, maybe even higher, unless i get up to speed, about 45 mph, for about 1 minute, and it cools back down to about 165 by then. when i turn on the high speed fan, it will also bring down the temps, but not as quickly, it usually runs around 170 in town, which is when the low speed fan setting kicks in. NOW, I have found some things that look to be missing on my car, such as a under the radiator air deflector of some sort, to keep hot air from rising from the ground to the radiator, or to keep air from the grille from going under the radiator, also, im missing deflectors on the side of the grille, to channel air to the radiator, and im missing a deflector above the radiator on the header panel, which looks like there used to be one there, connected to studs in the header panel and some bolt holes in the radiator support. Where can i get these and will they help any? alot of air could go up and over the radiator from the looks of it. Another thing, is, coolant additives, like, redline water wetter, and RMI-25. or that pro-blend stuff that cools by 28*, and is 1 gallon. What works, and how well does it work. i tried the redline stuff, and havent noticed a bit of difference in coolant temperature. not a bit. im puttin on a front mount, so i need all the cooling help i can get. thanks guys,

oh and 1 more thing, if my radiator is about 2 inches low on coolant from the top of the radiator when not flowing, will this cause it? thanks

 

[Nick Micale]

You have asked lots of questions but given little info?

An '87 motor in a 1984 Regal, what radiator and condition? What fan? You already stated the baffeling is missing like an '87 and that is needed.

Generally, and '87 GN with RMI-25 and water, known good radiator, baffles in place, stock fan working properly should see temps less than 200 degrees with A/C on a 100+ day. Also a stock location I/C.

Start at the begining and finish the conversion to '87. If the radiator is unknown condition, replace it. As I said, stock stuff works fine when all in place. Radiators do wear out so if it is not recent, should replace it. It is only protecting the engine and trans, not a place to cut $$$.

 

[GS70350]

i have everything done from a 87. 87 radiator, 87 cooling fan, but id ont have the baffles, where can i get them? i have NEVER seen it get to 200 before, even with the AC on in the middle of august. I saw it hit 190 before pulling a 3 mile hill with the AC on, but thats as hot as it gets. Im not using the Oil cooler in the radiator. I have a fairly large transmission cooler that covers up most of the radiator as well. Radiator seems to be in OK condition, flows lots of coolant, more than any other car ive seen, it has some corrosion, but the tubes arent blocked at all.

So, looks like i need some baffles and RMI-25 you think?
where can i get the baffles, or should i make em myself

thanks Nick

 

[Steve Wood]

Your car is not that hot but I suspect it will get that way if you get stuck in bad traffic on a truly hot day.

If you cannot find the baffles, ATR sells a kit to box in the front of the radiator with sheet metal. One of my cars was missing most of the pieces so I installed the ATR pieces and it dropped the temperature substantially.

RMI-25 is head and shoulders above the others which are only surfacants.

 

[Gn-Krazzie]

I just got my temp sender installed ( thanks to many for their guidence ) and i am finding temps avg. around 190 deg. F.
Is this about normal or is it high. My car is a 1986 GN mostly stock, stock origional radiator. When i look into the rad cap opening i see some scale on the tubes. I tried a rad Flush with Preston super Flush. Can you say waist of money !!!! Nadda drop of sludge came out ??

 

[Steve Wood]

Depends on how hot it is outside, etc. Stock radiators probably are down to about 40% efficiency by now. Ain't nothing gonna get the tubes open other than opening the radiator and having the tubes rodded out. BUT, that is largely a waste of money as the fin to tube bond is deteriorating and the water flow may be restored but the heat exchange efficiency will still be way downdue to the poor connection between the fins and tubes.

 

[Gn-Krazzie]

Sorry what exactly is rodding out ??? not being a rad guy

 

[GS70350]

Cool, im gonna be searching for some baffles now. Do regular regals have the same baffles? or is it only on the turbo cars. if i cant find any ill buy the ATR kit, looks nice to me. i think i might take my car down to a radiator shop and see if i can get it recored. OR, is there a car in the junkyard, a newer model car, like camaros or something, that may have a lightweight aluminum radiator, that fits perfect and cools well? i might go for this as well. thanks guys
Jacob Morse

 

[motorhead]

Originally posted by Gn-Krazzie
Sorry what exactly is rodding out ??? not being a rad guy

It is like a pipe cleaner going down your urethra to clean out the gunk. Basically it is used to remove blockages & sediment from the cores.

And to GS70350: low coolant is a baaaaaad thing. Take a minute and fill it up with water.

Personally, I am doing my cooling system tonight (already has coolant and water in the rad and lower block) and I'll be adding Water Wetter (much success with the SS), and some more H20 straight out of the garden hose.

As for the baffles... I took mine out. Many G-bodies survive with larger engines without. I have a custom 3 core re-cored stock rad in place and I live in Canada... so this is my justification. If this doesn't work out... I'll just put them back in place.

HTH,

 

[BLACK6PACK]

I've heard Redline water wetter called barnical builder, meaning it will get nasty in there in no time.

 

[motorhead]

Originally posted by BLACK6PACK
I've heard Redline water wetter called barnical builder, meaning it will get nasty in there in no time.

And here I thought that it was just dyed and repackaged RMI 25.

I doubt that the product would have lasted this long if it were a "clogger"... maybe coupled with "rad stop leak" I could see some wacky adhesion & junk collection properties.

Who knows.

 

[BLACK6PACK]

I have redline water wetter in my car, but when I tell several of the gurus around here I get that comment.

 

[schifty6]

Redline water wetter will drop your temps (dropped mine about 10*)......however, Black6pack is right by calling it 'barnicale builder'!! That it is... and in short order too! Use RMI-25 and get the best of both worlds

HTH

 

[dpok69]

i have a stock radiator. My avg temps are between 190-200 now on a 90 deg day in traffic. i think my radiator is running cooler than last year since i did some rad maintence.

Maintanence:
When i pulled off my rad cap and drained the coolant i saw green crustacions by the tubes. i used prestones radiator flush. All it did was take some slime of the radiator, like it was degreased. Crustacions were still there. After the flush i put RMI 25 and water out of a hose. On june 23 it will make a month since i did this.

In the directions it says to do another flush after a month and put RMI in again. this time i will be using distilled water. i did lift the radiator cap off last week. All i saw was a lot of sediment floating in there. That's the work of RMI 25, it keeps pollutants in suspension and dissolves the crustacions.

So when i do my rad flush again i am hoping to see a big drop in temps, as the sediments will be flushed out.

My baffles are very "flappy" and flimsy. It is a good idea to go with the atr units, i will probably go that route for more airflow. they also sell a intercooler air shield also that prevents rad heat from getting into the intercooler. It came with my car.

The best thing IMO, is to get a high effieciency core from CAS (180?).

 

[Gn-Krazzie]

So are you saying dat RMI 25 is der Vunder Drug for my Rad. Will it really clean up the scale???....I know this is off the wall......has anyone ever run say a couple of ounzes of CLR as a de-scaler then flush.

 

[Steve Wood]

There is no comparison between RMI-25 and Water Wetter other than the fact that both contain a surfactant.

Water Wetter has very little lubricant in it and besides allowing rust to form, it will hasten the demise of the water pump when used with pure water.

RMI-25 has the surfactant plus a strong lubricant package, some cleaner, and, when used with antifreeze, prevents the deposits that precipitate out of antifreeze and clog the radiator tubes. It was developed for long haul truckers that don't want to have to replace their cooling systems frequently.

I suspect a couple of drops of Cascade dish washing soap would work about as well as Water Wetter.

 

[dpok69]

Well i can tell you if its the creme de la crop , by the end of this month when i drain the old stuff out. If the crustacion issue has not been reduced, or no positive results have occured then i just blew only 28$(i think) on the 1 quart bottle of RMI, that is enough for three treatments. I figure i would try this stuff out before getting a new core.

 

[Steve Wood]

Originally posted by Gn-Krazzie
So are you saying dat RMI 25 is der Vunder Drug for my Rad. Will it really clean up the scale???....I know this is off the wall......has anyone ever run say a couple of ounzes of CLR as a de-scaler then flush.

It's primary function is not as a cleaner. It will remove some of the softer slime and maintain it in solution. Ain't nothing going to take the hard stuff out that will leave the tubes behind.

Call Nick Micale and get a new hd core or exchange radiators if he has a complete one in stock.

 

[Nick Micale]

Originally posted by Gn-Krazzie
So are you saying dat RMI 25 is der Vunder Drug for my Rad. Will it really clean up the scale???....I know this is off the wall......has anyone ever run say a couple of ounzes of CLR as a de-scaler then flush.

Jim, you must be new to the Buick world if you do not know about RMI-25?

It IS a "wonder drug" for your radiator. Nothing else will do as good a job of keeping it clean and the system corrosive free. That is if you follow the recommended maintenance program. If you have an original radiator or one that is plugged, get a new one.
Rodding an old radiator is a waste of money. We are talking here about the first line of protection for your engine and transmission , so it would be the smart thing to do it right. There are many users, and many years of use, of RMI to attest to its excellent performance.

Someone mentioned using Prestone cleaner? It will take about 2 years to then remove the foaming from the system. For about $13 a year worth of RMI and a couple hours work, your cooling system can be trouble-free and efficient.

And yes, CLR has been tried, save your $$$ and don't.

 

[Gn-Krazzie]

Nick i have seen lots of posts that mention it. I am way up Canada so i was just exploring my options. I am on a bit of a limited budget at the moment have other financial commitments . Belive me if i had the extra cash i would be throwing tons of cash at my Gn. If i ordered every little nick nack that i saw on here the brokerage charges would put me in the poor house. Thanks for the good info