Coolant Replenisher

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We just had a posting on a Subaru radiator treatment chemical that turns out to be a "stop leak" type product. However, I was thinking of what a person could do to make sure the chemicals are up to date in a coolant. I usually go 5 years between changes with long life coolant. I suppose if I was worried I could also Turkey Bast the coolant tank, removing say, a quart to 1/2 gallon of coolant and replace it with fresh mixed coolant. That would ensure around 5 to 10% of fresh coolant in the cooling system once a year or so. I also came across a "replenish" additive with or without a "stop leak" from Prestone. Does anyone use either one of these strategies?

SF
 
i think most people who want to do a more periodic and continual service would just drain their radiator and refill, which most bang for your elbow grease buck; and is simpler than the full fluid change that has to get further engine petcocks and burping air bubbles.

Depends on the vehicle
 
You can buy coolant test strips. They test for a few conditions. The bummer is you typically have to buy a container of 25 and they have a shelf life of a year or two.

I go to the Ford dealer and he has given me one or two. For my Powerstroke they indicate if I should add the Ford coolant replenish additive. Its specific to the coolant used by diesel engines.

Most people just do a drain and fill every few years. With extended life coolant that should be fine.
 
There's such a thing as a coolant "replenisher" but it's a heavy-duty truck thing. A mechanic or driver checks the coolant chemistry and adds a replenisher to keep the additives fresh.

In a passenger car, I think periodically draining a gallon and refilling with the same coolant does a world of good.
 
With subaru's horizontally opposed engines you really dont want to cheap out on the antifreeze.
 
Personally, I wouldn't worry about it at all as long as you're doing 5 year drain/refill.

If you want to go the periodic replenishment route, add on a bypass filter. Not only are you removing crud, but every time you change the filter you'll add some fresh coolant. Change the filter once a year, and send off a coolant sample for analysis when you drain it at the 5 year mark to see how you're doing.

Is that huge overkill? Sure. Interesting project that'll give you some valuable insight into how well your coolant is lasting? Absolutely.

I guess it all boils down to how far you want to go.
 
Those extended life coolants can easily go for five years or 150,000 miles and I would bet that they can actually go another year or 2 beyond that. If you remove the lower hose from the radiator you might get 40 to 50 % of the old coolant out, maybe do it again in after a few months and you would probably be at about 70 to 80% new coolant which would be more than ample. The coolant flush machines found at many shops can purge about 80-90% of the old coolant out, but they charge a hefty price to do so. I would just do a drain N fill and be done with it for another 5 yrs or 150K. The only thing is that around here there are only 2 or 3 shops left that want to take old antifreeze. Almost any shop or auto part store will take used oil, but even the county recycler does not want used antifreeze. For that reason I prefer to pay a shop to do it, just because then I dont have to hunt down a shop to take the stuff.
 
I drain the rad once. Fill with distilled water. Drive around with the heat on. Let cool, drain again, then fill the rad with an amount of straight Antifreeze equal to half the cooling system . I then mix up a 50/50 mixture, top up, then top up again after driving around to remove any air. Usually end up with more than 50 % anti freeze, which I like. I end up with a mixture of original anti freeze plus diluted anti freeze equal to more than the theoretical cooling system volume. A local quick change takes it.

I guess I’m degressing from the original post.

SF
 
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For my vehicles without drain plugs I was thinking of buying a pair of those flat pinch-off vice grips for about $40. I also have an extra large catch pan I use just for anti freeze.
 
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