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DO NEWER ALUMIN ENGINES NEED A SPECIAL ANTIFREEZE

Heres what I need help with, I have to replace the thremosat in my 91 Ford Crown Vic, it is a 5.0 V-8, so I will lose some of the antifreeze as I want to change it any way I belive the engine block and heads and all other engine parts are made from Alumin (sorry cant spell that) As opposed to a good old 390, where every thing is real metal and good old iron. Do newer cars need a speical antifreeze as opposed to the old yellow or green color antifreeze......Thanks in advnce.....Da Nut.

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DO NEWER ALUMIN ENGINES NEED A SPECIAL ANTIFREEZE

I can't think of any common antifreeze formulation that doesn't work with aluminum. Some are better than others with aluminum, some have better anti-corrosion properties.

 

If you have your owners manual look up the recommended antifreeze, if you don't go online and search for the recommended antifreeze for your engine/car.

 

If I need to top off my pickup, I use the recommended antifreeze for my 2017 Duramaxx, which is aluminum. Have the antifreeze, but it hasn't required adding any and shouldn't at 7K miles.

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DO NEWER ALUMIN ENGINES NEED A SPECIAL ANTIFREEZE

I had mine done. My '03 Grand Prix was over heating, couple months back. Anifreeze had turned to the colour, smell, and taste, of diarhea. Flush, chemical, soaking, flush, fill, clean all fins, new rad cap, thermostat.

Spark plugs at the same time.

Doesn't it run a heck of a lot better. Idiot guage says it even runs a tad cooler, yet, heat coming out of the vents is a lot hotter.

The place that did the work, sold me the car, three years ago. Bruce believes in maintenance, not buying a new car to avoid doing maintenance: "The depreciation they lose" he says shaking his head.

If ya really want to be sure, pester a Ford dealership service dept and see what they say. They should see lots of old folks bringing in "ole Betsy" all the time. 

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DO NEWER ALUMIN ENGINES NEED A SPECIAL ANTIFREEZE


@mr.elmwood wrote:

I had mine done. My '03 Grand Prix was over heating, couple months back. Anifreeze had turned to the colour, smell, and taste, of diarhea. Flush, chemical, soaking, flush, fill, clean all fins, new rad cap, thermostat.

Spark plugs at the same time.

Doesn't it run a heck of a lot better. Idiot guage says it even runs a tad cooler, yet, heat coming out of the vents is a lot hotter.

The place that did the work, sold me the car, three years ago. Bruce believes in maintenance, not buying a new car to avoid doing maintenance: "The depreciation they lose" he says shaking his head.

If ya really want to be sure, pester a Ford dealership service dept and see what they say. They should see lots of old folks bringing in "ole Betsy" all the time. 


Funny you said that your antifreeze had turned to the color of poo, that is exactly what has happened to mine, this week out of the blue it got hot really fast, even in August with the A/C on in stop and go traffic it never even came close to half way. Well Tuesday had went to the food store, 4 miles away, came out and headed home,  by the first stop light it pegged to  a solid one half, it was only 45 degrees out pulled in the drive way to unlock the gate, it smelled hot, now pegged to 3/4 it was dark so I could not check any thing.

                       Nexted day radiator was 9 inches down, it is a side radiator, took a full gallon. started the car up let it run in place for 20 min, still a 60 degree day again pegged at 3/4 right quick and was smelling hot anti f. looked like poo. I was thinking blown head gasket, I always think the worst. talked to a few car buddies, they were thinking defective thermostat, It most likely has a 195 in it could of been in there since 1991, thinking of putting a 180 in it. that would be easier to fix and a $10.00 fix in parts. what do you guys think, it only has 42,000 orginal miles and is a EFI engine 5.0...thanks in advance for any input...Da Nut

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DO NEWER ALUMIN ENGINES NEED A SPECIAL ANTIFREEZE

My guy, Bruce, just shrugged his shoulders and said "It gets old". I would do a proper flush, cleanse, fill. 

Mileage ain't got poo to do with it.

I too thought I had a head problem. I was sweating as much as the engine. It would get hot going to the liquor store and back, a mile. The whole over heating came on just like that. 

 

26 years of poo in the system? Time for a flush. 

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DO NEWER ALUMIN ENGINES NEED A SPECIAL ANTIFREEZE

@mr.elmwoodI hate to be a bummer, Elmwinkle, but I still say that yer head gasket is on borrowed time. That's the way it goes with GM products. The signs are subtle at first. Next, even after all of the maintenance, she'll start running hot again.... Next, you'll be changing the water pump.... She'll likely never show the white smoke, nor coolant in the oil.... That's why a lot of people buy a GM car that already has a blown head gasket, and don't even realize it, until it's always over-heating, and nothing cures it.

 

Hope I'm wrong, but I've seen it SO many times.  Even the mere mention of cooling system work  on a GM car makes me run!

Message 6 of 19
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DO NEWER ALUMIN ENGINES NEED A SPECIAL ANTIFREEZE

I Googled 3.8L head gasket. All I got was Ford problems.

 

Armchair mechanics. PHHHT

Message 7 of 19
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DO NEWER ALUMIN ENGINES NEED A SPECIAL ANTIFREEZE

Mr. E. did you forget to use the Canukistanian-to-Engrish translator?

 

Lookie here:

https://www.google.com/search?source=hp&ei=prr0WcL9M4zGjwSwvpjACA&q=3.8L+pontiac+head+gasket+issues&...

 

Although intake manifold gaskets are even more common on them injuns....and can do just as much damage, and in-turn make the head gaskets croak, too.

 

Keep an eye on her; if she ain't runnin' at the proper temp....there's a problem.

Message 8 of 19
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DO NEWER ALUMIN ENGINES NEED A SPECIAL ANTIFREEZE

I know the difference between crud antifreeze, and when oil is mixed in. 

Message 9 of 19
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DO NEWER ALUMIN ENGINES NEED A SPECIAL ANTIFREEZE

Yeah, but like I said, with GM (and many modern engines) there is rarely actually any cross contamination- at least with the head gaskets. Very rarely get the white smoke either.

 

If yer car's running at normal temps, then fine- but if she runs hot, I tells ya, you know where to look.

Message 10 of 19
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DO NEWER ALUMIN ENGINES NEED A SPECIAL ANTIFREEZE

I drive and have driven Fords for pretty much the past 20 years. No matter the engine I use plain across the counter green anti-freeze and have never had a problem with it on anything.

 

Now if you go to the Ford manuals you will find that according to Ford there's about a dozen different anti-freezes; each for a specific application. Bunk IMO.

 

And my current and recent past Lincolns with the 4.6 have the aluminum block and heads. Current ride at near 300k miles and the past ride at 250k miles until a moron ran a red light. No issues with either one.

Message 11 of 19
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DO NEWER ALUMIN ENGINES NEED A SPECIAL ANTIFREEZE

, Rip.

 

Last Ford: 300K miles 4.6 still ran like new when sold.

2 current Fords: 5.4 & a 6.8, 153K & 180K respectively.

 

Never use anything but plain old green stuff.

 

I have a suspicion that a lot of the Hershy's-colored stuff is a result of mixing the various "flavors" or of using the kind which touts: "Can be mixed with any color anti-freeze".

Message 12 of 19
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DO NEWER ALUMIN ENGINES NEED A SPECIAL ANTIFREEZE

That last post was supposed to start out with "Me too, Rip", but apparently, Ebay ate the first part.....

Message 13 of 19
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DO NEWER ALUMIN ENGINES NEED A SPECIAL ANTIFREEZE

Newer cars with aluminum blocks typically are shipped with organic acid (OA) antifreeze like Dex-Cool, instead of glycol-based "green stuff." OA coolant can be used for more miles between services than glycol and doesn't need to be watered down or tested for strength.

 

You can use either type in any car. There are two things you must never do, though!

 

1: Don't ever mix the two, even a little. The result is a sandy sludge that will accumulate in your engine and radiator and impair the cooling system, making your engine run hotter until something fails. And don't "water down" OA coolant like you do with glycol. If you switch from one to the other, flush the system very thoroughly; do not simply drain the old coolant and then top off with the new stuff.

 

2: Don't ever let your system run low. When an OA system runs low on coolant, pure water can come into contact with iron parts in your engine, causing them to corrode and spread damaging "toxins" through your car's cooling system. Running an OA system for too long without enough coolant can result in very expensive repairs. Make sure your surge tank is always filled above the "min" line, and check your radiator cap (when it's cold!) every couple months to make sure that it's functioning properly.

 

 That "poo color" is almost always the result of someone mixing glycol and OA accidentally.

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DO NEWER ALUMIN ENGINES NEED A SPECIAL ANTIFREEZE

I had myself convinced it was something like the above, but, the PO owns the local auto parts store. I have met the guy as I buy parts from him, so, he is not a dumb guy. 

Bruce just said "Nah, the stuff just gets old and goes like that". My bad for not having looked earlier. 

Still, it tasted like diarhea and oil and water doesn't.

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