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Running Warm after Coolant flush

Lishap

Lishap

New member
Ok so about 3 weeks to a month ago i did a coolant flush to try and get the Dex out of my 2004 GP Comp G. Basically what i did was flushed the dex, filled with water drove around with the water, flushed and repeated this about 7-8 times till i found no "mud" under the radiator cap. Then i replaced the coolant with 2 gallons of STP 50/50 mix. drove it around let the coolant warm up then bled the air out of the system by the screw on top of the thermostat. Now i'm seeing that its been running a little warm and fluctuating a lot going between about 195*-230* highway driving (230* happened about 2 times) during this past week and on 1 occasion around town getting up to 237* (been monitoring this all on my Aeroforce). I changed the t-stat about 2 month ago also. I'm going to try and re-bleed the system tonight, should i do anything else? Also i do notice that there is still a slight residue of the orange/brown DEX still at the radiator filler neck/ around the cap, should i be concerned about this?
 


I've ended up filling the block with coolant via the thermostat housing a couple times. Seems easier than trying to get all the air out with the bleeder screw imo... If all the air is out and the temps still read high it could possibly be a bad temp sensor but I doubt it... maybe a bad thermostat since you said you just changed it... I always use the universal coolant so if a little dexcool is left over its not going to gunk up.
 
and to test the thermostat i can have some water on the stove check the temp and make sure the t-stat opens at the correct temp right?
 


Have you checked coolant level lately at the radiator cap? Pull cap off radiator and check level when cold, I bet it's low.
 
I did just top it off more today, will prob do one more flush before the weather really starts to cool down and replace it with the universal stuff.
 
Well after looking around i found out that the coolant was low and found out its the coolant elbow so looks like i have my next project.
 
Does it have the aluminum LIM gaskets on it? If they are black plastic replace them with aluminum gaskets and put on aluminum elbows.

You will never get all the DEX out, there will always be some trace of it when you pull the cap.
 


If you buy off rock auto you can get everything for about 70 bucks. Including the aluminum coolant elbows. I got the fel-pro kit which worked fine but have heard the acdelco one is bettter. both are around the same price.
 
shop on line, find and add discount codes. rock auto, advance auto ect.

you need lower intake manifold gaskets, a upper plenum gasket aka supercharger gasket. new injector O rings are a good idea, and new coolant elbows.

thread sealant for the lim bolts, some rtv for the gasket corners. (flush the old coolant out before you start the lim job) one gallon of straight antifreeze, dump the whole gallon in, top off with water, its all you need, the cheap store brand green stuff is perfect. make sure you dont buy the 50/50 pre mix, its a waste of money.

you can add new tb and t stat o rings or gaskets, (what ever your car takes.)
 


if you take the TB off clean the living daylights out of it.

new T's and vac lines, cause your gonna break a T, its just par for the course. the only T's ive found are the ones at advance auto, its a 2 pack with 2 small white T's for 2 bucks. works perfect.

if your valve covers are leaking, theres no better time then during a lim job to change them.
 
Lishap said:
Alright nice. Anything else i should do while i'm into it?
Click to expand...

Lishap--

Take a flashlight and shine it down into your radiator with the cap off. If your Dexcool was anything like mine, it's far worse than any flush can get out - you'd need to power wash that out. If it's caked in there, it will slowly corrode the aluminum radiator until it eats a few holes in it. No matter how many times I flushed, I kept getting mud at the radiator cap and the coolant slowly got discolored.

I ended up replacing the radiator. It isn't too bad to do - Pull the dogbones off, unhook and unbolt the fans, pull hoses and trans lines, a few more 10mm bolts, it comes right out. Guarantee if you took the rad apart there's more Dexsludge in there that a flush never got out. I recommend the 1" radiator from RockAuto for ~$100 as an upgrade from the stock 3/4".

That'll put an end to 95% of your sludge problem. There may be some residue left over in the block, but the block is iron, not aluminum - Dexsludge won't corrode that, AFAIK.
 
Okay ill def do that hensleya1. And does anyone have the part numbers for the gaskets? having a hard time finding them and search doesn't seem to be cooperating for me. And thanks for answering my questions and everything really appreciate it.
 
Okay so i think i have a list of the parts i need and there P/N and where i will get them from:

LIM kit- Fel-pro P/N MS98014T (Includes O-rings & T-stat housing gasket)(Rockauto)
Coolant Elbows- Dorman P/N 47065HP (Rockauto)
Thread Sealant- P/N 59214P (autozone)
RTV- P/N 24105(autozone)
Fuel Line Disconnect Tool- P/N 25043(autozone)
Straight Coolant (1 gallon)

I know i also need a Upper Plenum(supercharger) gasket but cant seem to find the correct P/N on Rockauto. Is there anything else i should grab while doing the job. Once again i thank you guys for the help with this i really appreciate it and am sorry for all the questions, just trying to get everything together and get it done right.
 
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