Frequency of trans oil change and coolant flush?

Yeah, and remember, Mark, the biggest factor here is that when you add the purified water(DI or Distilled ) to the 100% glycol radiator concentrate, the miniscule differences between DI/distilled dissappear cuz the overwhealming addition of salts/buffers/anto corrosion compounds the manufacturer added to it. Just BLOWS it all away. But as far as using just tap, well, as a fellow chatter and tech person, man, BAD ADVICE!

Tech tip: There is DI and distilled, then there is Double DI and Double distilled, meaning, just DI is not as pure as double, cuz double has gone through a SECOND mixed bed resin, bringing the resistivity down to 16-18 Megaohms! Same with distilled. So not correct to say just DI has ALL the ions taken out, likewise, distilled, unless double distilled.

 

I'm sticking with distilled. The water here is hard enough to break. I don't want the inside of my radiator and whatever else to look like my shower head. I can only imagine what 10-20 years of that build up would look like in there.

 

I'm with Tommy on this one. Here in San Antonio the tap water is more like a limestone colloidal suspension.

 

I agree as well. I've never heard anyone recommend tap vs. distilled water in the cooling system. DI may be more corrosive than tap because the buffering solids are not present. I'd think, however, the coolant acts then as the buffering compound to neutralize the corrosiveness instead of the hard water solids that we don't want building up in our cooling systems. This makes sense to me.

Jeff

 

My history with cars here in NE was that after about 6-8 years, the radiator would be full of calcium deposits & need replacing or re-coring. These problems went away when I started using distilled water. Several years ago I caught a lot of flack on Fchat because I suggested using home distilled water from my basement dehumidifier. I still use it & count on the antifreeze buffering to deal with anything that comes out with the water.

I've been considering the Prestone 50-50 as an extra cost convenience offering, but this thread has made me realize I don't have to worry about keeping distilled water around, & they'll have the total additives the way they designed it.

 

Now, that's something I would do!!! Dont know why you got yelled at that for.......Most you'll get from that is some trace aluminum.....

 

Shower head....LOL! Good point, Doc.

 

I like that. My house AC unit makes gallons that end up in the drain....I know because the drain plugged up last summer and I had (distilled) water all over the floor.

You still may want to add some water to it as 50/50 doesn't cool as well as 70/30, so it's not really the best summer mix....and that will be of particular concern once you install that supercharger and start making serious hp

It might not be a bad idea to even think about switching to water with water wetter if you are going to stay with a stock radiator.

 

Interesting....so MB coolant is G05, I found out that BMW is G48, and found this link to the specs (from Zerez, not BMW):

http://www.deckmanoil.com/downloads_products//Zerex/Zerex+G+48++Antifreeze%20103002.pdf

There are others too, like G30, G11, G12 all for specific manufacturers or uses.

Maybe time for AEHAAS to start another "study"....the "coolant study"?

 

Yeah, kinda like I said earlier. Buffering effect is big. (glad a Bruin and a Trojan can agree on something!)

 

And the trace aluminum will solve the problem with it wanting to act like a solvent to your aluminum engine

 

Right! I like it when good , practical ideas blend well with the whole "green" recycling concept. Who said Ferrari enthusiasts waste energy?!!!

 

Did a Google search on coolant and this guy posted...

I spoke to a Valvoline tech today and asked about the Xerex G48 (Saab Blue coolant) and he said that they Valvoline are owned by BASF --and that G48 is Xerex G05 in North America.
He said they are chemically identical, and also the color is the same.
He said that I could get Xerex G05 at Autozone.
Called Autozone, and they sell the Xerex g05 for about 9.50.
He also said that the Xerex G05 and G48 are designed to be used for 3 years.
Anybody have similar experience or information.
I was also at Walmart today and their supertech antifreeze (the concentrated one did not list any phosphates or silicates).
The G05 and the G48 also do not list any phosphates or silicates.
I wonder? anybody crack open a container of that SuperTech stuff to see what's in there?

Also checked the Bentley (BMW) manual says to mix coolant with distilled water and that the coolant can be reused if it is not older that 2 years old (concurs life must be three years or so).


Mark

 

There is a middle ground here. If your water is only 2 - 300 PPM or PPT - whatever units it is - then just use the tap water. If you have 1,200 PPT, then mix 1/3 tap and 2/3 DI water. Compromise.

aehaas

 

Ferrari 348 trannies have a vent...and can collect condensation. Changing out your gear fluid every year mitigates any rust damage from such accumulated condensation.

 

That it true for very trans I've every seen. the alternative to changing the fluid to remove the condensate is to drive the car. Once the trans gets up to temp, the water will evaporate, the same with engine oil. Engine oil should be changed at least every year due to combustion by-products causing acids to form in the oil, but I don’t see how that could happen with the trans. I change trans oil based only on mileage.

 

Yes, that's generally true if your oil temp goes over 220 degrees F or 100 degrees C for any reasonable length of time on your drive.

 

220F/100C will garrentee you've got it dry, but even at a much more moddest 180F for the oil, the partail pressure of water is up to 7.5 psi, vs 0.9 psi in the air on a 100F day....the little bit of liquid water you might have in the trans won't last very long with that kind of partail pressure difference.

 

I am pretty much hearing about 1 to 1.5 years for the cooling system. OK, agreed to.

I am still a little in the dark on transmission fluid/final drive lubricant. I have only done this once on my ZR1 in close to 10 years of ownership - the transmission, not the final drive. I would have somehow assumed this was usually done at engine-out service time on a Testarossa and that was plenty good enough.

BTW, what I was told on the ZF box in the ZR1 Vette was that the fill fluid is more akin to an auto trans fluid than to ordinary gear oil and that therefore it kind of "wears out" quicker??? But then, there is always so much BS about cars, isn't there.

Are things a little different for mid-engine Fcars because of having the final drive right down there in the gearbox?

BTW, I have heard that many (but not all) Lamborghini Miura owners change their transmission fluid every time they change the engine oil. And I completely flush the cooling system on my Porsche EVERY TIME I DRIVE it and it has never once frozen up or boiled over.

BWAAHAHAHAHAH!