Overheating with AC on

[M-Sport fan]

Well, I pulled the trigger on the gear above. What coolant does everyone recommend?

I know that there are slightly cheaper options out there, but I like to stick with the Motorcraft yellow on this application, given the variance in formulations of even the same (supposed) type of coolant.

The generic, on the shelf everywhere, a bit less costly, orange Death (Dex) Cool that everyone claims to be A OK might be chemically different enough to cause problems down the line.

 

[Intuit]

Yeah Motorcraft here too... and ditto... I will never never never never never never never and never... trust DexCool. Mom had a Saturn SC2 with that stuff in there. Literally turned to mud. Brother and I ran at least three flushes, two chemical flushes. The Jiffy Lube place I took it to on the initial flush said it was THE worst cooling system they'd ever seen. Two flushes with their machine only helped. So my Brother and followed up with the additional. Fortunately that cooling system is over-engineered but that doesn't mean there aren't some bad host-spots in the engine. The heater core still, eventually, restricted, despite all attempts to cleanup the system. The only real way to clean it is by replacing the radiator, heat core and disassembling the engine.

 

[Wolfsbora]

I know that there are slightly cheaper options out there, but I like to stick with the Motorcraft yellow on this application, given the variance in formulations of even the same (supposed) type of coolant.

The generic, on the shelf everywhere, a bit less costly, orange Death (Dex) Cool that everyone claims to be A OK might be chemically different enough to cause problems down the line.

Yeah Motorcraft here too... and ditto... I will never never never never never never never and never... trust DexCool. Mom had a Saturn SC2 with that stuff in there. Literally turned to mud. Brother and I ran at least three flushes, two chemical flushes. The Jiffy Lube place I took it to on the initial flush said it was THE worst cooling system they'd ever seen. Two flushes with their machine only helped. So my Brother and followed up with the additional. Fortunately that cooling system is over-engineered but that doesn't mean there aren't some bad host-spots in the engine. The heater core still, eventually, restricted, despite all attempts to cleanup the system. The only real way to clean it is by replacing the radiator, heat core and disassembling the engine.

Thank you both! I ordered 2 x bottles of the Motorcraft Yellow 50/50 off of Amazon. Feeling really confident that I’ll get my car situated.

 

[FiestaSTdude]

Thanks for your reply! It ended up hitting 225 yesterday and I think it would have continued to climb if I hadn't shut it off. Is it safe to assume it's the radiator? And nothing else?

I would recommend it, it’s not too hard and definitely is nice to have the peace of mind knowing that it’s there. I would definitely make sure you get all the air out of the system when you refill it after installing the radiator

 

[LostInTransit]

Peak 50/50 here. No matter what coolant you select, make sure that if you take your car to shops for service or an oil change NEVER allow them to check or top off your fluids oil or coolant.. if they are allowed to do so, this could contaminate all the hard work you've done or had done. In other words, when I take the van to the shop, I ask for an oil change and that's it. I can handle the rest.

 

[TyphoonFiST]

Eventually, I would also like to get all of that order above as well, minus the lower temp thermostat, as it will already run way too cool in the winter for my tastes in combination with everything else listed.

You been saying this for years now..Just pucker up and get it done there my guy!

 

[M-Sport fan]

^^^If I could find an affordable, and reliable shop in this area to do this installation (as well as much else!), I would.

But even the ones I contact, and seem to be OK on doing something as simple and straightforward as the clutch and brake flush, and brake installation end up ghosting on me, and never answer any requests for an appointment after the initial contact and confirmation that they have no problem doing the work requested.

It cannot be done as a DIY where I live, at all (it would co$t me more in fines than letting the stealership/ripoff 'don't want to do the job priced' indie shops do the work for >$1200!! ) nor even in any abandoned parking lots around here, at all.

 

[Wolfsbora]

^^^If I could find an affordable, and reliable shop in this area to do this installation (as well as much else!), I would.

But even the ones I contact, and seem to be OK on doing something as simple and straightforward as the clutch and brake flush, and brake installation end up ghosting on me, and never answer any requests for an appointment after the initial contact and confirmation that they have no problem doing the work requested.

It cannot be done as a DIY where I live, at all (it would co$t me more in fines than letting the stealership/ripoff 'don't want to do the job priced' indie shops do the work for >$1200!! ) nor even in any abandoned parking lots around here, at all.

I'm quite relieved I can do it myself. I've been fortunate to do every single mod myself over the years. The only thing I couldn't do was getting my new tires on my new rims. Shelling out $1K for the parts plus paying labor stings.

It would be great if you could find a garage, establish a relationship with them, have them do all mods from then on, and start getting some deals on labor. I had that with my old 2001 VW Jetta Wolfsburg Edition (that was 15 years ago). They'd cut me deals on everything after bringing my car there several times.

 

[M-Sport fan]

Yeah, that $1200 price quote was for LABOR ONLY!!

That was with ME supplying; ALL brake parts, 3 cans of CRC Brakleen, all greases, 3 cans of brake fluid, 3M hub cleaning bits, hardware, and even the effing rolls of shop towels!!

TOTALLY out of control, but I guess in line with the median income for this general area, where a higher end Merc or Audi SUV is more common than a Kona everywhere else.

 

[Intuit]

Peak 50/50 here. No matter what coolant you select, make sure that if you take your car to shops for service or an oil change NEVER allow them to check or top off your fluids oil or coolant.. if they are allowed to do so, this could contaminate all the hard work you've done or had done. In other words, when I take the van to the shop, I ask for an oil change and that's it. I can handle the rest.

^ This is a good thing to remember and is easy to forget. Great reminder.

The magic words are: "No inspection please."

.

 

[LostInTransit]

Thx @Intuit one would be surprised as to how many times I would enter the shop only to have them ask me "can we top off your coolant with this universal coolant? it's a good thing places like Lube world allow customers to sit in the car while watching the oil change.