LOL!!!
That's not going to help if it's the fan clutch like we all mentioned. LOL!!!!

 

Hello Fellas,

I hope you all haven't forgotten me. I'm about to make the purchase, I got paid today!
The plan is to:
1. Replace fan clutch
2. Replace water pump
3. Replace lower radiator hose and clamps
4. Coolant flush and fill

In this order, please let me know if I have everything I need. Any special tools besides my standard tool kit?

 

Why water wetter and flush ?

 

Yeah, I've never needed that.

And I prefer Prestone, but Peak is OK I guess. Probably cheaper for a reason.

As I stated before, I prefer to get my parts from O'Reilly or NAPA.

I don't see the lower hose on your parts list.

I hope you're not considering shipping antifreeze--that you are only showing us the web page for what you have selected.

 

The things I would change on your list would forget the water wetter and don't buy 50/50 antifreeze. Just get the straight antifreeze, when you buy the 50/50 mix you are paying for water and it is more expensive then the straight antifreeze.

 

Well, yes but it has distilled water in it. There is no guesswork about your mix ratio. You can easily add as needed without having to measure in the water and coolant.

Many areas have a lot of minerals in their water. That can cause corrosion in your cooling system over time, as they don't evaporate.

It is not more expensive by the gallon, at least at face value. But it would take 2 gallons of premix to equal 1 gallon of straight. You could also buy distilled water by the 1 gallon jug for around a dollar at most places, then measure it in yourself.

 

That's an order page from Advance. You can order online and pick up in store and get 20% off the entire order. No shipping involved. It's worth it to do it this way to get the discount.

In this case I would say for her to go ahead and buy it pre-mixed. Two gallons of 50/50 is $22, while the undiluted is $13 plus a dollar for a gallon of distilled water. She would save $8 on two gallons, but she would have to have another container to mix it, and at her level of experience I would say that the stress is going to be high enough that not having to fool with that will be worth the extra $8. Let's make this as easy on her as we can.

I agree on the water wetter, though. Leave that off.

I'm also not sure the hose clamp is necessary unless the one that's on it is broken or rusted tight. Those hose clamps are not really wear items. It's the hose that makes the seal and prevents leaks, not the clamp. The clamp just keeps it in place.

 

Ok I will take the water wetter off the list. It's supposed to clean the coolant system for older cars. It got great reviews.

I am not getting anything shipped. I always choose the "order online, pick up in store option" to get the discount, I'm a very resourceful woman.

I already have the lower hose, picked it up at O'Reilly's across town. I need clamps, that's why they're on the list.

I'd rather use the 50/50, we're talking Charlotte, Norh Carolina water here.

Is Prestone better than Peak?

 

Im old school prefer prestone.

 

Ok. I need 6 gallons of the 50/50 right?

 

I'll join you guys again on page 14 when we're getting down to ̶d̶o̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶a̶ ̶t̶e̶s̶t̶ ̶r̶u̶n̶ replacing the fan clutch.

 

I don't think the system holds 6 gallons. More like 2 to 3.

 

My book says 3 gals but I'm not sure I've ever gotten that much in there. Good to have some extra on hand.

Beside the point but I think water wetter is not a cleaner but is supposed to reduce the surface tension of water molecules allowing better contact with cooling surfaces. I did a "scientific" test on my '93 some years ago with an IR thermometer and a LOT of wetter and couldn't find any difference with and without. I know some senior forum members like it so maybe my test was flawed? Sure enough is not needed for the average cooling system.

 

I''m 78, not sure I have that much time left....

 

I'm with you on this. I think I will stop giving advice on this thread for now until some actual work is preformed.