Finn5033

Hello guys, I am getting ready to fire up my rebuilt SBO350. I was wondering if anyone could tell me from experiance how many gallons of coolant I will need to fill the radiator and engine and what the process would be. I have just a standard stock size radiator. I assume you fill the radiator and then fire up the engine and fill as needed until full? I would just like an idea how much is needed so I don't have to run back to the store for more in the middle of the process. Thanks

oldcutlass

I just take a 1 gallon of antifreeze and pour it into a 5 gallon bucket and add 1 gallon of water. Then pour into radiator with a funnel, repeat till full with engine running and hot. Save the remainder of the 50/50 mix for topoffs.

pogo69

Since you live in minnasota you want to make sure you have enough antifreeze for your coldest estimated climate....if you buy 2 gallons you will be covered look in your srv manual for how many quarts your system is ....probably a gallon and and a half will cover you minus 30 or so

Finn5033

Thanks for the help guys

droldsmorland

Also don't use tap water, RO or DI water. Only Distilled. Or purchase the pre-mixed stuff which is what I've been doing for a while now. Takes the hassle and guess work out of it.

Octania

New engine?
Fresh install?

USE WATER

In case anything goes wrong, you just drain it out. No awful mess of sticky green poisonous goo all over the place.

If all goes well, no worries, let her cool down, drain the water out the radiator petcock AND both block drains, then refill with 50/50 for proper freeze protection. Around 14-16 Qts total so 2g of 100% antifreeze should do it.

Finn5033

The engine has already been broke in when I had it dyno'd.

jaunty75

Is this really necessary? I'm 56 years old and have been wrenching on cars since my teens. I've changed the coolant in many cars over the years, I've never diluted with anything but tap water, I've never had a problem in any car, and I've driven some of them many miles before they were finally retired.

I have some jugs of coolant in the garage right now, and I just went and looked at the label on one. All it says is dilute with "fresh" water. No mention of distilled or DI or holy water or anything. I would think this would be mentioned if this were an issue.

While there's certainly nothing wrong with using distilled, in my experience, and in going by the label on the coolant jug, it's not necessary.

oldcutlass

I think it depends on where you are located. I have never used anything but tap water, each to their own.

pogo69

I agree no tap in the radiator or battery...im not a chemist but the minerals and metals in the tap are high in some areas so for a buck a gallon with distilled i dont worry

jaunty75

I'll also point that the factory service manual for my '73, in the section on general maintenance, says to add simply a "50/50 mixture of coolant and water." No mention of distilled or DI or anything. I would think if it were an issue, the factory service manual at least would say something.

The factory manual DOES say to use distilled water in the battery, so it does bother to make the distinction in that case.

I think the need to use anything other than what comes out of the faucet in the cooling system is nothing more than an old wive's tale.

cfhcar

city water epa say not safe for humans, high in metals. i use only distill water or mixed anti freeze for the store. more important with alum. parts

Octania

as for pure distilled vs "whatever" water - probably falls under "can't hurt" and "the best practice."

I brush my teeth every day, then place the plastic cup up there for later. It has a few droplets in it of course.

Next day, invariably, is a ring of white deposits in the bottom of the cup. Minerals or whatnot from the city water. I could see that adding up little by little over the years in your radiator.

On the subject of using water for a fresh install, even if the engine has been broken in previously, a LOT can go wrong requiring more service even up to engine removal. Leaky hoses, broke the heater core nipple, gasket leaks, water pump wrong length, etc. It is SO easy to drain out WATER and then fill with coolant after you are certain that it holds juice. As opposed to the messy nightmare of poisonous green goo involved in removing the ethylene glycol. Bear that in mind, and go ahead and roll the dice as you see fit.

jaunty75

This is a bit of an apples-to-oranges situation. The white deposits you see on your drinking glass got there because the water droplets evaporated, leaving the deposit behind.

The coolant in your radiator never evaporates unless the radiator runs dry, and, if that's the case, you have problems far more serious than what water you mixed the coolant with. Otherwise, the minerals stay in solution.

Radiator coolant has corrosion inhibitors in it that are easily able to handle any problem dissolved minerals might cause.


The "how to change your coolant" video at the Prestone website shows the radiator being filled with a garden hose.

http://prestone.com/learn_more/antifreeze_coolant

MDchanic

Oh boy. Time to add another 2¢.

1. In over forty years, I have never used distilled water in a car's cooling system.
Never even thought about it until the advent of the interwebs and the lightning-fast spread of rumor and misinformation.

Caveats: I have never lived anywhere where the water was "hard" or didn't evaporate cleanly from surfaces, so that may make a difference.


2. I agree with the general observation that NO manuals for any or our cars, nor instructions on antifreeze bottles, advise the use of distilled water.
If it needed to be distilled, they would have said so - they ALWAYS say so for batteries, which comprise a whole different chemical situation.


3. How do you know that the twice-as-expensive "50/50" antifreeze is diluted with distilled water?
If I ran a company that used potentially tens or hundreds of thousands of gallons of water a day, would I use the cheapest local water available, or pay extra for a LOT of distilled water?


4. If you want to use distilled water, knock yourself out - it's a free country (more or less).


5. What the devil does this mean?Is the poster saying that ostensibly potable water in some city is not safe for human consumption? If so, which city? Or does he mean "city water" in general, which would mean all cities? And which metals? When did the EPA determine this? Since millions or people in cities drink water every day, was it publicized in the press? How many have been sickened or killed by this phenomenon? What were the remedies required?

Or is he just talking out his "exhaust hole"?

- Eric

jaunty75

More importantly, who gives a sh*t? We're not drinking the water. We're pouring it into our radiators.

MDchanic

Speak for yourself. I drink tap water every day (wife buys bottled water for her and the kid ).

There was a proposal here a couple of years ago to sell hundreds of thousands of gallons of our "town" water every year to Poland Spring to become "Poland Spring Water," but we voted it down (Why risk draining the reserves for a few bucks?), so, in essence, our tap water IS Poland Spring water (which my wife BUYS in the store ).

- Eric

jaunty75

Here's another thought. If you take your car in to a local garage or a Pep Boys or even the dealer where you bought it and have a radiator flush and fill done, how likely is it that the shop will use distilled water when refilling the radiator? I would say zero.

jaunty75

There was a famous study of bottled waters by Consumer Reports maybe 25 years ago, and they used as their reference standard their local tap water, which for them was New York City municipal water system water.

Their conclusion was that the NYC water was the best and beat out Perrier and all the rest in terms of taste, purity, etc. This study did a kind-of 1980s version of going viral on youtube, and some enterprising individuals started bottling the water and selling it outside the New York area, advertising it as "the drink of millions."

The point is that drinking water standards are such in the United States that you are just fine drinking whatever comes out of the tap, and you are certainly fine using it in your car's radiator.

MDchanic

I dunno. I'm a-skaired now after reading this:
I mean, if I can figure out what it means...

- Eric

nsnarsk65cutlass

You won't need any more than 2 gallons mixed 50-50,and as far as distilled water don't bother i use well water here.

oldcutlass

You have more of a chance of getting sick from bottled water than you do from most taps. There is mold contamination, phthalates and plasticizers that are used in container or cap materials that cause birth defects in newborn children, coliforms and other chemical or microbial contaminations. A lot of bottled water on the shelf is just bottled ozonated municipal tap water, I'll keep drinking my tap water thank you.

Yes, years ago New York City tap water became the #1 water in taste tests over all the bottled water available. Distilled, reverse osmosis, and distilled quality type waters have no physical health benefit to your body and in fact could actually harm you. Distilled type water is just wet and most people have no clue the minerals are good for you.

Tap water like others have said have suspended solids that stay suspended in ethyl glycol. Have I seen radiators full of mineral deposits in some areas of the country, yes, they are in the minority.

jaunty75

Let's not get too close to hyperbole, shan't we?

I have an RO system providing water to my kitchen sink and the ice-maker in my refrigerator. Yes, I can see how tap water, with its dissolved minerals, can be a benefit to you over pure water, but I don't see that pure water can "actually harm you." How?

oldcutlass

No hyperbole on my part sir, Google the harmful health effects of distilled, purified, and RO water. You don't have to believe me. Your body needs the minerals and distilled or RO water is on the acid side as far as PH. I was Artesia's Plant Mgr. when bottled water was just getting popular. We were the first to point out the harmful effects of packaging materials in bottled beverages.

jaunty75

Again, how? Pure water is pH 7, neither acidic nor basic, by definition. Unless there's something added to it, but then it's not pure water, and nothing is being added to it by an RO system.

And how can distilled water be acidic? It's made by boiling water and condensing the steam. Where does the acid get introduced?

oldcutlass

Just google it, quit being so argumentative.

jaunty75

I'll be as argumentative as I want if I see something I disagree with. Your say so doesn't make it so, and "Googling" something is not an argument.

As you put it earlier, I don't have to believe you, and I don't.

cfhcar

the city of potosi mo about ever six mouths send me warming letters with me water bill that they have exeded epa allow amounts for differnt metals. i thinks part of living in lead mining country. ac delco say to use diswater.

oldcutlass

Oh, I forgot Jaunty, you know everything.

jaunty75

As do you.

jaunty75

So get yourself an RO system and die from the acidic water that creates instead of the high levels of metals in your water now.

MDchanic

The other part of living in lead mining country is acquired cognitive impairment due to heavy metal poisoning.

- Eric

jaunty75

I was actually wondering about that bit about the recommendation by AC/Delco to use dishwater in the radiator.

Finn5033

Wow, this really turned into an entirely different conversation. Anyways I saw a few people say that 2 gallons of 50/50 should be enough. Well either I have a larger radiator which I am sure I don't or that isn't enough. 2 gallons didn't even fill my radiator.

jaunty75

It happens now and then.

I don't think there is a single answer to this question. I don't know what year you have or what car this engine was out of, but according to my '73 Olds chassis service manual, the coolant capacity for a 350 V-8 ranges all the way from 15.5 to 21.5 quarts depending on which car it was installed in (Omega, Cutlass, or Delta 88) and whether or not the car had air-conditioning. Two gallons is 16 quarts, which is on the low end of that range. It's apparent your situation is one that requires more than 16 quarts.

What you really should be concerned about is putting in a 50/50 mixture of coolant/water, period, whatever the total capacity is. If two full gallons didn't do it, get another gallon of anti-freeze, dilute it, and start pouring it in. When it does finally fill up, note the total volume used so you'll know the next time.

Finn5033

No it's no big deal and not rocket science. I just asked the question to get an idea if how much to grab when I was at the store. I will just let it run until up to temp and fill it till full.

MDchanic

Oh, for Pete's sake. Just look in your Chassis Service Manual.
Do you really need to ask this as a question?



- Eric

pogo69

I suggested 2 gallons antfreeze should be enough....not 50/50

MDchanic

16 quarts = 4 gallons = 2 gallons of antifreeze and 2 gallons of water...

... Coincidence?

- Eric

Lady72nRob71

16 qts is 4 gallons, so 2 gal of green coolant and 2 of the water of your choice.
Mine took almost all that when I drained the block.