Just completed a 12 day trip from Ohio down to Florida in my low miles 03 !

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don-ohio

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I had changed the oil(Pennzoil Platinum 5W-30),checked the rear end oil, checked that antifreeze ratio was at least 60% to 40% water, checked all the tires AND the spare(which was low on air),made sure the Degas bottle cap was loose enough to keep from holding any cooling system pressure, and TOOK OFF!
12 days and 2500 trouble free miles later I'm back home, refreshed from the vacation and ready to work up coming nightshifts.
AVERAGED 28 mpg doing road miles, and about 22 when heavy amounts of city driving occurred between fill-ups.
ONLY problem I had was sometimes on start-up it would idle really rough until I gassed it up to speed.
I ran 2 doses of STP fuel system cleaner thru it, and one dose of GUMOUT fuel system cleaner thru it and the problem lessened considerably.This car was driven sparingly the last 13 yrs. by it's original owner.I believe maybe the fuel system cleaner was badly needed. ANYWAY...............I had a trouble-free trip! don-ohio :)^)
 
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Thanks,Virginia Donk! Yeah, I took a full complement of tools...ratchets,sockets,wrenches,etc., and my Ford manuals,just like I do with any vehicle I drive on a long trip.LOL! don-ohio :)^)

Virginia Donkey said:
Welcome home don-ohio. Glad you had a nice trip and your LS didn't give you any greif!
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Glad you had an awesome trip! Did you take pictures of the LS in different places?
 
Glad you had a good trip. Question why do u not fully close the degas bottle cap? I have had certain hoses pop maybe due to over pressure in the hose and I'm thinking maybe that's why you don't fully close it. Thanks
 
Diplomat 1 said:
Glad you had a good trip. Question why do u not fully close the degas bottle cap? I have had certain hoses pop maybe due to over pressure in the hose and I'm thinking maybe that's why you don't fully close it. Thanks
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Yes,I've found over the years that for me and my friends it's better to run a 60-70% antifreeze to water mix and leave the system unpressurized.
I don't recommend this to just anyone.................just those that will assure they have at least the 60/40 mix and are not driving in elevations of over 5000 ft. If I were in Denver area,I'd probably run the pressure cap tightened.
Just went over the WV and Va and NC mountains with no problem unpressurized.
Most of these guys don't like it,but I've been running that way with all sorts of vehicles,and all those I work on that have high miles, for years.
It's just a choice........if people want to keep 16 psi on their radiator,water pump,heater hoses,degas tank and all their lines, I'll tighten their cap personally.LOL! don-ohio :)^)
 
Sorry,no, I am the world's worst at picture taking and posting. Sorry about that,Izzy!. don-ohio :)^)

izzy said:
Glad you had an awesome trip! Did you take pictures of the LS in different places?
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don-ohio said:
Yes,I've found over the years that for me and my friends it's better to run a 60-70% antifreeze to water mix and leave the system unpressurized.
.......if people want to keep 16 psi on their radiator,water pump,heater hoses,degas tank and all their lines, I'll tighten their cap personally.
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Because water has a higher boiling point at higher pressure (252deg F @ 16 PSI) is one reason car manufacturers run pressurized cooling systems. It has to do with latent heat and enthalpy of steam if your inclined to look it up. Another reason is because the coolant (60/40 mix or otherwise) in the cylinder head flashes to steam during the combustion cycle. The higher pressure helps ensure that the gas bubbles get moved on to a cooler area and condense. This how the higher combustion pressures (compression ratios) in modern engines are attained. A little engineering and science to think about before you open that cap.
 
Quote: A little engineering and science to think about before you open that cap'

You're wrong. Nothing is flashing to steam in my engine. If it were, bubbles would be observed.I have never seen bubbles or any negative effect whatsoever.
Just because you don't LIKE it that I don't have to deal with the unneeded pressure, it's no reason to make up stuff like that. don-ohio :)^)
 
don-ohio said:
Quote: A little engineering and science to think about before you open that cap'

You're wrong. Nothing is flashing to steam in my engine. If it were, bubbles would be observed.I have never seen bubbles or any negative effect whatsoever.
Just because you don't LIKE it that I don't have to deal with the unneeded pressure, it's no reason to make up stuff like that. don-ohio :)^)
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Remember the high point of the cooling passages are lower than the degas tank.... That allows air bubbles (or hot spots) to collect in those high spots.
 
Another proof that the flash theory is wrong.................if it were true,you'd have to constantly add coolant as the water boiled from the antifreeze,and the mixture would become stronger toward the antifreeze ratio
Now hear this, I'm only gonna say it once...I hope!LOL....I have been running this unpressurized system in MY 04 V6 LS since 77K miles and it now has 135K miles. It has never overheated, burped, or anything.
AND consider this....I have only added a few ounces of antifreeze a couple of times in ALL THAT DISTANCE and time. So where are you getting this dreaded boiling off? You're not,plain and simple. don-ohio :)^)
 
Not happening LS4me..............if it were,in all those miles I just mentioned,catastrophe would've struck.THAT car has been to Florida at least twice,Tennessee multiple times and many long trips. It's our daily driver.
No offense,LS4me..........you guys can run how you like. But I won't be blowing hoses,bottles,radiators,plastic parts and the like when I have no pressure acting as a stress against the components. don-ohio :)^)
LS4me said:
Remember the high point of the cooling passages are lower than the degas tank.... That allows air bubbles (or hot spots) to collect in those high spots.
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don-ohio said:
Not happening LS4me..............if it were,in all those miles I just mentioned,catastrophe would've struck.THAT car has been to Florida at least twice,Tennessee multiple times and many long trips. It's our daily driver.
No offense,LS4me..........you guys can run how you like. But I won't be blowing hoses,bottles,radiators,plastic parts and the like when I have no pressure acting as a stress against the components. don-ohio :)^)
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I've never blown one either. My only failures were age failures.
 
Pressure causes stress any way you look at it. that's my concern....the constant pulling vacuum when cold,then when warming up,increasing pressure on all the parts. Doesn't go to vacuum OR pressure in my set-up. don-ohio :)^)
 
The boiling point of 50/50 coolant at 0 psi is about 226deg. here is a little snippet I copied from the durathemfluids website

For every pound of pressure exerted on the coolant in the system, the static boiling point
of the coolant is raised by approximately 3° F

I can see where a lot of stop and go driving could cause issues, but highway driving should be no problem at all.
 
Yeah,Virginia,but 60% raises that boiling point. I never have issues, stop and go with the AC on or road. Like I said, if there were an issue in these last near 60K miles, I'd have had to add fluid or fluid would've boiled out. That's just in the LS. The Mustang v6,the Aerostar,the F-250 and all my previous owned vehicles have done great without pressure.

Back in the early 90s,I had a Mercury Cougar,V6, and I hadn't depressurized it yet. I was driving from work and it BLEW the water pump seal so bad it spewed antifreeze all over the engine and road. Now an Unpressurized system would've leaked,but never would it have blown and stranded me like that. A fellow worker took me home while the wrecker brought the car 18 miles home. don-ohio :)^)
 
don-ohio said:
Yeah,Virginia,but 60% raises that boiling point. I never have issues, stop and go with the AC on or road. Like I said, if there were an issue in these last near 60K miles, I'd have had to add fluid or fluid would've boiled out. That's just in the LS. The Mustang v6,the Aerostar,the F-250 and all my previous owned vehicles have done great without pressure.

Back in the early 90s,I had a Mercury Cougar,V6, and I hadn't depressurized it yet. I was driving from work and it BLEW the water pump seal so bad it spewed antifreeze all over the engine and road. Now an Unpressurized system would've leaked,but never would it have blown and stranded me like that. A fellow worker took me home while the wrecker brought the car 18 miles home. don-ohio :)^)
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I think the automobile and supply manufacturers should fire all the stupid engineers they have and just listen to you. You have it all!
 
Wicked Ace said:
I think the automobile and supply manufacturers should fire all the stupid engineers they have and just listen to you. You have it all!
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There are a LOT of apparent automotive engineers on this board.....
 
Scoff all you want ,boys........proof's in the pudding.The truth will out. Don't judge a book by its cover.Too many cooks spoil the sauce. I'ma running fine and all my friends are too with NO pressure to break and blow. don-ohio :)^)
 
Virginia Donkey said:
That can't possibly be true Don.......the engineers didn't tell you it was ok to run it that way!
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That's right Virginia Donk! It can't be true because the pointy headed engineers say it isn't.It's kinda like when they get together,run the numbers,and say that there is NO WAY the bumblebee can fly,let alone do 40mph. LOL! don-ohio :)^)
 
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