To my knowledge, the coolant has never been changed in my 99 coupe.

Thinking of doing it myself of course.

What do you folks suggest.

Two water wetters, and the pre mix stuff ?

My baby ran a little hotter this past weekend than normal.

Was not running ac, had the top off was in town a lot and had to wait on a lot of traffic.

Hit 5 bars on the DIC. Never did that before.

Soon as I took off it dropped to 4 than 3.

It bothers me, that it got that high.

Thanks for the help as usual everyone is great and very helpful.

Wish I could get you all up here in Brenham for some Ice Cream.

 

What does the temp guage read these cars run hot, I've seen around 235 temps standing at idle on a warm day. You can always turn on your AC it will cool it down, if it doesn't you my have a fan issue. I did run water wetter when I changed my coolant, used Dexicool and changed my T-stat to a lower temp, but that will not change how hot the car gets.

 

You should change the thermostat AND re-program the "fans on" temperature if you want to lower your coolant temperature.

 

IMO, take it to a Dealer that will chemically flush the system & refill. Doing it yourself is OK, but, one doesn't get a real system flush. Had my 2000 done recently at Dealer for $100 wich included the refill.
Fred

 

Ok well....first of all if you are running hot clean the radiator fins.....good....pull the top shroud so you can clean from the top down. Watter wetter is a waste of money IMO if your cooling system is doing its job. I used the Dex-Cool premix and followed these steps...

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/show...post1550969620



now...IF you want to change your t-stat you need to have the fans re-programmed or you are just pizzin up a rope...


Have fun

 

I agree, the radiators do get trash built up in them over time. I've seen a few that have, and the trash was always found after some high temps were noticed after sitting in traffic on a warm day.

 

Thank everyone.

The radaitor looks good from the bottom.
Will take the top schroud off, ( is that pretty easy to do ? )

So water wetter is just snake oil ?

Thanks again

 

My car is running hotter than other cars I have owned. Here is a write up I found somewhere about drain and fill to remove most of the old coolant. If nothing else it adds additional information to the other step by step post, like how much coolant to purchase and details on how to open the drain valve.

You'll only need one gallon of coolant and one gallon of water. I make a 50/50 mix first and then pour it in my drained system. The level may go down and then all I do is add the premixed stuff. Hope you bought the correct coolant....there are only two brands of Dex-Cool: Texaco (the inventor) and the GM brand, which is made by ChevronTexaco. Don't fall for the "compatible with" brands or "can be mixed with" brands, or other "long-life" brands.

Changing coolant in a LS1 is a little more time consuming than it was with older Corvette engines because the engine block coolant drains are not accessible when the engine is in the car. The left drain is hidden behind the engine mount bracket and the right drain is behind the starter. Because of this you can't fully drain the system; you only can flush it. This work may also involve working with hot engine parts or hot liquid. We suggest you use some automotive work gloves such as "Mechanix Gloves" sold by Mechanix Wear. We like them because they protect hands but still allow good feeling.

The radiator drain is at the lower, right corner of the radiator. Open it, let it run until the flow stops, close the drain and refill the system with water. Run the engine until the thermostat opens, shut off the engine, carefully release the pressure in the cooling system and open the radiator drain again. Repeat this procedure until the coolant coming out of the radiator runs clear. You may need to do this tedious flushing trick several times to get the water to run clear.Once the flushing is done, close the drain and fill the system with a 6.5 qts. of Dex-Cool (50%) and, optionally, a bottle of Red Line SuperCool. Add distilled water until it reaches the base of the surge tank neck. Start the engine and let it idle for a minute then cycle engine speed from idle to 3000 rpm and back until coolant temperature reaches 210¡F. Remove the tank cap, observing the cautions discussed previously. The coolant level should be about 1/2-in. above the "cold full" mark on the tank. If it is not, top off with distilled water, replace the cap, start the engine and repeat the above procedure.

(more about the draining)

Use a ¼” drive extension to insert into the white radiator drain plug. (This plug is located on the passenger side of the vehicle just inside of the A/C line) The plug has course threads and only requires about a ¼ turn to open fully. The fluid will come out the drain highlighted in the picture.

After about a gallon of coolant has drained the flow will slow down considerably. Be patient as this is not enough to start the thermostat removal process yet. You will need to drain at least a gallon and a half to get the coolant level below the thermostat housing. At this point you can close the plug. You will feel it snap or click into place, this lets you know it’s safely closed all the way.

It is more expensive ($100) but I'd suggest the power flush, it gets all the old coolant and replaces it with new 50/50. Drain and fill will leave old coolant, sludge, and deposits in the engine.

I change my Dexicool every 50k, so I don't drain the block. I do pull the T-stat and dump the surge tank.

 

All this good information and not one person mentioned that the coolant hoses are all in need of changing. Upper,lower radiator hoses and heater hoses including the small ones at the throttle body. It would be a shame to do all that work and then have a hose let go due to old age! SR