In late June I am going on a trip to Key West from the DC area. Tho my 2009 has never overheated this trip may be a real test. Traffic will slow to a stop and I may experience long waiting times thus increased temps.

I saw on a Wheeler Dealer episode a fluid they were adding to a TR 6 that would never boil. It raises a couple of questions.
1. What was it. I missed the name.
2. Is this a good idea and would it hurt the C6 system.
3. Does it provide proper cooling?

FWIW I have the best factory specified coolant added by my Corvette mechanic, so he says, and I believe him. It was changed within the last two years.

Driving at night is not an option.

 

Unless there is an existing problem you should be o.k. In the big cities where I live it's not uncommon to get stuck in traffic all the time. Never had a problem with overheating. Never saw the Wheeler Dealer episode you watched but there is a product called Evans waterless coolant. It's expensive but prevents corrosion and helps with cooling. The cooling system needs to be evacuated of all water based coolant before use.

 

You will be fine, don't overthink it. Just do the normal long distance trip things, like good tires/brakes, check all fluids/ belts/etc.

I drove my 2008 from DE to FL in 11 hours, and never had any kind of issue.

These cars are made for the open road, and stop and go is no issue either.

 

Then there is 'Water Wetter' ... It's a great way to lower engine water temps ... But, for it to work the way it was designed to do, it needs to be mixed with straight water (NO coolant). Great for race cars that are basically trailored.

Mix Water Wetter with coolant, and it wont do a thing as far as lowering the engine's water temp.

 

Thanks all. Best advice ever. Do nothing.

 

I echo - RELAX - enjoy - don't overthink it...and enjoy one of my favorite places in the lower 48. Key West is a blast and you should be deep into Margaritas and NOT coolant!

 

The factory system has plenty of capacity to handle any sort of normal driving situation and stop and go traffic is certainly one. But one often overlooked bit of maintenance is to make sure that all items in the cooling stack are clean and free of bugs, leaves, and other assorted debris.

In hot weather set the AC to recirculate mode so that you aren't dumping so much heat via the condenser into the cooling air stream for the engine. With modern vehicles even in recirc mode some outside air is introduced but in recirc it is greatly reduced and this reduces overall cooling system load and also helps your AC to work better.

If you have an automatic shift into neutral or park when in the stop part of stop and go traffic jams; this reduces heat buildup in the torque converter and reduces load on the engine which will also idle a little faster improving water pump flow.

And finally although you really don't want to have to do this in the summer if you do find a situation that causes the car to begin to overheat put the windows down and the heat on high until you get to a place where you can pull off and cool down. The heat exchanger in the HVAC system can shed quite a bit of coolant heat into the passenger compartment and can make the difference between overheating or getting to a safe exit.

But the real bottom line is car design takes into account that some buyers are total morons. So you could open the windows, take off the top, set the AC to max cold, alternate between full throttle takeoff and locked up brakes as you move through a traffic jam and still not overheat your car Making it robust against idiots means it works really well in the hands of a normal person.

 

just drove from Houston to San Francisco, had not one single problem with overheating.

 

Wow, in 2017 we're worried about cars overheating? The only time in the past 50 years I remember this being a problem was when I was running a 327 with a radiator designed for a six. It was okay, but I had to baby it.

My late father used to talk about driving Model Tees, and how they would boil over by the time they got to the top of a hill. No pressurized system, so they would boil at 212. Hopefully you had some water with you, or there was a spring nearby.

Roads were unpaved, full of ruts and holes, and were either mud or dry dust. Oh -- and you better know how to patch a tire, and you'd better have patches, cement, etc. with you because flats were very common.

Are we regressing to this?

I'm not, personally.

 

When you hit Key Largo rent a Jeep. From there all the speed limits are only about 35 MPH anyway.

Good Luck!

 

It will be fine. Drink a couple of cold ones and relax.

 

Or one big long one . . .

 

Have fun, sounds like a great trip!

 

you need to rethink this, you just need to keep the amount of anti freeze to a minimum, I have mine at about zero F. I can't get the car over 172 degree's at speed 70 mph on a 100 degree day

 

As most have already covered, don't overthink the road trip.
Check all your fluids, your tire pressures, etc. Just to give you some peace of mind, check and clean your radiator fins from any bugs, dirt, leaves etc.

I made a 3 week, 5000 mile trip from Atlantic Canada to Key West and back in 2012. The car worked great, no overheating issues, even when we were stuck in stop and go traffic for 30 minutes on the interstate due to an accident. I finally set my Nav to detour, and at the next exit, it rerouted me around the accident, or at least in the five mile Nav detour, the interstate was good to go, when we got back to it.

Enjoy the trip. It was a blast going to Key West in our C6. The Overseas highway is a neat route, but loaded with Police with radar.
There was a great story on a road trip to Key West in the Vette Magazine in 2011. Lot's of pics.
http://www.superchevy.com/features/v...aradise-found/


Have A blast!

 

You will be fine as others have said, especially when you consider you already had your fluid changed only two years ago.

 

As long as your cooling fan is working and your radiator is not full of bugs and garbage you should not have any problems. As long as air can flow through the radiator fins the air will keep the coolant temperature down. Three years ago we spent 4 hours driving around Death Valley and it was 117 degrees. No issues.

 

Just make sure you don't speed anywhere on the keys. They are hiding everywhere and will stop you for 5 over. Happened to me. I was going 40 in a 35. Because I was not going too fast they gave me a ticket for not obeying traffic laws. $60 instead of the usual over a $100. Still pretty petty.

Also be careful in Miami, they drive like maniacs, don't be surprised to see all kinds of folks weaving in and out of heavy traffic, crossing 4 and 5 lanes at a time. This is normal for Miami.

 

IIRC Edd used a waterless coolant on this build because TR6 was notorious for overheating. Idea was w/ a rebuilt/cored radiator + waterless coolant should assure proper operating temps.
Has to be several kinds being marketed.

As others stated C6 cooling systems are very good, especially w/ fresh coolant as called for in OM. Lots of members living in hot climates like LV, TX, S.CA desert areas w/ no cooling issues if water pump & thermostat are working.

Have coolant condition checked if you must, just for peace of mind.
Your call.

 

Can someone post the normal operating temperature ranges for the following:
1) engine oil
2) water coolant temp
3) transmission fluid temp