One thing that most ' mechanics ' either don't know or ignore , is the tendency for rusty silt to settle in the deeper corners of the water jacket & solidify , making them difficult to remove ~ the citric acid flush is very good in this regard *but* one still needs some thermal cycles combined with hard running to get them all to loosen up and fall into the coolant mix .
This is why all my posts about cleaning up the cars I have , go on and on and on and......
When I say it's clean , _it's_clean_ , make no mistake but it takes a long time and many flushes & re fills to do the job 100 % .
Better to not defer cooling system mtce. in the first place .
We'll get that sorted out soon as the dark coolant is abrasive so I want it out before it causes me more work.
-Nate
Tom wrote:
>
> 412.6 mi. / 14.211 gal. = 29.0338 mpg.
>
> Notes:
>
> '81 300SD, 348+++ miles;
> Road trip to Palm Springs started 10:00 a.m. Friday, w/ 200+ miles on the
> odo;
> Average speed ~ 60 mpg, mostly freeway at 70 but lots of traffic
> slow-downs;
> Saturday and Sunday, lots of driving, in traffic from Palm Springs condo to
> Indian Wells event (25 mi.);
> 14.211 gal. was at the Freeway entrance, starting home on Sunday, P.M.
> (Usually, I don't fill it so far).
>
> At the Palm Springs fill up, oil level was fine, no need to add.
>
> Nate did a citrus flush on the car two weeks ago. He was rushed due
> to a miscommunication about a meeting with attorneys that I had to get to.
> The temperature gauge has been bouncing around between 80 and 100 ever
> since the flush. When I say bouncing, I mean sudden changes in position, as if
> it were a sticking gauge that suddenly let go.
>
> On this trip, it was bouncing on the outbound leg, until about
> Beaumont, CA. Then it suddenly settled, just above the '80' hash mark. It
> remained stable at that point. On the return trip, on the long upgrade out of
> Palm Springs, heading west, temperature rose to more than half way to the
> '100' mark, but was smooth movement and settled back to just above '80' as
> soon as the grade was over.
>
> I'm guessing that the flush left some air pockets that have taken time
> to fill with water. The level in the overflow tank settled down by more
> than a quart.
>
> The water in the overflow tank looks VERY dark. I expect that it has
> continued to loosen stuff from the flush, and needs to be emptied again,
> and then filled with more clean anti-freeze mixture.
>
> Fuel around Palm Springs / Indian Wells was $4.59/9 at most places.
> At the freeway junction (truck stops) it was $4.49/9. Back down in the
> $4.35/9 range as I got back to the city. I was amazed at all the big SUVs and
> pick-up trucks whizzing by me on the freeway. I wish I was making the kind
> of money that lets those kid drivers pour fuel through their systems like
> that!
>
> Tom
>
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