getting ready to winterize

This is my first post here as I am a new CC owner... I hope that this is the most appropriate way to join a conversation (let me know if I should have created my own topic as to not step on any toes), from what I can see the support available here on this forum is very welcoming!

Flyweed has water in his trans fluid, and hope for him that it was nothing more that a breather valve slurp of water...

I am the eager guy that replaced a corroded trans dip stick, and changed the fluid quickly as lord only knows how long the mystery fluid was in there since the dip stick was so heavily corroded --- trans runs beautifully from what I can tell... BUT I put in synthetic instead of the conventional, to which I'm now reading is a no-no -- what should I do to remedy, same steps as what Flyweed has done?

Also, moving to winterize in a few days, I have a new "fake-a-lake" attachment on the raw water intake; it is safe practice to run from a bucket of 50/50 or RV antifreeze until fluid runs out exhaust... or should I be pulling all threaded plugs and following the steps found here? --- also, my cooling is split:
RW for exhaust only, the block is already antifreeze; with a copper intercooler on the driverside of the motor.

I would extract, fill, run & extract about 3 times to get all the synthetic out of there.

Best to pull water drain plugs before adding A/F.   

yep, I can see light through...I am gonna call it good for the winter. I re-fogged the engine again, since the last couple runs burned off my original fogging fluid. I will pull the trans. cooler and pressure test..other than that, it's time to wash her and wax her good and put it to bed for the winter

8122pbrainard wrote: From the picture, it still looks like it has a milky tint to it. I'd run the engine again and do one more ATF change.

I would agree, the color does not look right. It could be the camera, lighting or my screen. However, the color does not look right, it does not appear clear as should be. Pour a small amount of trans fluid from a new bottle into a clear container and compare color with what is in that picture, I think you will see a difference.

So, your original question is do you need to replace the trans cooler. The pressure testing as suggested above would give you that answer but may be harder for you to do with the available tools. You can also go the route you are going via changing the fluid as you will have to change the fluid any how and it is cheep. Anyhow, I would change the fluid one more time if the fluid removed from the trans is not as clear as a comparison to fresh fluid in a clear container comparison. Then run the motor with out water and see if there is any change. Then add water and continue to run the motor with water attached. and recheck the fluid. If the fluid stays clean you are all good, If the trans fluid becomes milky again trans cooler repair or replacement is in order.

Hollywood wrote: Your girlfriend has a beard.

Well he is from Canada, yeah hey dere, so she is probably starting her playoff beard early

just a quick update..my Trans. Cooler was indeed the culprit. did a pressure test on it, and I could actually hear a little air escaping from somewhere, with the top and bottom capped off. So, just got my new one from Skidim, and installed it. Pretty simple and straightforward..now I am going to drain Trans fluid one more time this fall, and then put it away for the winter.

Nice to find the solution to the problem!

The heated garage is nice until the power goes out for longer than a day!!!!

Is this the engine block drain for the starboard (drivers) side of my GT-40? Note the hose coming out of it which leads to a brass t-fitting connected to the intake manifold. It is located directly under the front (#1?) cylinder.

got it. Sorry, I must have missed it before. Thanks for the clarification. It just seemed unfamiliar because of the hose connected to it.

That hose looks like what I did when I found my heater was leaking and bypassed it. It is running from the supply to return. I never had to winterize the heater since I noticed the wet spot under the dash and rust line running out of the bottom of the heater. I removed the heater the first summer I had it.

Or just blow it out with your mouth and skip the antifreeze.

Garden hose quick disconnects make winterizing the heater a real quick and easy process.

Lots of talk in this thread about RV antifreeze so I thought I'd give a good visual image of RV antifreeze after it spent a night in single digit temperatures.

The bottle was upside down in a snowbank and turned right side up to get the picture.
I couldn't rotate the picture to save my life. Maybe somebody will fix it.

After the discussions it shouldn't surprise anyone that it's frozen.

It also shouldn't be a surprise that it doesn't expand and cause engine damage unless it gets colder than it's burst point, which for this stuff (Splash -50 RV antifreeze )was minus 50 degrees.F . According to it's MSDS sheet it's melting point is about 8.5 degrees F which would be the same as it's freezing point depending on which direction you're coming from

The Splash minus 100 degree F stuff has pretty much the same melting/freezing point (about 7 degrees F) but a lower burst temp.

So just because it's pretty solid doesn't mean it will cause damage................unless it's been diluted "because you didn't get all the water out before putting the antifreeze in, then it's just a crap shoot.

   

Like Ken said, don't confuse freezing with burst. It's well known that the -50 red stuff turns into slush at pretty modest temps, and then almost solid as he described. But, it doesn't freeze hard and then expand the way water would in the same conditions.

I'm considering switching to the -100 just because it sounds like there are other reasons to do so, but then again I've used the red stuff for a lot of years in a lot of boats and never had a problem, and we get some cold weather here obviously.

geez I love these threads every winter..........



john