Now that I have the new tranny installed in the Mustang, the Saturn will get some lovin' this weekend.

Looks like plain water has been in the cooling system for a while so a cleaning is in order. On the 'Stang I used white vinegar to dissolve any mineral buildup from the Florida tap water but I'm a bit shy about using that in the aluminum Saturn engine.

Anyone tried the dishwasher detergent flush in their Saturn? Would appreciate any comments from experienced owners. Since the temp rarely falls below 40 degrees, I run 20 to 25 percent coolant to distilled water.

I am also following the A/C threads as I have to get that working again! Looks like the compressor needs to be replaced, and perhaps some other components.

Bill

 

The factory service manual specifies only Calgon laundry detergent for flushing the cooling system. Maybe GM has an interest in the maker of the Calgon brand of laundry detergent.

Personally, if there isn't a problem, I do not flush with anything, but running only water in a Saturn's cooling system is very bad for it. I'm surprised it doesn't overheat on you. You need some antifreeze or some type of surfactant to break the surface tension on the water in order to get good heat transfer between the metal and coolant.

If there isn't a problem, drain the radiator and the block. If I remember correctly, the block drain is just below the lower radiator hose. Refill with 2 parts antifreeze, one part distilled water. Do the mixing in a separate container. Two reasons for doing the 2:1, more corrosion protection and you will have some remaining water in the system, not much but some so the 2:1 will get diluted somewhat. The remaining water might dilute a 50/50 mix a little too much, but that may not be an issue in Florida.

 

Cooling system has been a bit of a mystery, so far. No obvious signs of overheating.

The temp gauge comes off the peg very soon after a cold startup then never goes over about one third of the scale. I've replaced the temp sensor in the cylinder head with no change in the gauge behavior. Only time I hear the fan run is with the A/C switched on. Low speed may be so quiet that I don't hear it.

Re: Calgon. The higher priced detergents may have additional stuff in them. I think the "store brand" may be simple stuff and equivalent to Calgon so I'm going to try it. I already have it in the cupboard anyway!

Thanks for the informative reply.

 

Calgon? You have got to be kidding me. Either just use water or go get some Prestone radiator flush at the auto parts store. No way in hell I'd ever put soap in my engine's cooling system.

 

Why Charlie? It could turn into a bubble blaster out the exhaust, sounds like fun to me!

 

If I want bubbles, I'll fart in the bath tub.

 

I have used Prestone flush in the past, OK I stopped using it in the mid 80's, but prior to that, I used it quite often. In 85 or so, I acquired my mothers 78 Mercury Zephyr Z-7 that she had owned since new and had had it maintained by the book. I used the Prestone super flush in it and within weeks, I had to replace the water pump and the radiator hoses and two of the three heater hoses.

I drove it across country shortly there after and in Winslow AZ on a very cold December Sunday morning, that last little molded heater hose that I had not been able to obtain started leaking. Finally after the local churches let out, a parts store opened and I bought a foot of hose, bent it into a large loop to replace the 2" 90° heater hose so that I could get home.

I mentioned to my mother about all the hoses going out and she told me that she had just had the cooling system serviced before I bought the car and all the hoses were new. Then I realized that I had always had problems with hoses and water pumps just after using flush chemicals to flush my cooling systems. It didn't really matter whet brand, they all did the same thing.

After that, I stopped using flush chemicals, stopped flushing completely, just doing periodic drain and fills and I stopped having cooling system issues ever since. Since then, with a slew of different vehicles and close to a million miles of driving, I've had one radiator leak due to the rubber seal between the tank and the core (14 years and 170k), a heater hose leak due to an oil leak just above it that swelled and weakened the rubber (15 years and 170k), a gooseneck leak dues to an oxide inclusion during casting (brand new vehicle) and one water pump leak (265k 12 years).

I am not making a public accusation here, but that is my experience. BTW, old racers used to prefer Tide detergent when cleaning an engine in prep for rebuild, but that was to degrease the engine after teardown.

I do the drain and refill I described earlier using a universal long-life antifreeze, any major brand (on sale preferred) and distilled water at a 2:1 ratio (67% rich) and change it every 6 years or so. Before the long-life, it was every 4 years. I think the long-life can go much longer but I'm not sure how long and the result of going even just a little too long are high, antifreeze is comparatively cheap.

 

One more thing for consideration, Peak antifreeze is the only antifreeze that meets the specifications for Japanese cars (other than their own house brands) with the exception of a stop leak they add. Subaru now has an 11 year first change interval for their factory fill.

Other brands meet the European standards instead, but I really don't think there is a dimes worth of difference between any of them, its mostly passing tests and paying for the certification.

 

Keith, Interesting and informative posts. In the old days, Tide probably had some phosphate in it and that was why it worked well in the clean-before-assembly process.

Probably don't want to use laundry detergent in your cooling system. Once upon a time I loaded the dishwasher and found there was no Cascade in the cupboard so I substituted laundry detergent. Suds oozing out from the seals all around the door!!

Other things cropped up over the weekend so I never got the hood up on the Saturn.

To be continued!

 

I drained a bit of the existing water from the cooling system (about 3 quarts). It was peanut butter brown in color. I also cleaned some peanut butter sludge from the rim of the plastic expansion tank and its cap.

I mixed about 3/4 cup of Cascade with 2 quarts of warm water, stirred it up and poured it in. Added more warm water to top off the system then took it for a ride. I'll probably drive it around a bit more before draining and refilling. The coolant water has turned peanut butter brown! I guess the detergent is doing the job!

I am curious about temperature gauge behavior on other cars. Is the warmup time quick? Mine is less than five minutes and only gets just past one quarter scale. Never hear my radiatior fan run either!!