dangerousdave
1994 6.5 Suburban
Thanks to all of the good advice from experience.
My own 2 cents in order (I'm a cheap bastid too);
Separate & clean the cooling stack, purge the system both ways (reverse flush then forward flush) and run the water to clean out all the flush chemicals.
Replace the fan and clutch with the best you can afford, there are many threads about that here.
Put a decent air dam under the front bumper! Diverting air pressure from under the engine, to instead go through the cooling stack has been worth the strange looks I get from the border guards. I just tell 'em it improves MPGs and cooling, and it's true. I made mine from 1x6 boards, angle iron, some 90* brackets, and sheet metal, all free from my junk stashes; paint to match body color.
Unplug the exhaust; like with a Flowmaster DP (downpipe), an 'empty' catalytic/soot trap, muffler removal. 4 inch exhaust pipes seem great if you tow heavy from what others report. The turbo chops up the noise and the empty cat mellows the sound, we like it.
Use only distilled water and good (not cheap) coolant/antifreeze, carrying a durable container of coolant and another of distilled water for emergencies (I know) . .or. .
splurge on something like Evans waterless coolant. For my Burb it was not cheap, and required filling it with Evans, running it to warm, draining and boiling the mix in some big pots to get rid of the water. Twice. All this even after using their purge fluid. In use, it's great EXCEPT for the unexpected; given that it runs with zero pressure, the hoses don't burst from fatigue, but they can fail from normal under hood heat and engine movement. Anything like a piece of junk kicked up from the road or a flying tool propelled by the fan will puncture a hose and then, well you're back to water in the middle of nowhere. I know of stationary industrial uses of Propylene Glycol(PG) that work very well. The low toxicity was an important factor to me, as I have a small fleet of animals I care about. Amsoil and other MFG.s are now on the PG wagon, so there are options. http://www.lubricationspecialist.com/ is Greg, a supporting vendor here. He carries two brands of PG.
http://www.leroydiesel.com/ is another great support here, I get great value from Leroy.
OK, more that 2 cents, more like $2.50. Welcome aboard.
My own 2 cents in order (I'm a cheap bastid too);
Separate & clean the cooling stack, purge the system both ways (reverse flush then forward flush) and run the water to clean out all the flush chemicals.
Replace the fan and clutch with the best you can afford, there are many threads about that here.
Put a decent air dam under the front bumper! Diverting air pressure from under the engine, to instead go through the cooling stack has been worth the strange looks I get from the border guards. I just tell 'em it improves MPGs and cooling, and it's true. I made mine from 1x6 boards, angle iron, some 90* brackets, and sheet metal, all free from my junk stashes; paint to match body color.
Unplug the exhaust; like with a Flowmaster DP (downpipe), an 'empty' catalytic/soot trap, muffler removal. 4 inch exhaust pipes seem great if you tow heavy from what others report. The turbo chops up the noise and the empty cat mellows the sound, we like it.
Use only distilled water and good (not cheap) coolant/antifreeze, carrying a durable container of coolant and another of distilled water for emergencies (I know) . .or. .
splurge on something like Evans waterless coolant. For my Burb it was not cheap, and required filling it with Evans, running it to warm, draining and boiling the mix in some big pots to get rid of the water. Twice. All this even after using their purge fluid. In use, it's great EXCEPT for the unexpected; given that it runs with zero pressure, the hoses don't burst from fatigue, but they can fail from normal under hood heat and engine movement. Anything like a piece of junk kicked up from the road or a flying tool propelled by the fan will puncture a hose and then, well you're back to water in the middle of nowhere. I know of stationary industrial uses of Propylene Glycol(PG) that work very well. The low toxicity was an important factor to me, as I have a small fleet of animals I care about. Amsoil and other MFG.s are now on the PG wagon, so there are options. http://www.lubricationspecialist.com/ is Greg, a supporting vendor here. He carries two brands of PG.
http://www.leroydiesel.com/ is another great support here, I get great value from Leroy.
OK, more that 2 cents, more like $2.50. Welcome aboard.
