Hi Everyone!
I recently discovered some great mountain roads near me, and have been enjoying some top down driving this summer! But I am having some cooling system issues. I flushed the coolant system when I installed a third radiator, new water pump and low temp thermostat about 10k miles ago, and used OEM coolant in a 50/50 mix. The coolant tank and cap are fine, no leaks, radiators fans all work and are clean.
I have been running at the middle tick between 180 and 250 this summer in temps over 70° F, even with my high radiator fans manually triggered. (The temps climb normally to 180, then if it is hotter than 70° F it starts climbing again after a few minutes.) Yesterday, I got caught in traffic and my coolant temp started to pass the middle tick, I pulled over and let it cool down. The coolant level was good, oil was fine. I started it back up to get to where I was going, and the temp kept climbing. I pulled over again and got a red coolant light as I stopped. At that point the coolant temp was 122° C (250° F), and the engine fan triggered. I was also having issues with my idle at this point. When I came to a stop instead of dropping to 900rpm, it was fluctuating, and I had at least one stall from the rpm getting too low. Once I got back on the freeway, no issues, it cooled back down once I got air into the radiators at 70mph+.
I am dealing with 90-110° F temperatures at about 5,000' feet this summer, but I also deal with snow in the winter, as low as -10° F. I am thinking I should adjust the coolant mix to have more distilled water than anti-freeze/coolant so that it has a higher capacity for cooling.
I can't think of anything else to change/try/test, any advice? Thanks!
