I am preparing my truck for winter and have a few questions about anti-freeze additives.

Should I add the water pump lubricant and stop leak anti-freeze additives to the anti-freeze when I winterize?

 

Call me old school but i've never been a fan of additives in my auto fluids, though I have used radiator stop leak in a pinch. I've lived in NW Montana off and on my entire life and the only prep work I do when going into winter is to verify the anti-freeze levels in the radiator with a simple hand held squeeze ball unit and add accordingly. As long as you are not having coolant system issues now then I'd definitely stay away from adding lubricant or stop leak stuff to a perfectly good working system. My 2-cents.

 

I've always used the liquid Bar's leak becuase of the graphite thats in it to help lube my water pump, and I've never had a problem.

But I do understand anyone who stays away from them because there are a bunch of snake oils out there that can hurt your motor, thus I always look for products that have been arounds since cars were first made.

 

use just fresh anti freeze 50/50 if you are changing the coolant.

 

about 300 lbs in the bed will make life a little more fun also.

 

i drive my awd subaru which is a lot of fun and cheaper too.

 

As Dean suggested, Bar's Leaks is the only additive I would use, and that's only if you have any really small leakage issues. Cleared my problem right up. As long as the system is "tight" and problem-free, I'd just flush it and use 50/50 mix, as has also been suggested.

It would behoove you to also inspect your heater core. You didn't say what year your truck is, but on my '87, all you have to do is drop the glovebox, take out 7 screws on the cover, and there it is. If it's leaking or looks like it has leaked at some point, you'll know.

For extra winter traction, I have a fairly good supply of concrete blocks which I put in the bed. If you can lay hands on an old wooden shipping pallet, you can take out a few of the cross-pieces and lay 'em in that. Then if you have to move 'em around to make room for stuff, they're all together, which makes it easier.

 

I'm not a fan of cooling system additives for gasoline engines either. Good, name brand antifreeze already has water pump lube blended in. I don't use any type of stop leak although I do carry tubes of powdered stop leak in the advent of an emergency. As for traction weights I prefer sand weights over things like concrete blocks. In an accident concrete blocks can become a projectile. I've seen a couple of pickups in relatively minor winter accidents sustain far more damage from flying concrete than the accident itself. You can buy ready made sand weights but I make them myself. I use a large inner tube, cut it into 2 sections, fill each section with sand then tie the ends shut with heavy cable ties. I put one behind each wheel well.

 

No stop leak! I've flushed too many systems that had it added and even after a good flush it's never the same. In the long run it'll cause more problems than it cures. Most minor leaks are easily fixed. Just verify your freeze protection is strong enough. If the coolant looks like it needs changed, a fresh flush should be fine.

 

Would tend to agree with the general opinion of no antifreeze additives. I have heard too many stories of clogged heater cores, etc to just use it when no issue calls for it. A check of the mix to make sure it is good to -30 or so is all I do, top off or flush as needed. Other standard pre-winter stuff to check...battery H20, cable connections, hose conditions, belts, course oil and filter reasonably fresh. I watch for IsoHeat on sale and carry a few in the tool box to add when I fill up throughout winter (for weight I try to keep both tanks full and fill at half tank when needed). Oh, and don't forget the wipers and washer fluid..some of the summer cheapo stuff isn't worth a darn when it gets really cold and can actually slush up or freeze so use some good deicer stuff...makes a difference.

I know that most of this stuff is standard, but thought a reminder might save you the hassle of "dammit, I knew I forgot to _______" when it is too late.

 

if your coolant is good but you want to know if its strong enough just get a test strip...dip it in the coolant and match colors from the strip to the label and that will tell you the freeze point...i dont know where you can get them though...if you cant find one go to a big rig shop like peterbilt or kenworth or somethin they will have em

 

testers with the floating ***** are cheap and at every auto parts store, even autozone.