Getting ready for Winter..

jeepkj02 · **Posted:** Tue Nov 13, 2007 3:31 pm

I've got about 76K on the clock and I think I need to change my antifreeze.

I bought the Peak Long-Life 50/50 Pre-diluted Antifreeze: http://www.peakantifreeze.com/peak_longlife_5050.html

Any tips on changing the antifreeze, I also bought some new upper/lower radiator hoses, how do I get those hose clamps off? Can I use the regular screw-on hose clamps when I put the new ones on?

detroit_doc · **Posted:** Tue Nov 13, 2007 4:29 pm

If you flush your cooling system with straight water, 50/50 premix will not work. You will have nearly straight water in the block requiring you to fill up the radiator with nearly straight anti-freeze to get to a near 50/50 mix.

If you do not flush with water, you can use 50/50 mix. But you'll still have about 50% of the total capacity worth of the old antifreeze in the block. I'm not sure if that peak antifreeze is compatible with the existing antifeeze.

The radiator hose clamps are easy to get off. I just used a pair of plier that had jaws that opened wide. You just squeeze the tabs together and they slide off. They are reuseable.

Worm drive clamps tend to extrude the rubber of the hose through the little holes. I'd stick with the existing clamps.

Note that if you flush with water, fill the radiator with water and drive around for a while to get the thermostat to open. You'll know the thermostat has opened when the lower radiator hose gets hot. Keeping your heater on high will allow the old coolant to be flushed from the heater core.

sleeve84028 · **Posted:** Wed Nov 14, 2007 9:03 am

The Liberty came from the factory with H.O.A.T. coolant (the pink stuff.) It is different from Dex-Cool and very different from the original green coolants of yesteryear. Please make sure that the coolant you purchased from Peak is approved for the Chrysler product line and is compatable with H.O.A.T.

Quote:

Its Hybrid Organic Acid Technology (HOAT) chemistry combines the best of conventional and organic acid-based chemistry to provide the ultimate protection against rust and corrosion

Zerek G-05

To change the coolant is pretty straight forward... Just get a bucket and drain the radiator using the drain. The remove the hoses and replace. Change the thermostat and then reinstall everything and refill.

To completely flush out the system, you will need to go to a quick lube place that offers an approved H.O.A.T. coolant.

info on the coolant

meh_kick · **Posted:** Wed Nov 14, 2007 10:07 am

What is the capacity of the cooling system (ie, how much antifreeze is needed for the quick drain and refill)?

fmc1 · **Joined:** Mon Jul 18, 2005 10:34 am **Posts:** 19

chrysler MS 9769 is the spec. for the antifreeze. Make sure the stuff you have has that number on the bottle.

snowsport · **Joined:** Tue Oct 18, 2005 11:52 pm **Posts:** 1211

When I did this recently I used hose clamp pliers and I'm glad I did. Makes the job easier.

jeepkj02 · **Posted:** Wed Nov 14, 2007 11:29 am

http://www.peakantifreeze.com/peak_glob ... _5050.html

Peak's Global LifeTime Antifreeze is Chrysler Spec'd MS 9769. Saw this at Menards about $3 cheaper than their blue bottle Long Life, which does not mention it is Chrysler MS 9769 compatible.

detroit_doc · **Posted:** Wed Nov 14, 2007 2:14 pm

meh_kick wrote:

What is the capacity of the cooling system (ie, how much antifreeze is needed for the quick drain and refill)?

I did a flush and fill. But I believe if you just do a drain and fill of the radiator you'll need 1 gallon of non-premixed coolant (2 gal premix).

SD-KJ · **Posted:** Wed Nov 14, 2007 2:52 pm

if you just undo the drain cock does it go all over the place or can you control the drainage?

Is there a trick to this? I think i will be doing this job this weekend. Just drain whats in the radiator and then put in new.

-Nick

detroit_doc · **Posted:** Wed Nov 14, 2007 3:37 pm

SD-KJ wrote:

if you just undo the drain cock does it go all over the place or can you control the drainage?

Is there a trick to this? I think i will be doing this job this weekend. Just drain whats in the radiator and then put in new.

-Nick

You could hook a hose up to the petcockif you wanted. But I just put a big drain pan under the petcock and it worked fine.

jeepkj02 · **Posted:** Wed Nov 14, 2007 6:41 pm

detroit_doc wrote:

meh_kick wrote:

What is the capacity of the cooling system (ie, how much antifreeze is needed for the quick drain and refill)?

I did a flush and fill. But I believe if you just do a drain and fill of the radiator you'll need 1 gallon of non-premixed coolant (2 gal premix).

In my 2002 owners manual it said 13 quarts which is equal to 3.25 gallons of antifreeze.

detroit_doc · **Posted:** Wed Nov 14, 2007 10:25 pm

jeepkj02 wrote:

detroit_doc wrote:

meh_kick wrote:

What is the capacity of the cooling system (ie, how much antifreeze is needed for the quick drain and refill)?

I did a flush and fill. But I believe if you just do a drain and fill of the radiator you'll need 1 gallon of non-premixed coolant (2 gal premix).

In my 2002 owners manual it said 13 quarts which is equal to 3.25 gallons of antifreeze.

That's total capacity I believe. About 50% of that is in the engine block. If you don't do a flush, you are only changing the coolant in the radiator and resevoir. That's why 1 gallon (2 after mixing) should do it.

Getting ready for Winter..

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