Rodney Red Radiator & Maintenance

[colorado_joe]

I should be getting my new Rodney Red Radiator in within the next week or two. Not soon enough either.... Last weekend I towed the race car with an open trailer and overheated on the way to and from the track.
Heading up hills the truck would lose power, start smoking real good, and I could see the temp rising quick.
Truck is a 7.3, 3-speed auto.

So I'm going to replace the radiator, and I'm wondering what other maintenance I should take care of at the same time? The list of stuff I would like to do is...endless,....but what are good things to take care of since I'll have all the coolant out? Mainly I don't want to to have to drain the coolant to do maintenance later if I can do it now.

Ex:
- New filter in auto tranny, and blow out the lines going into the radiator (verify not plugged)
- New thermostat from IH
- Should I blow air through the engine and blow out any old coolant before I fill up with the good stuff?
- I already replaced the coolant hoses this spring
- previous owner replaced water pump last summer

Thanks in advance!

 

[SparkandFire]

Sounds like you are on the right track!

Do yourself a favor and install a coolant filter while you've got it apart. It will keep things nice and clean, and you can do the precharged SCA's while you are at it.

 

[dsltech83]

There are two 3/8" pipe plugs in the block-one on each side lower than the freeze plugs. Take those out -they seal the water jackets- then run the garden hose and flush the block and get all the crud out. Then mix some 50/50 Distilled water and low silicate green coolant and refill the whole system and add SCA's accordingly.

 

[RLDSL]

In your neck of the woods, you need all the cooling you can get. My RR Rad saved my hind end running back through there..
You might want to seriously consider running Evans waterless coolant. It's costy as heck, it'll run you around $300 to put it in, but it's cheap insurance. The stuff has a 375 deg non pressurized boiling point. towing heavy over those passes around there that can come in REAL handy if something goes wrong. My fan clutch folded on me and i made it back across dragging the 5er on just my electric pusher fans with tha RR rad and Evans. The temps got up there a ways sometimes, but I didn't have to worry about it damaging anything

I['m going to a dual E fan setup here real soon, I was out working on the shroud today After having that high dollar MS tech fan clutch fold on me, I've had it with fan clutches. That one was a ford one and all others are made by hayden these days and I won't put one of those things on. Jerry there at RR designed the basic fan setup so it should work real sweet with the rad but I'll be the test rat.

 

[icanfixall]

Might be a good idea to run a radiater block cleaner thru the old rad and cooling system before you install the Red. That way your system will be as clean as it can be just before you change things. I really can't recommend a good quality radaiter block cleaner either. The evens coolant is a great idea. Whatever you do make sure if your using a water based coolant to use only true distilled water. Reverse osmosis water is not distilled water. Its the solids in the tap or well water that kills our cooling systems.

 

[RLDSL]

The best kind of cooling system cleaner is the soap based cleaner ( the ones where the main ingredient is listed as surfactant, i.e. fancy name for soap ). It will clean out all the scunge and oil and nasties, but it won't harm your gaskets or eat up anything it shouldn't. You do not want to use acid based flushes. THose things are murder on gaskets and various metals. Acid baths are ok for radiators that are removed , but not full cooling systems.

 

[icanfixall]

You mean a well diluted mix of muratic acid is not the prefered way of doing a fast cleaning....

 

[colorado_joe]

The best kind of cooling system cleaner is the soap based cleaner ( the ones where the main ingredient is listed as surfactant, i.e. fancy name for soap ). It will clean out all the scunge and oil and nasties, but it won't harm your gaskets or eat up anything it shouldn't. You do not want to use acid based flushes. THose things are murder on gaskets and various metals. Acid baths are ok for radiators that are removed , but not full cooling systems.

Sounds Good. Thanks.

I'll run this cleaner through with the running truck now, before removing/replacing the radiator.

 

[Full Monte]

The best kind of cooling system cleaner is the soap based cleaner ( the ones where the main ingredient is listed as surfactant, i.e. fancy name for soap ). It will clean out all the scunge and oil and nasties, but it won't harm your gaskets or eat up anything it shouldn't. You do not want to use acid based flushes. THose things are murder on gaskets and various metals. Acid baths are ok for radiators that are removed , but not full cooling systems.

I used to know an old auto mechanic who used Washing Soda to clean out the crud before putting in new antifreeze. I've done it a few times myself, but not on a diesel. Has anyone else had experience with this?

 

[The Warden]

Forgive the quasi-off-topic question, but how much are Rodney Red radiators going for these days? I'm guessing that the price has come down a bit since the earliest ones, since they're making them as a matter of routine instead of custom-making them for our trucks now.

As things currently stand, my radiator does a good job of cooling, but that may change after the intercooler's installed, so I'm thinking about pre-emptively upgrading and then trying to sell my current radiator...thanks in advance

 

[alienturtle]

I should be getting my new Rodney Red Radiator in within the next week or two.

if you dont mind me asking what did you pay for your RRR? Mines still leaking and i keep putting it off

 

[icanfixall]

Well 5 years ago mine was $640.00 shipped to the west coast. Thats the best money I ever spent on the cooling system. The enternet has cheaper ones but you get what you pay for too...

 

[alienturtle]

well thats kind of why mine is still the way it is. i was looking a couple all aluminum radiators in the 300$ range but iv been told they arnt that stout. . I think i got the quote from radiators plus or something like that

 

[colorado_joe]

The current price (I paid) was $750 shipped to my door. His core prices have gone up, hence the price increase. It's a bit more than a local parts store, or an internet deal, but I am positive it should kick butt!

I get a little tired of buying cheap parts that are a quick fix. And I don't mind paying for a quality part built in the US.

My radiator should be in this week. I hope I can get some photos of it and the install once I have a chance to tear the truck down.

Another question for the experts:
For an aftermarket water temp gauge; it's just a one wire electric set-up? It in no way in inline with the coolant, meaning I should install when the system is empty, right?
I've added electric water temp gauges on my mustangs, and I figure the F-250 should be similar.