Diluted Coolant?

[ahazuarus]

I recently had my car "serviced." I have been taking several trips to the mountains and each time find my car coming very close to over heating. I checked my coolant and found it looks very diluted. Why would it look like this? What should I do?

[geoffinbc]

Diluted coolant would work better. Water cools much better than antifreeze. Check for clogs if your car is running Dex Cool

[ahazuarus]

I was afraid of that. Should I have the system flushed? I have already had the whole system flushed and many parts replaced... you know.. the works. I think its a bit soon to be dealing with this nonsense again don't you?

[PCGUY112887]

What parts did they replace?

All of the air may not be out of the system yet if they did a bad job at it. Does it seem to go up high then jump back down, as if it may be stuck on an air bubble, get hot, then go back down after the bubble moves on?

[ahazuarus]

It has been quite awhile since this work was done, so I would not think that an air bubble would be it.

Here is a typical scenario in which heat becomes a problem. Hot summer day in the mountains.. traveling up and over a pass. During the climb, the temperature steadily rises until the needle begins to reach the red zone. When I get over the pass and the load on the engine is removed, the temperature goes back down to where it should be (within only 2 minuets).

However, if I get stuck in traffic where I must idle much of the time, the temperature will not go back down without running the heater full blast (in the middle of summer). My guess is that this behavior is not normal.

[Azrael]

Make sure your radiator is getting good airflow through it too. Clean off the insect carcasses and other debris and make sure that none of the fins are bent too badly. This could also be a sign that the fan isn't moving as much air as it should be.

[ahazuarus]

Turns out, there were some radiator shroud pieces that did not come with the car. (I bought the car totaled) I guess someone removed them at one point and never put them back on.

So apparently the purpose of these particular shrouds is to prevent recirculation of hot air through the radiator. Makes perfect sense to me, but I don't know where I am going to find these pieces.

Other than that, the entire cooling system appears to be operating in optimal condition.

I was also told that in mountain driving conditions, I should be running in 3rd gear?

I am told the idea is that the engine running at higher rpm would cause more air and coolant circulation and thus keep a lower running temperature?