New and Used Car Talk Reviews Hot Cars Comparison Automotive Community

The Largest Car Forum in the Philippines

Page 2 of 2 FirstFirst 12
Results 11 to 16 of 16
  1. Join Date
    Jul 2006
    Posts
    3,601
    #11
    Running hot on uphill climbs is normal especially if it is steep, if you have a heavy load, and combine that with harsh conditions, since it's more effort to run uphill than on level ground, just like walking uphill takes a considerable amount of effort compared to walking on level ground.

    How's the water pump? Is the radiator original? Despite following routine maintenance, the chemical reactions that transpire when water runs through metal will still lead to corrosion, and prevents sufficient cooling. Sometimes instead of a lavramon, a citric acid flush is done to declog not just the radiator but also the water jackets in the engine. If you have a heater, running the car with the heater on allows this flush to also clear up the heater core and corresponding parts. I don't know if Lavramon is similar so I'm just throwing out the idea to you.

    Also what kind of coolant do you use? Some generic ones like Prestone don't always have the necessary good stuff in it. By the way how many km/miles did you rack up during the course of your cooling system maintenance (April 2006 - May 2008)?

    You mentioned you have a reservoir. I do know that the reservoir is not pressurized, so if cooling solution (50-50 coolant/water) were to pour into that bottle, it had the opportunity to evaporate, so when the radiator cooled down, allowing it to suck back the cooling solution it poured into the reservoir, the reservoir will seem to have lost some fluid, to which you just top up. Just a thought, because if it's a closed/pressurized system, and it still loses some fluid, then you have a real problem.

  2. Join Date
    Jun 2006
    Posts
    2,605
    #12
    How's the water pump? Is the radiator original? Despite following routine maintenance, the chemical reactions that transpire when water runs through metal will still lead to corrosion, and prevents sufficient cooling. Sometimes instead of a lavramon, a citric acid flush is done to declog not just the radiator but also the water jackets in the engine. If you have a heater, running the car with the heater on allows this flush to also clear up the heater core and corresponding parts. I don't know if Lavramon is similar so I'm just throwing out the idea to you.
    Have not checked the water pump but I do not notice wet spots in the morning.

    Radiator is original. About 6 years old. The citric acid flush is similar to lavramon. lavramon is basically a chemical clean of the radiator and water jackets using an acid and a machine to pump it. They start by removing the t-stat and connecting the machine to your car. They then pump in water and pump out the old coolant. They did this several times until clean water came out. They then pumped in the acid and rinsed till clear. No sign of rust, just old coolant came out. It did smell pretty bad.

    T-stat was tested, returned and a new 50/50 mix put in. Engine was off the whole time so I dont know if the heater core was cleaned out or not.

    Also what kind of coolant do you use? Some generic ones like Prestone don't always have the necessary good stuff in it. By the way how many km/miles did you rack up during the course of your cooling system maintenance (April 2006 - May 2008)?
    Used Prestone before. New coolant (after lavramon) made by Total. Just the green stuff. Manual says use dexcool but I'm wary of this stuff after reading a lot of horror stories on the net. Anyway, maunual did say that if I use other coolant, just change sooner. Dexcool is rated for 5 years service life. Did about 26.000 kms in 2 years.

    Forgot to add in the maintenance history, I had the cooling system pressure tested around May 2007, no pressure loss. mechanic used a hand pump with a pressure guage. Dont know what the device is called.

  3. Join Date
    Jan 2008
    Posts
    380
    #13
    Coolant - ok
    Radiator -ok internally, but do the air flows freely through its fins wala bang 'papogi' modifications na ginawa sa harap ng sasakyan.
    (-) Leaks
    Thermostat - di kaya napalitan w/ higher temp opening
    Water pump - ??
    Exhaust Restriction -??
    Cooling Fans- ??
    Lean burn- ?? lean mix in petrol engines is hotter while in diesel engines it
    it is the Rich mix that shoots the temperature up, more black
    smoke more power but hotter.

    Di kaya ganito talaga ang original setting ng cooling profile of this particular car. Anayway, modifications can be made to make the car run cooler.

  4. Join Date
    Jun 2006
    Posts
    2,605
    #14
    Coolant - ok
    Radiator -ok internally, but do the air flows freely through its fins wala bang 'papogi' modifications na ginawa sa harap ng sasakyan.
    (-) Leaks
    Thermostat - di kaya napalitan w/ higher temp opening
    Water pump - ??
    Exhaust Restriction -??
    Cooling Fans- ??
    Lean burn- ?? lean mix in petrol engines is hotter while in diesel engines it
    it is the Rich mix that shoots the temperature up, more black
    smoke more power but hotter.

    Di kaya ganito talaga ang original setting ng cooling profile of this particular car. Anayway, modifications can be made to make the car run cooler.
    1. no mods. car is tock except for a sound system. no connection with cooling naman.
    2. t-stat is original from car, not replaced.
    3. H2O pump - needs to be checked
    4. exhaust - stock
    5. cooling fans - seems to be ok
    6. lean burn - engine stock no mods air filter replaced last dec 07.

    Anyway, I think and hope there is no problem. I drove from Manila to Batangas City to Lipa City yesterday around noon time. Very hot weather then sudden down pour at Star toll near Balagtas exit, then hot again. Temp only touched 1/2 once after exiting Star Toll. Went down to normall quickly.

    I think that since I drive mostly on the highway, the airflow keeps the car cool. After exiting the highway, the stop and go traffic cuts off the airflow and this causes the temp guage to go up. The fans will then sense the hotter temp and blow at high speed, cooling it down again.

    I'm just concerned cause this car model is known for overheating. Dont want to get stuck in SLEX or Star.

  5. Join Date
    Jul 2006
    Posts
    3,601
    #15
    Looks like you're OK naman, maybe you're just too paranoid. I've been there myself. You've done your HW anyway so enjoy the fruits of your labor for now. A little change is normal especially when coming to a stop from a highway run (imagine the hot oil circulating, that the radiator needs to cool down, in addition to the hot coolant, and the use of AC).

    If you can't sleep because of this have the radiator replaced na. Check mo muna kung ok pa yung plastic niya, sometimes after a long time the plastic necks break, or yield at the weakest points.

  6. Join Date
    Nov 2003
    Posts
    3,849
    #16
    check the fan connection. baka may problem ulit from there.

Page 2 of 2 FirstFirst 12
Red Line Water wetter user review