Project Viper GTS: Part 2 – General Maintenance

Before we filled our radiator back up, we measured the coolant performance of the mixture that came out of the radiator.  We were pleasantly surprised to see that our car’s OEM factory fill Dodge 3-Year Green OAT (Organic Acid Tehnology) coolant has been flushed and upgraded to the better performing Mopar 5-Year Red HOAT (Hybrid Organic Acid Technology) type coolant.

Measure original
Our car came from Illinois which can get very cold in winter, and preventing the coolant from freezing and cracking the block or radiator is very important.  As you can see, the coolant mixture is good or -45*F.  However our car resides in the sunny state of Florida that will rarely ever see freezing weather.
Water Wetter
Since coolant is an insulator, we can improve our car’s cooling slightly by diluting the coolant ratio and using a couple bottles of Water Wetter.  Since we did not replace the lower radiator hose nor did we completely drain the coolant out of the radiator or engine, more than half of the Viper’s 3.2 Gallon capacity remained.
Original Cap
We removed the factory radiator cap as well as the aftermarket clear rubber tube, which did not have a great seal to the cap, especially with the small zip tie holding it on.
Water Wetter Fill
We then filled the reservoir with two bottles of Water Wetter and less than a gallon of distilled water.

Rad Caps
We replaced the factory 17lb radiator cap with a 16lb ASP Radiator Cap from ROE Racing which has a sacrificial anode that stops Electrolytic Metal Erosion (EME) inside the cooling system.  The cooling system carries a slight positive charge which can erode the aluminum components in the cooling system from the radiator to the block itself.  This sacrificial anode is hung from the radiator cap and is made of a softer metal which the EME attacks first.  This extends the life of all metal components in the cooling system and is a great investment.
New Cap installed
With our new ASP Radiator Cap installed, we replaced the clear hose with a new Semisoft 5/16” ID (with a 9/16” OD) High-Temp Silicone Rubber Tubing from McMaster-Carr which has a -94*F to 392*F operating range.  Part 5K29.  We used a constant-tension spring band hose/tube clamp for 5/8” hose (Part # 7329K11) and a screw clamp to ensure a tight fit over the metal hard lines.

Water Wetter
After running the car for a while and mixing the new Water Wetter and additional distilled water, we checked the performance of our new mix.  Our coolant’s freezing point has raised from -45*F to 0*F.  This should improve our cooling performance while still giving us a 32*F of cushion from freezing just in case our car does see cold weather.

Quick Reference:

Page 1 – Oil Change
Page 2 – Oil Change, Power Steering Tube, and Spark Plug Wires
Page 3 – Spark Plug Wires and Spark Plugs
Page 4 – Quality Wires & Stock Temperature Gauge Values!
Page 5 – Stock Water Temp Sending Unit & Roe Silicone Hose & Bleeder Kit
Page 6 – Coolant Concentration, Cap & Water Wetter
Page 7 – AC check valve & Water Temp Gauge install
Page 8 & 9 – Water temp gauge install

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