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2K views 1 reply 2 participants last post by  lux hauler 
#1 ·
Well, the '79 will be going away for the winter... I will run it for a while once a week or so...

but the coolant dosn't look very good... in the plastic container it is brownish, but when I remove the radiator cap, it is green... although the cap itself is very rusty, and all the coolant in the area of the cap has rust in it when I take it off... I need to buy a new cap...

it is cold.. and I am not in the mood to do a full coolant change... if I simply pull off the lower rad hose and drain whatever comes out, connect it then fill it back up... is that good enough? how much would a shop charge to do a coolant change?

Unless I just bring it to one of those lube places, and have then do a coolant change as well as change the oil in the rear end... which I want to have replaced soon anyway....

or will it be fine for winter, and I'll do it... along with other stuff in the Spring? are the cast iron big blocks as tempermental to coolant changes as the 4.x and NorthStar are? either way, i am going to be replacing the cap... it is bad, if I touch it, rust comes on my hand... I don't want that going around the cooling system...
 
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#2 ·
If the coolant is still bright green and tests to a level that will keep it from freezing, it should be good. If the coolant in the radiator is a brown-ish color, it needs to be changed......flushing the system might not be a bad idea either.

Iron block/head engines don't usually need the "special care" that some of the aluminum/iron engines do but they still need to be kept up to make sure the system does not fail.

Change that cap. A rusted cap could cause over-heating problems if the cap were to fail.

Below is a link to a pretty good site on the cooling system and some how to tips.
http://www.troubleshooters.com/tpromag/200204/200204.htm
 
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