| Re: Preventing head gasket and cooling system failures...
You're mostly on the right track... Definitely I would do the cooling system refill with 50/50 distilled water and DexCool plus the Bars Leaks powder.
As far as the oil change, anything I say will probably spark a holy war, but I personally don't think the MaxLife stuff is worth the money. Whatever they put in there to "condition" seals means they had to subtract something that was probably serving a useful purpose before. It might help stop or slow a tiny leak, but it isn't the best oil out there, and it certainly won't fix any problems. If you want to put good oil in there, use a quality synthetic like Mobil 1 and use a good quality filter like a PureOne, AC/Delco, or Mobil 1. Don't put anything in the oil. Additives, whatever they do, are probably not worth the money or trouble. Or, you could save the money and use an AC/Delco filter and conventional "dino" or "mineral" non-synthetic motor oil 10W-30 and get by just fine.
Check the trans fluid. What does it look like? Is it a nice bright red, or is it dull and brownish or dirty? It should be red and smell like transmission fluid. If it smells burnt, or is leaning toward grey/brown in color, change it with a quality Dexron-III transmission fluid. No matter what anybody at any shop tells you, do not have the transmission flushed or pumped. Under ideal circumstances, theoretically, the pump should be a good thing, but in reality, it doesn't get done correctly to have the right benefits and can actually cause damage to the transmission. It should only be drained from the pan and the hidden side cover drain screw removed and replaced. The screens need to be cleaned and re-installed and the pan gasket can be reused. Someone jump in here and correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe bbob mentioned that the factory fills them up with a Texaco brand fluid.
I don't know what to tell you about power steering fluid. There's a filter on the power steering system, and unless the system has been opened for a long time or some other problem has happened to the pump or something, the fluid should be fine. Never heard anyone here mention changing it, but if you choose to do so, make sure to get the air out of the system per instructions in the manual.
Do it yourself or have your mechanic check for codes in the computer. Hold down the OFF and passenger-side WARMER buttons for a few seconds until all the dash lights come on and it will scroll through the codes. Write them down, including the 6-character code and whether it's CURRENT or HISTORY, then post them here.
It's late and I can't think of anything else right now. I'm sure someone else will chime in with more recommendations. In the meantime, the car sure looks nice. Somebody has done a good job of detailing it and spraying silicone all over the stuff under the hood so it's nice and shiny. Looks like a million bux. Good luck, and keep us in the loop of how things work out.
__________________ Mike  | 
Preventing head gasket and cooling system failures... 
