Moving and Driving to Fairbanks in December/January (Wasilla: how much, buying)

[6.7traveler]

Hey guys, I am leaving on the 26th, less than a week from now! I feel pretty prepared and think I have almost everything covered (winter gear, new studded tires, lights, winter blades, block, battery and oilpan heater, etc.). I do have another question about my coolant. I have the factory mopar "oat" antifreeze in there since new (15k miles) which is I assume a 50/50 mixture from the factory which is rated down to minus 35 and obviously it can get colder than that. I did buy the jeep new in soldotna, but do not think they would of put any special blend of antifreeze in? The dealership here in CO claims I can't mix any other antifreeze without doing a coolant flush. Should I get this work done in Colorado? Or wait until I get up there? What mixture of antifreeze would you recommend? 60/40, 70/30? Anyway to dilute the mixture without forking over the $ for a coolant flush? Any tips or suggestions? I would prefer to get this done in fairbanks but should I not take any chances? Would the -35 coolant be OK temporarily if I did not shut the car off when it was approaching that temperature? Thanks.

[6.7traveler]

I also just realized that both of my silicone hot pad heaters are 150 watts. Is this too much heat for under the battery. On the hot pad instructions it says not to install under battery (kat's silicone hot pad 24150) which is what I was planning on doing? Should I scratch this and switch to a trickle charger? I would rather not obviously, but don't want the 150 watt heater to melt anything ....

[retiredinhomer]

I would use the trickle charger. The battery warmers either blanket or pad are exposed to the battery acid and don't last as long.

[6.7traveler]

Thank you, I plan on eventually getting a trickle charger but do you think a 150 watt heat pad under the battery would melt anything with that high of wattage? I guess why I ask is I had ordered a 150 watt heat pad instead of the 60 watt battery pad which I now noticed was a mistake and am worried about melting the battery with excessive heat. Would it be ok on a temporary basis until I get up there to use 150 watt hot pad until I can change to something else?
Also on my above antifreeze question. To avoid having to drain all my coolant out since it is relatively new and I don't want to mess with the job nor spend the money, I plan on draining out only .5 gallons of my 50/50 mixture, adding .5 gallons of 100% antifreeze to bring my mixture up to around 65% antifreeze. Will this work?

[riceme]

Is the Mopar coolant pre-mixed or something? I'm wondering why you can't buy some and add it yourself then you'll have some in your truck in case you need it, which is never a bad idea. They do now make a "generic" type antifreeze that's supposed to go in any vehicle, but I have never used it. My antifreeze is mixed down to -60*F. You can't really measure the mix you're ending up with without a flush especially when you don't know what you're starting with, so... For $100 plus cost of antifreeze, it's worth it in my book.

When I had my '97 Tacoma I actually flushed the old green antifreeze out (which was OEM) and put in the new Toyota pink antifreeze because after doing some research I found that it was a superior product. So, without knowing anything about Mopar products, I would caution against flushing the Mopar antifreeze without first doing some research. Based on your wording I couldn't tell if you were considering doing that or not. Also, when I bought my new truck, I made no assumptions and I gave the dealership specific instructions for what I wanted them to do: antifreeze down to -60* with Chevy antifreeze, fully winterized with block, tranny, oil pan, battery heaters, etc.

[riceme]

I don't think it's possible to partially drain a radiator. Well, it might be possible, but it would make a mess of titanic proportions and I can't think of any good way to do it off hand.

I have an opinion about the heater pad but I'm going to withhold my comment.

[6.7traveler]

I would appreciate your opinion on the heater pad. Are you withholding your opinion because you think 150 watt hot pad is way to much? Please bear with me as there is a pretty big learning curve here for me and I am doing my best.

As for the radiator I plan to pop the cap when it is cool, use a turkey baster to remove .5 gallons of 50/50 mix what's in there now, and add .5 gallons of straight 100% antifreeze and this should get my mixture into 65/35 range. It is the same kind of anti freeze and I don't know see why it wouldn't work, saving me a few bucks on the full coolant flush at only 15k miles.

[riceme]

When does your vehicle maintenance call for a flush? Okay I have to admit I never thought to "drain" your radiator with a turkey baster.

I don't think a 150w heater will hurt anything in the short term.

[6.7traveler]

It's a trick I learned when I am too lazy to bleed my brakes when I want to change fluid. I figure I get most of it out . Speaking of brakes, Do I need to do anything with my brake fluid? They call for coolant at 100k and I am at 15k is why I am cutting corners there.

I went ahead and got a trickle charger just now too to be on the safe side as well, so now I have an extra 150 watt heater. Oh well better safe than sorry.

[riceme]

I'd swap out for that trickle charger as soon as you can. I don't know what kind of driving you do or where you're from but I would never do that with your brake fluid again. There's a reason why mechanics dont have turkey basters in their tool chests.