New OEM Antifreeze Mix %

grimreaper said
Ya, they must get different water to antifreeze ratios depending on where they are delivered. A couple of Christmases ago I rented a mini van to make a short trip so seven of us could travel together. I noticed that the van came with Texas plates. The night I picked it up it dropped to -13 and I got to wondering if the van had enough antifreeze. I went and checked it and there was slush in the radiator. So I drove it around a bit and took our car out of the garage and put the van in for the night. When I returned the van I told the lady that if the van stays in the area they might want to add antifreeze! I can't imagine what fun I would have had had it got really cold that night!

Wow, OK. So it sounds like they may indeed change mixes. I would think that would be a ROYAL PITA in the factory..... I am familiar with diesel mixes changes.. I have had southern Indiana diesel gel up on me near Ft Wayne one cold winter day. And all of this started because we did see consistent -35F to -40F overnight temps in Idaho last winter.

RustyRatRod said
The other night when it got to like 15 here, I removed the radiator cap on the truck and it had ice slivers around the cap and around the cap opening, but the coolant on the tank was still liquid. I had measured it the day before and it went to -25.

People usually worry over nothing. It takes a LOT of cold to freeze coolant inside an engine.

Just another FWIW... the standard anti-freeze checkers, with the little balls in them, can be pretty inaccurate, like up to 20F off. They depend on the coolant being at a specific temp (around 60F, I think) to be accurate. So that is why I bought the refractometer. It was only $27 shipped.

jazak5 said
chiming in !!!!!!!!!!! my buddy has that truck and he was mad as hell !!!! when it ran rough in the last cold snap here in central NY -9 !!!!!!!!!!! 10, 000 miles on a lease !!!!!!!!! he said all sorts of lights were going off and ran like Sh-t, I would be more concerned on FUEL QUALITY !!!!!!!!! and take stock in 911 in the red and white bottle, I was stationed in Montana one winter -60 below WITH OUT WIND CHILL we couldn't even think of shutting off those deuce 1/2's !!// PLEASE// that part of the country is NO JOKE , take care

Yep, we are on our way out to WY today, and we'll stock up on some more anti-gel and some 911 along the way. Getting 11-12 mpg towing and enclosed trailer, so we will be filling up every 4 hours or so and getting the each region's diesel mix as we edge further north. I hope the rear fuel filter's heater is turned on!