Which Coolant?

greenscobie86 · Nov 9, 2009

Hey guys,

I just picked up a 96 Cobra a few days ago and have some questions.

I am going to do a coolant fulsh when I change out the leaking rad.
Is there a special coolant that goes into these cars or is the regular ole' 50/50 mix of green stuff good?

I also thought about changing the thrmostat, should I stay with the stock 192 or go with a 180? (I already retuned the fans to come on earlier vis SCT Xcal 2 btw so the car doesn't run hot.)

Much appreciated fellas! I'll be posting alot soon, with many questions and stuff! :headbang:

TxCobrA98 · Nov 9, 2009

50/50 will suffice. i run about a 70/30 mixture and a 160* thermo with holes drilled into it.

My car runs right at 175-180* in 80-90 degree weather.

greenscobie86 · Nov 9, 2009

Cool beans. Thank you.

So will I be okay with a 180 degree tstat since I'm in New York and it is alot colder here than in TX?

TxCobrA98 · Nov 9, 2009

i dont see why not.

joekd · Nov 9, 2009

I have a drilled 180 in my car which is fine for year round use, I also used prestone premix coolant last time i filled it

MustangChris · Nov 9, 2009

if you start cooling the car too much and too soon your going to shorten your motor's life due to the fact that the oil will stay cooler longer which means that it will be less effective on start ups and less effective until it warms to proper opperating temperatures. It may also cause problem i'm not aware of due to my small brain not knowing everything...

to go to a 180* therm., with holes in it, with early fans, and a new radiator and a 70/30 mixture. . . . your going extreme for a DD, street car thats reliable the way it is...

I suggest leaving the thermostat at stock temperature for the thermostat, use Peak/prestone coolant (pure 100% coolant) and mix it yourself with store-bought distilled water. (unless you honestly feel like distilling your own water. lol) to 50/50.

Honestly, if you start doing all these coolant upgrades on your car, you probably wont see any problems... im not saying "if you drill a hole in your thermostat your #4 rod will start knocking." I'm just telling you to look at the bigger picture and to weigh the benifits and consequenses. shorter lifepan (even if its just a few months) to gain . . . .. ????

as long as your car doesnt have an overheating problem, there is not much need to start ovver-doing the coolant system with upgrades. an upgraded radiator, early fans, and a slightly-off ratio probably wont harm anything, even in the long run... but if youre keeping your car at 150* when optimal temperature is like, 200*... clearly you are going out of ford's engineering plans, which may be a good idea on some cars, but not such a good idea on nearly stock, fully reliable, almost-factory cars...

greenscobie86 · Nov 9, 2009

^ thanks for the input guys, and the detailed reply Chris lol.

I guess I was overr thinking this whole thing a little too much. In my 96GT i had a new Dorman fan, a 180 tstat and the cooling fans set to turn on about 5 degrees earlier. Made for a nice car that ran without being on the far side of the gauge.

I just though these Teksid motors need some speshal cooling fluids or something so thats why I asked... I'm likely just gonna get a new factory temp tstat, keep my SCT fan temp settings where they are now(194low/200hi), and replace the leaking radiator with a factory replacement.

BTW, are the 2v thermostats interchangeable with 4v ones, as in are the o-rings the same? I ask because I have one laying around...

P.S. Im sooo excited about my new COBRA!!! Weee!!! :tongue3:

TxCobrA98 · Nov 10, 2009

180-210* is optimal temperature. im at 175-180 all day long with my setup.

MustangChris · Nov 10, 2009

greenscobie86 said:
^ thanks for the input guys, and the detailed reply Chris lol.

I guess I was overr thinking this whole thing a little too much. In my 96GT i had a new Dorman fan, a 180 tstat and the cooling fans set to turn on about 5 degrees earlier. Made for a nice car that ran without being on the far side of the gauge.

I just though these Teksid motors need some speshal cooling fluids or something so thats why I asked... I'm likely just gonna get a new factory temp tstat, keep my SCT fan temp settings where they are now(194low/200hi), and replace the leaking radiator with a factory replacement.

BTW, are the 2v thermostats interchangeable with 4v ones, as in are the o-rings the same? I ask because I have one laying around...

P.S. Im sooo excited about my new COBRA!!! Weee!!! :tongue3:

congrats on the cobra amigo... and please please dont take anyhting i say to heart.. i was just throwing a monkey wrench into the mix-up so that everyone didnt say "yea and you need to ....." and eventually your car wasnt past 44*F LOL!

Anyways, since you have a teskid, its best to let it warm up as slowly as possible, and to cool off as slowly as possible.
Its in aluminums characteristics to fail after load has been placed on it again and again...

with a cast iron block, theoretically it could survive for 100 years... with the aluminum it WILL fail before cast.

now, before everyone starts going ape **** on me.... "it hold 199939484 HP!!! i read it on ccorrall.net!!"

the teskid is a mighty fine block, and it can handle a BOATLOAD of power... but its in aluminums NATURAL properties to fail after constant load has been placed on it.

to help prolong your teskid's life, simply let it warm up in the morning for a few minutes before you drive it. drive it around the block once, and THEN take it out on the main road.... it will add 5 minutes to your morning routine, but it WILL prolong its life. Also, let it idle wen you get to your destination... just let it sit for 15-20 seconds (at least) then turn off the motor.

greenscobie86 · Nov 10, 2009

Again much thanks for the tips.

I just found out about the 96 cooling TSB, and it looks like my car hasnt had that done. So I'm going for the new style AC condenser and a new rad. I'll go ahead and throw a cooler T-stat in as well just in case.

P.S. I always warm up my cars before driving... All my "car illiterate" friends say I'm nuts, but I do it anyways lol.