Tiger people,
I need to share with you a my recent (but sad) Prolong experience.
As some of you know, I have been dealing with a severe over heating
problem (see old postings) with my Mk1. I was finding it impossible
to drive in the day time out here in Colorado for the whole summer. I
only purchased this car in May! Stop and go driving would result in
210+ deg temps and once up to 235 ish on a trip to Denver CATO meeting
(my first boil over).
3 weeks ago I had the radiator "power" back flushed and a Prolong
coolant base added. The recommendation by the mfg. was 2 qts of this
"magic" stuff (@$20/can!) 1/2 gallon of coolant, with the rest water.
This was for a 4 gallon system. You then go for a 30 minute drive to
have this stuff "bond with your radiator".
As some of you have stated to me about other quick remedies... "DON'T
DO IT!".
The 30 minute hwy drive (at 90+ deg ambient) was at the usual 210+ deg
radiator temperature. But the 2 mi. drive from the hwy to my house
produced
a sudden temperature rise to 245+ at the last turn into my driveway. I
never experienced such a rapid temp. rise before.
Needless to say, this was the worst boil over ever. The poor beast was
sadly parked in the garage, frothing capacinos.
Prolong provides a tech-line for customer support (they're very busy by
the
way). A support tech said "now that our stuff has bonded with your
radiator, we need to get your temperature under control". I thought that
was the reason I bought the stuff! He recommended draining off some and
adding std. radiator coolant. And he was going to send me some of their
highly regarded oil additive for my troubles. Sounds like I should stay
away from that stuff too.
Having had enough of this BS, I tore out the radiator latter that day and
sent it out to get a Modine (heard its the best on this channel)
high-performance 4-core replacement. I also had the radiator shop clean
out
the side tank at the same time. Luckily, the new wider radiator (1/4+")
just fit the shroud. New coolant hoses from S.S. all around too.
Turned the beast on and smelled something strange. Checked fan belt etc.
for rubbing but no problems. Walked around the back of the car to find
oil/moisture drops coming out of the left (driver) side tail pipe! The
oil
is dark if it matters. My previously clean floor is my evidence that this
is a brand new problem. Needless to say the beast didn't make it to the
Colorado British Conclave event the following day.
Am I hearing comments of head-gasket or warped head out there? Your
comments would be appreciated.
Regards,
Frank Bonifazi
B9472682LRXFE
P.S. DON'T DO IT!
Subject: Fw: Bogus Claim for Oil Additive
Author: Non-HP-keven (keven@eagle1.eaglenet.com) at hp-ftcollins,mimegw2
Date: 9/22/98 2:36 PM
>
> >From the October issue of Consumer Reports:
>
> Prolong Claims "Creates a low-friction surface one molecule thick"
>
> The bond is supposed to last even when the oil is drained. In the
> infomercial, Unser and others drive along a racetrack in the Mojave
Desert
> without oil or oil drain plugs. The same ad, broadcast nationally,
pictures
> a woman who, thanks to "Prolong" supposedly drove from Santa Barbara to
Los
> Angeles without oil. (The reason she stopped after 4 hours,40 minutes,
and 7
> seconds? She was hungry.)
> We didn't test the other claims, but we did see whether "Prolong"
would
> protect an engine after the oil was drained.
> We installed a factory-rebuilt GM 4.3-liter V6 engine into each of
two
> Chevrolet Caprices. We broke them in with Pennzoil motor oil, changed the
> oil and oil filter in each car, and added "Prolong" to one of them.
> "Prolong" claims to work immediately. We drove more than 100 miles, then
> drained the oil and started driving again. After only 13 minutes and
five
> miles, BOTH engines failed SIMULTANEOUSLY.
> Today's high-quality oils don't need extra additives. The Federal
Trade
> Commission has told the makers of other additives to stop making false
> claims. We have notified the FTC about this test.
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