Check PH value of your coolant!

[foama]

What a PITA! We know some Mirage heat exhanger cores have already become fouled-up with gooey gunk, and we know it comes from chemical reactions from parts reacting with coolant. Expensive repairs follow. Similar problems can potentially happen inside the engine, or any other part immersed in coolant. This is entirely forseeable and preventable.

The easy, cheap and perfectly safe solution is to simply monitor the PH level of the coolant! Any chemical reaction in the coolant is mirrored by the PH value.

The PH level should be around PH 7.5 to PH 9. If PH runs off to other levels, its time to replace the coolant.
Its that simple. I check it once yearly.


BTW, all you need for testing is a pack of "Universal indicator paper" which may cost less than €2 ($2) incl. postage. A possible source is at the bottom of this post.



Below shows a test with fresh coolant. If chemical reactions change PH level, coolant should be exhanged asap! Remember, the PH scale is a logarithmic value, a small difference in number means a big difference in chemical properties.



A possible source:
https://www.ebay.de/itm/PH-Teststrei...Zusf:rk:1:pf:0

Edit: The picture above was taken with fresh coolant. My coolant is now 3 years old and slowly approaching PH9. I asked the world's largest coolant maker if I needed to worry. They replied, PH9 is still OK, but it should be exhanged if it rises any more than PH9.

A word of advice:
Use whatever coolant you want, provided the coolant manufacturer expressly says it is the right stuff for the Mirage! If in doubt, contact the manufacturer before buying! If they don't expressly say its good for Mirage, do not buy it!
Most coolants claimed "good for Mitsubishi" are not for Mirage!
NB: Mirage needs a different coolant than other Mitsubishi!

Flushing out the old coolant requires opening both the drain plug on the bottom of the radiator, and the other plug (Hex key) under the water pump.

[Alex1a1f]

Great advice. We check the boiling and freezing properties plus ph of the coolant on every truck oil change.

[Top_Fuel]

We know some Mirage heat exhanger cores have already become fouled-up with gooey gunk, and we know it comes from chemical reactions from parts reacting with coolant.

For those who haven't been following Doax's heater core saga, it sounds like Mirages might be experiencing the same heater core restriction problem that is affecting some VWs. Here's a VW TSB explaining the issue. The symptoms sound amazingly similar to what some Mirages have...

The PH level should be around PH 7.5 to PH 9.

So did you check the pH of your used coolant?


I think this is a great idea, especially for new Mirages...but I'm not touching my factory coolant because I know my heater core is well on it's way to being internally restricted already (a simple test of the heat output temperatures will tell you this). By this time next year, I expect my heater to be mostly ineffective on cold days...which is when the car will go in for a new warranty heater core.

I can only assume at this point that their is no easy flush remedy for this problem. If there was, I would think that VW would be doing it instead of telling dealers to just replace the heater core in affected vehicles.

[Alex1a1f]

This is what we use at our shop. Checks PH and Freeze protection all in one strip. Spendy though at $18 for 50.

[Top_Fuel]

This is what we use at our shop. Checks PH and Freeze protection all in one strip.

Check your Mirage coolant and let us know what it says.

Edit - I see you added that info to your first post. Thanks!

[Eggman]

This is what we use at our shop. Checks PH and Freeze protection all in one strip. Spendy though at $18 for 50.

That's cool.

What's it called?
Who makes it?
Do you have a link to the product?
Does it work with all coolant types?

[Top_Fuel]

It's something like these on Amazon...

[foama]

Wow! Almost $30! I use cheap ($2) PH paper for PH level, and have an instrument for checking the freezing temperature.

[Mark]

Wow! Almost $30! I use cheap ($2) PH paper for PH level, and have an instrument for checking the freezing temperature.

Walmart carries the expensive strips on line, but also list this brand a little cheaper.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/AquaChek-...11519/20648096

If does state, these strips aren't for orange/red coolant. I believe my Mirage is blue.

[stevedmc]

Or you could just replace your coolant every two years with green Prestone and not worry about it. Thats what I do in all of my vehicles.