Don't worry about me trying to skimp on the amount of antifreeze. Again, I was surprised that the capacity was so small as to require only one gallon's worth. My truck, as a comparison, takes 29 quarts of coolant.

Greg, sorry; I thought I had listed the year/model of the car in my signature in the first post (I haven't posted my signature since, as I've been told that it's considered rude by some to display a signature more than once in a single thread). It's an '85 300D Turbo with federal emissions equipment on it.

Maybe I'll do the "basic" flush prior to leaving, and put the super-long flush in for the trip down...that way I get two flushings and (hopefully) a more thorough job. And I'll forget about the Water-Wetter stuff; I had thought that it was intended to be used with a 50/50 mix, not with pure water. Heck, I'm still trying to figure out why anyone would want to run only water in the cooling system, except for cost measures...IIRC, antifreeze raises the boiling point as well as lowering the freezing point.

Thanks again! I'm still scared of the head gasket... Can anyone describe what the exhaust would smell like if the head gasket were blown? My car's never smelled like a "normal" diesel...it's more of a combination of normal diesel exhaust and what the blow-by smells like...