about to change mine and want to see what everyone else is using.

 

Make sure it's orange . . . Aluminum compatible. Otherwise, I don't think it matters that much. What brand did the factory put in it, I wonder?

 

other than only making sure its orange-make sure its dexcool orange is the color of dex-cool, dexcool is what gm uses in there vehicles. It is not something you have to go to the dealer and buy you can you go to anyparts store and get it..Pensoil makes it havoline etc...just make sure you use dexcool

 

Dexcool (i.e. the same coolant GM put in the car straight out of the factory)

 

EXTENDED LIFE PRESTONE DEXCOOL

 

be sure you use ONLY DEX cool, im sure you know that if you mix the two it will "gum" up your cooling system and cause you to possibly change your heater core. The reason for DEX cool is gm came up with a formula that acts more as a lubricant for the water pump and any seals. I run 100% dex in my 96 Z I dont even mix it with water, it wont hurt mixing it or not. good luck

 

IIRC Texaco developed Dexcool. Not GM.

It CAN be mixed with conventional antifreeze. This is from personal experience and according to Texaco's website. They are both ethylene glycol based. Dexcool just has more additives. Thats like saying you can't mix Deisel with gasoline or it gums up. All mixing will do is decrease the theoretical lifespan. There is a lot of false information out there on dexcool just like there is about x-drilled rotors being beneficial.
Most of the compalints are from the dumb lemming drivers that believed the 150k mile life BS. The ones that have had heatercore probs is most likely due to air contamination. The intake gasket failuers, well GM didn't redesign those gaskets at least 3 times for no reason. That tells me the gaskets were crap and GM had to do better. Dexcool was new, so it became the scape goat for GM's lack of quality.

Running 100% of any antifreeze is not good. It doesn't have the heat absorbtion capacity that the aquious solution does. It is antiFREEZE not coolant. It is designed to keep your coolant from freezing not to cool the engine. It is considered coolant when mixed with water. At least a 50/50 mixture. You can get away with more water in the mix further south and you will run cooler than with straight antifreeze.


On a side note, Chrysler runs orange coolant that is not Dexcool. So, you can't just go by the color.