Ok so heres the story.... just had my car in the paint shop to have my front bumper cover touched up on the bottom. The cover was pulled off of the car and painted. I just got the car back and noticed that the low coolent light was on, no big deal. So i pop the cap off in my garage to check the level in my rad. and see green coolent. I called the body shop. The guy said the rad was pulled for easier access, why it needed to come off is beyond me. But the question i have is does it really make a difference what color coolent you have or can you even mix them. I have run nothing but DEX in the car since Ive owned it. From what I've heard you are NOT supposed to mix the two (green and orange) for the following reasons...


1. after a while if you have the two mixed they will "gum" up and clog your cooling system.

2. Dex cool is more of a lubricant, better for the water pump and seals.

3. If your car says DEX COOL ONLY....dont put green in it! DERRR


I'm totally staying away from the coolent that states you can use with both... i believe preston makes it and the color is yellow.

any of these true?does it matter? Its a question ive been meaning to ask everyone. What do you guys run? Do you mix? Should i get a coolent flush?....just wondering...not trying to start a 100 page post...lol thanks

 

#1 is true
#2 not sure
#3 If you system is fully flushed with water and all the DEX is out, its ok to use the green stuff.

 

hmmmm.....

 

This should shed some light on the subject.

http://web.camaross.com/forums/showt...light=dex-cool

 

flush out dex and go green

 

just found this is an old post if anyone's interested...


""""""What abrasives? Dex-Cool is virtually identical to the glycol-based "green" stuff, except for the removall of silicates and phosphorus from the additives. Its things like the silicates and phosphates that are abrasive, and they are only used in the "green" stuff.


Quote:
Dex-Cool is an Ethylene Glycol based high performance coolant that contains unique corrosion inhibitors, which are different from anything else on the market. Dex-Cool is vastly superior to conventional coolants, which use silicates, phosphates, borates, nitrites, nitrates, and amine additives to eliminate corrosion. These additives are abrasive to water pump seals, and silicates are especially unstable and drop out of solution and form a gel after time. All of these conventional inhibitors deplete after a short time, which is why conventional coolant must be changed every year.

The unique corrosion inhibitor technology in Dex-Cool is based on the use of two organic acids, which are synergistic and combine to form carboxylates. Texaco refers to this as Organic Acid Technology (OAT), or Carboxylate Technology. The corrosion inhibitors used in Dex-Cool deplete very slowly thus eliminating the need for traditional additives, or frequent change intervals.

Note that contrary to what some may say (or write), you can indeed mix Dex-Cool and conventional coolant with no ill effects. However, if there is more than 10% of conventional coolant in the system this will reduce the concentration of the Carboxylate such that conventional coolants change intervals must be followed. In other words, if you mix it, you can't leave it in for 100,000 miles or 6 years, but instead should treat a mix just like conventional coolant and change it every year until the concentration of Dex-Cool is over 90%. """""""

 

but what about the universal "yellow" prestone coolant? anyone have any facts about that?

 

I converted my 1994 to Dex-Cool in 1996, and ran it that way until 2000 with no problems. The engine was torn down for a stroker rebuild, and there was no evidence of any problems in the engine, or in any parts of the cooling system. When the stroker was completed in late 2000, the cooling system, including a new Griffin aluminum radiator was filled with Dex-Cool. Again, no problems for the first five years (to 2005), and no problems since the refill (2005-06).

I sold my stock radiator and the guy that bought it raved about the condition it was in and the fact that his car ran so much cooler compared to the dirty stocker out of his 95.

 

I've not had any problems with dexcool for the 7 years I've run it. It's been replaced a few times due to misc installs, but dexcool went right back in my new motor.

 

Wasn't there a lawsuit about dex cool a few years back?

 

....say what?!? lol

 

#1 is definitely not true and borders on urban myth.
The only thing Dexcool does not like is a leaky cooling system. It tends to coagulate when exposed to air (that was the problem with early trucks that had clogging problems).

 

I have a 2000 Tahoe that came from the factory with Dexcool. I found the brown sandy sludge in the radiator cap area upon inspection. Also the overflow line was clogged up from the sludge. I had the radiator flushed once as the cooling was not as good as before and apparently they did not get all the sluge out. Had it flushed a 2nd time and this time around went with the green coolant. So far so good. Just did not care for the sludge build up.

 

I converted my 95 to dexcool back in 1996 and have ran it ever since without a problem. I'm currently tearing down the motor, and havent seen a problem internally as well.

I'll use the dexcool again once the motor is back in my ride..

 

hmmmm anyone else notice that the only people that have reported "sludge" build up have or had DEX..... I have NEVER heard of sludge build up in any older cars with green juice...only if they put 3 gallons of stop leak in