DEX-cool v.s. GREEN STUFF- EVERYONE
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From: Yardville NJ
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Re: DEX-cool v.s. GREEN STUFF- EVERYONE
Originally Posted by '97 30th Anniversary Z/28
wow thats pretty serious....i think ill just pay for the flush and use green...
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Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 378
From: Ellensburg, WA
Re: DEX-cool v.s. GREEN STUFF- EVERYONE
This sums it up...it's a read, but it's worth it:
http://www.noln.net/features/feature3.html
It basically reiterates what shoebox, fred, and others have said in this thread and others. I've used universal stuff for 1yr+ now, simply because it's free to me. Prior to that I was using Dex-cool. If you perform basic maintenance and keep an eye on you're coolant level, and repair leaks when they occur. Dex-cool will work as advertised, 5yr 150,000mile change intervals.
Last year I was a lube tech at an oil change center (a "Quick-Lube") while I was going to school. We no longer offer any coolant options other than Universal. This is simply because of the unbelievable hassel of explaining to every customer who requests a coolant flush why the myth of "mixing coolants turns them to jelly" isn't true. We only use universal just so all we have to say is "it'll work, it works with everything...says so on the bottle...*makes pointing gesture to bottle*..." This made my life a lot easier, especially during the busy times of the year.
http://www.noln.net/features/feature3.html
It basically reiterates what shoebox, fred, and others have said in this thread and others. I've used universal stuff for 1yr+ now, simply because it's free to me. Prior to that I was using Dex-cool. If you perform basic maintenance and keep an eye on you're coolant level, and repair leaks when they occur. Dex-cool will work as advertised, 5yr 150,000mile change intervals.
Last year I was a lube tech at an oil change center (a "Quick-Lube") while I was going to school. We no longer offer any coolant options other than Universal. This is simply because of the unbelievable hassel of explaining to every customer who requests a coolant flush why the myth of "mixing coolants turns them to jelly" isn't true. We only use universal just so all we have to say is "it'll work, it works with everything...says so on the bottle...*makes pointing gesture to bottle*..." This made my life a lot easier, especially during the busy times of the year.
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Joined: Nov 1998
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From: Louisville, KY
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Joined: May 2005
Posts: 478
Re: DEX-cool v.s. GREEN STUFF- EVERYONE
Originally Posted by AmericanMuscle33
This sums it up...it's a read, but it's worth it:
http://www.noln.net/features/feature3.html
It basically reiterates what shoebox, fred, and others have said in this thread and others. I've used universal stuff for 1yr+ now, simply because it's free to me. Prior to that I was using Dex-cool. If you perform basic maintenance and keep an eye on you're coolant level, and repair leaks when they occur. Dex-cool will work as advertised, 5yr 150,000mile change intervals.
Last year I was a lube tech at an oil change center (a "Quick-Lube") while I was going to school. We no longer offer any coolant options other than Universal. This is simply because of the unbelievable hassel of explaining to every customer who requests a coolant flush why the myth of "mixing coolants turns them to jelly" isn't true. We only use universal just so all we have to say is "it'll work, it works with everything...says so on the bottle...*makes pointing gesture to bottle*..." This made my life a lot easier, especially during the busy times of the year.
http://www.noln.net/features/feature3.html
It basically reiterates what shoebox, fred, and others have said in this thread and others. I've used universal stuff for 1yr+ now, simply because it's free to me. Prior to that I was using Dex-cool. If you perform basic maintenance and keep an eye on you're coolant level, and repair leaks when they occur. Dex-cool will work as advertised, 5yr 150,000mile change intervals.
Last year I was a lube tech at an oil change center (a "Quick-Lube") while I was going to school. We no longer offer any coolant options other than Universal. This is simply because of the unbelievable hassel of explaining to every customer who requests a coolant flush why the myth of "mixing coolants turns them to jelly" isn't true. We only use universal just so all we have to say is "it'll work, it works with everything...says so on the bottle...*makes pointing gesture to bottle*..." This made my life a lot easier, especially during the busy times of the year.
great info....thanks a lot!
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Joined: Jul 2002
Posts: 1,367
From: Burlington, NJ
Re: DEX-cool v.s. GREEN STUFF- EVERYONE
firstly...i know first-hand that mixing the two will turn to gel. i know because i spent an extra 11 hours cleaning an engine block that the owner decided that putting in the "green stuff" would be "alright" because the owner's manual says not to...and it doesnt know what it's talking about. it was the consistency of freshly made and cooled jello. try "washing" that out of a block and see where that gets you...i'll tell you: nowhere.
mixing the green stuff and the red stuff is bad news. the dual stuff will go anywhere...and it's green too BTW.
the reason they went with the "red stuff" is because the "green stuff" SUPPOSEDLY destroyed aluminum after so many months of service...however, i have absolutely no problems in my 97 with 95k miles on it. nor did i have any at 89k miles when i had the engine stroked.
in short, DO NOT MIX GREEN AND RED, unless it's the bi-sexual new stuff...then you're good. and if it were up to me, i'd use only the red stuff because that's what GM wants me to use and supposedly they have done their homework on this one because they are still using it today...on ALL their cars...
mixing the green stuff and the red stuff is bad news. the dual stuff will go anywhere...and it's green too BTW.
the reason they went with the "red stuff" is because the "green stuff" SUPPOSEDLY destroyed aluminum after so many months of service...however, i have absolutely no problems in my 97 with 95k miles on it. nor did i have any at 89k miles when i had the engine stroked.
in short, DO NOT MIX GREEN AND RED, unless it's the bi-sexual new stuff...then you're good. and if it were up to me, i'd use only the red stuff because that's what GM wants me to use and supposedly they have done their homework on this one because they are still using it today...on ALL their cars...
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Re: DEX-cool v.s. GREEN STUFF- EVERYONE
Originally Posted by baddboy1705
wow thats pretty serious....i think ill just pay for the flush and use green...
Did you stop buying coffee at McDonald because they got sued when someone got burned?
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Joined: Feb 2000
Posts: 1,445
From: Seattle, WA
Re: DEX-cool v.s. GREEN STUFF- EVERYONE
OMG this is retarded. Any idiot can "file" a class-action suit on anything. Doesn't mean squat.
While Dex and the green stuff are BOTH ethylen glycol, the Dex uses longer lasting pH buffers that resists corrosive conditions longer than the green stuff can. The result? 5 years of standard contamination can be absorbed by the system instead of only 2 years. Once you go beyond that level of contamination, the corrosion can begin and you need to flush out the old (recycle it... the EtGly is still good and 49% of the solution
), and refill with fresh, fully-buffered coolant.
This stupid Dex-cool myth started YEARS ago... mostly due to internet propogation and uneducated owners/mechanics who saw some corrosion in the liquid and assumed it was the liquid itself (not chemical engineers that spend their entire lives working on this stuff). I honestly thought this was a dead issue by now.
Here's how it works: DexCool was put into almost every GM vehicle fleet-wide starting 1996. That year, GMC also made some changes to the coolant system's design in some pickups that resulted in increased contamination entering the system. Obviously with much higher than usual contamination levels, the buffers REGARDLESS OF COOLANT DESIGN, couldn't keep up.
The solution was NOT to "go green" as some shops mistakenly told their clients. The solution was to fix the contamination problem itself.
1) Use a radiator cap with a spring-loaded vacume valve. The gravity-pull ones used as stock would get contaminated and refused to close... accellerating the contamination. Stant makes both kinds of these... just stop by a parts store some time at flip the caps over to see the difference... it's quite obvious.
2) Fill the system to the "HOT" level when cold. This results in about 1 quart over-filling of the system as it was designed, and helps to keep the overflow tank full and "sealed" to the radiator (prevent the outside atmosphere from entering the rad... along with dirt and mud that gets sloshed in the tank. (NOTE: THIS GM RECCOMENDATION IS ONLY FOR THE GMC PICK UPS THAT HAD CONTAMINATION ISSUES, OUR CARS ARE NOT UNDER THIS RECCOMENDATION).
3) clean the overflow tank and ensure the lid is cleaned out at well... that's where the contamination is coming from.... just keep it clean.
GM held a press conference on this and actually ADMITTED it was a cooling system design flaw, and NOT the fault of Dex-Cool.
Please stop spreading the dex-cool myth.
Here's more info: http://www.imcool.com/articles/antif...ohnbrunner.htm
BTW, you CAN freely mix green and Dex cool coolant without issues, however you loose the buffer capasity of Dex-cool after 10% of the solution is green silicate stuff... and yes, if you leave ANY coolant in 2x as long as designed to run (i.e. green in there for more than 2 years), it WILL gel as it binds up the contaminents. This have nothing to do with mixing the two coolants however. You can mix a pint of each in a coke bottle and it will NOT gel.... just don't expect it to handle more than 2 years in a daily driver.
For our cars thats like 1 pint (1/2 quart, 2 cups, 1/2 liter,.... you get the idea). You don't have to flush it out... but you WILL have to follow a 2-year flushing schedule instead of the 5 years Dex-Cool gets you.
Yet another problem solved by gratuitous class-action threats
While Dex and the green stuff are BOTH ethylen glycol, the Dex uses longer lasting pH buffers that resists corrosive conditions longer than the green stuff can. The result? 5 years of standard contamination can be absorbed by the system instead of only 2 years. Once you go beyond that level of contamination, the corrosion can begin and you need to flush out the old (recycle it... the EtGly is still good and 49% of the solution
), and refill with fresh, fully-buffered coolant.This stupid Dex-cool myth started YEARS ago... mostly due to internet propogation and uneducated owners/mechanics who saw some corrosion in the liquid and assumed it was the liquid itself (not chemical engineers that spend their entire lives working on this stuff). I honestly thought this was a dead issue by now.
Here's how it works: DexCool was put into almost every GM vehicle fleet-wide starting 1996. That year, GMC also made some changes to the coolant system's design in some pickups that resulted in increased contamination entering the system. Obviously with much higher than usual contamination levels, the buffers REGARDLESS OF COOLANT DESIGN, couldn't keep up.
The solution was NOT to "go green" as some shops mistakenly told their clients. The solution was to fix the contamination problem itself.
1) Use a radiator cap with a spring-loaded vacume valve. The gravity-pull ones used as stock would get contaminated and refused to close... accellerating the contamination. Stant makes both kinds of these... just stop by a parts store some time at flip the caps over to see the difference... it's quite obvious.
2) Fill the system to the "HOT" level when cold. This results in about 1 quart over-filling of the system as it was designed, and helps to keep the overflow tank full and "sealed" to the radiator (prevent the outside atmosphere from entering the rad... along with dirt and mud that gets sloshed in the tank. (NOTE: THIS GM RECCOMENDATION IS ONLY FOR THE GMC PICK UPS THAT HAD CONTAMINATION ISSUES, OUR CARS ARE NOT UNDER THIS RECCOMENDATION).
3) clean the overflow tank and ensure the lid is cleaned out at well... that's where the contamination is coming from.... just keep it clean.
GM held a press conference on this and actually ADMITTED it was a cooling system design flaw, and NOT the fault of Dex-Cool.
Please stop spreading the dex-cool myth.
Here's more info: http://www.imcool.com/articles/antif...ohnbrunner.htm
BTW, you CAN freely mix green and Dex cool coolant without issues, however you loose the buffer capasity of Dex-cool after 10% of the solution is green silicate stuff... and yes, if you leave ANY coolant in 2x as long as designed to run (i.e. green in there for more than 2 years), it WILL gel as it binds up the contaminents. This have nothing to do with mixing the two coolants however. You can mix a pint of each in a coke bottle and it will NOT gel.... just don't expect it to handle more than 2 years in a daily driver.
For our cars thats like 1 pint (1/2 quart, 2 cups, 1/2 liter,.... you get the idea). You don't have to flush it out... but you WILL have to follow a 2-year flushing schedule instead of the 5 years Dex-Cool gets you.
Yet another problem solved by gratuitous class-action threats
A lawyer with an inoperable brain tumor so large they have to do a brain transplant. The doctor gives him a choice of available brains:
The doctor replies, "Do you know how many lawyers it takes to get an ounce of brains?"
- There's a jar of rocket scientist brains for $10 an ounce
- a jar of regular scientist brains for $15 an ounce
- a jar of lawyer brains for the sum of $800 an ounce
The doctor replies, "Do you know how many lawyers it takes to get an ounce of brains?"
Last edited by Steve in Seattle; Aug 12, 2006 at 06:48 PM.
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Posts: 378
From: Ellensburg, WA
Re: DEX-cool v.s. GREEN STUFF- EVERYONE
Originally Posted by Severous01
firstly...i know first-hand that mixing the two will turn to gel.
Originally Posted by Steve in Seattle
BTW, you CAN freely mix green and Dex cool coolant without issues, however you loose the buffer capasity of Dex-cool after 10% of the solution is green silicate stuff... and yes, if you leave ANY coolant in 2x as long as designed to run (i.e. green in there for more than 2 years), it WILL gel as it binds up the contaminents. This have nothing to do with mixing the two coolants however. You can mix a pint of each in a coke bottle and it will NOT gel.... just don't expect it to handle more than 2 years in a daily driver.
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Joined: Jun 2005
Posts: 387
From: Brandon, Fla.
Re: DEX-cool v.s. GREEN STUFF- EVERYONE
When I tore down my 30K block/heads to do the 383 (after 8 years of using Dex-cool) it was absolutely free of any corrosion or sediment, and that includes the radiator. The only cooling system maintenance I did to it prior was to thoroughly flush and refill with a 50/50 mix of Dexcool and distilled water after around 4 years, instead of waiting for the 5 year interval .
.
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Joined: Nov 2004
Posts: 2,475
From: Garland, tx
Re: DEX-cool v.s. GREEN STUFF- EVERYONE
ive heard tha myth ect ect...but with how often om working on my car and adding new coolant, i just went the green, mostly due to the price differance...and because when you work with dex and it gets on you its annoying+smell...
Last edited by Daniel6718; Aug 13, 2006 at 07:50 AM.
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Posts: 478
Re: DEX-cool v.s. GREEN STUFF- EVERYONE
Originally Posted by Injuneer
Did you stop buying coffee at McDonald's because they got sued when someone got burned?
i dont drink coffee....lol
but i think im going to get a flush and go green....thanks for all the info and comments everyone....
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Posts: 71,094
From: Hell was full so they sent me to NJ
Re: DEX-cool v.s. GREEN STUFF- EVERYONE
So basically, you're saying those of us who have succesfully used Dex-Cool for up to 10 years don't have the slightest idea what we are talking about?
Sorry I wasted your time. I won't make that mistake again.
Sorry I wasted your time. I won't make that mistake again.
