jgrts20

i was just wondering about this stuff, will it ruin my system if its used in my 7? i have some because my 2002 cavalier uses it!! i want to flush out my system!! lemme know thanx!!

1987RX7guy

iTrader: (3)

Stick with the green coolant.


Santiago

jgrts20

thanx anyone esle with a reponse!! will it ruin my system if used?

1987RX7guy

iTrader: (3)

There have been some past threads on this. If you search on it you will find some stuff to give you a beeter answer.

Rob XX 7

iTrader: (8)

I have it in my vert for over 7 years now, and have it in every can I own. Is it needed? Probably not, but it works for me.

Digi7ech

iTrader: (1)

From what I have heard. Stay with whatever color coolant is in your car. I heard that if you do not completely flcuh the opposite coolant out then it will negate the other coolants purpose.

Something to think about and search for info on.

jgrts20

im flushing my coolant system, it looks like if u use the orange stuff after flush dont mix the green with it!! orange to orange, green to green!! any of them will sufice!! i didnt find a dummylink of how to flush a FC. i did find one for a FD though, does anyone have a link for this?

hypntyz7

Obviously, do NOT mix the two, even a little. The act of flushing the system once would not be enough to rid all traces of green stuff.

Furthermore, though the stuff is used in newer GM cars, it has been debated as to whether the stuff contributes to early headgasket/coolantseal failure.

I do know a guy that mixed this **** (not knowing) with the regular stuff, just before an 8 hour drive from DC to here...his engine blew on the way here. Could be total coincidence, but it ran great beforehand. Also, the internals of that engine were ******* destroyed, it looked like mud had been pumped through the coolant passeges.

All in all, there is nothing to be gained from such a conversion. Do a complete flush (radiator and block) and refill with 50/50 greenstuff and water. Do this once every 2 years and you will have a pristine internal cooling system.

rotary>piston

yeah, your Cavalier uses it because it's a GM thing. An RX-7's seals weren't designed to take that kind of coolant, so it may cause problems. Not worth the risk in any case.

turborotarypower

well when i worked at the local GM dealer of S series blazers where coming in with the dex cool thick like mud! sometimes it was so bad when the rad was unhooked and placed on a bench it never leak an ounce of fluid out the ports! the techs said GN doesn't want to admit that this stuff is no good! we checked the TSB's in the GM computer system and found that GM was blaming the coolant thickening on the customers not keeping the cooling system full and driving it like that. well i also noticed the Dexcool/extended life coolant in a ford windstar and it looked like beef stew! when you flush out a coolant system that had the green stuff or dexcool the dealer carries a coolant flushing chemical that has to be used!

l33trx7

My parents own a chevy venture and it uses the orange stuff. SOme idiot at the gas station topped their fluids off with some green stuff, before they got home (30 min drive) their car was overheating and was acting wierd. We took it to the Chevy place and they pulled out sludge, the exact same kind of mud you are talking about. That is what happens when you mix the two together. Never use the orange stuff, it is actaully chemically altered to do that. It has somethign to do with chevy being a subsidary of dex-cool and they want it to sludge.
Well after about 1000 dollars of flushing the system is back to normal however we still have problems with the engine. Never use orange unless you have to.

turborotarypower

actually general motors developed Dex-cool as a so called customer piece of mind coolant which doesn't have to be flushed for 5years/100,000 miles .

Rob XX 7

iTrader: (8)

pretty much every new car out there uses extended life
anti freeze, boats use it, cars, you name it.

There probably is nothing to be gained, but like I said, I have it in every car I own and have owned, including my vert and have had no problems at all.

Some people say, with nothing to back it up, that its bad for a rotory because someone they know of used it
and blew a coolant seal. Ok, so then what explains the thousands of other rotories that blow coolant seals using the green stuff ? Coolant seal failure is probably the most common problem in a rotory.

I guess its just like how some people say dont use synthetic oil on a rotory.

IeatV8s

Just use the mazda long-life coolant and mix it with distilled water. If you read in your owners manual that is what it says to use. I have been using it and my radiator looks just as clean as the day I bought it.

turborotarypower

well everything i stated is based on my findings when i worked at the local GM dealer. for one i know the dexcool/extended life coolant cannot be mixed with regular antifreeze. 2 this type of coolant will thicken when aged and at a low level. 3 lot of the chevy vehicles use v6 engines that are notorious for intake gasket failure and are the cause of low coolant. the only thing i don't like about this type of antifreeze is the thickening which screws up the whole coolant system and will cost a buttload of money to fix!

SlidinRX7

I've asked myself this same question. After doing some research I found out that Dexcool Coolant is abrasive. There are some coolants out there that contain silicates which is abrasive to the seals on the motor and Dexcool is one of them.

IMHO I would stick with Prestone.

Peace

bejbis

i use the orange stuff from prestone, its good stuff, the reason i use it is because its made specifically for alumnium block cars. so it dont mess your crap up....

Daniel

DomFD3S

I agree w/ turborotarypower.

What I believe is that Dex Cool is a compromise product. GM invested all this money into creating this "better" coolant...that they couldn't afford to just kill the product. They decided to make their money back by marketing it.

My wife's car (a Saturn) has Dex Cool in it. I've seen the thickening...it smells nasty. The orange fluid slowly becomes a gel over time. Not only that, but my Saturn keeps losing coolant over time. I really don't know where it goes. At the very least, I hope I'm not burning it. My oil is clean. But I honestly have no idea where the coolant goes.

Stick w/ the coolant that was originally in your car. Obviously, don't mix green w/ orange. My friend works at Pep Boys and they have a hell of a time flushing the wrong coolant out of vehicles.

Besides, w/ the thickened coolant...how do you know that your water pump can effective circulate it? Pre-mature water pump failure is one thing...but overheating is worse.

Dougster

Interesting topic, as I am ready to flush my system too.

jgrts20

thanx y'all i think im going to stick with the green sutff just to be safe!! appeciate all ur comments!!PEACE!!

my 7 is precious to me so i dont want to mess it up!! =)

Rob XX 7

iTrader: (8)

I think I should clarify that I dont have Dex Cool brand in my car, I have extended life anti freeze. When we were throwing the Dex Cool name around I was under the assumption we were discussing extended life anti freeze in general. I also have the Prestone orange stuff. And like I have said before, have it in my car for a long time now. Considering its the cleanest anti freeze out there, I couldnt find a reason why not to use it,

Digi7ech

iTrader: (1)

Oh to make my comments valid.

I have done the switch on my 88SE. I did a flush and ran water through it until there was just water in the car.

So far it's been 7 months and it runs fine.
My 88GTU is still green cause I'm too lazy to flush again.

Scott 89t2

READ THIS

deadRX7Conv

Dexcool was created for lazy people who don't want to maintain their cars. Rx7s need maintenance. Why bother with extended life anything?

The biggest problem that I see with cooling systems is the lack of a proper maintenance schedule, the use of well/tap water, the improper flush technique used by backyard mechanics, and improper ratios chosen.

Stick with yearly changes and use distilled water. This defeats the purpose of using dexcool to begin with.

I have several cars using Dexcool with no problems. I believe that it is a superior coolant. But, it needs to be changed yearly. I use is in a Ford that has a warning about using dexcool. I also use it in a Nissan and Eagle. I used these cars as guinea pigs to try to create the so called problems- -7 years and so far NONE. The Eagle runs a mix of green+orange and hasn't suffered (3-4 year now).

The big problem with any antifreeze is when the PH changes excessively. GM has yet to admit that their engines suck. When gaskets/seals fail because of antifreeze breakdown, the mixture of oil/water tend to destroy engines.

Also, fresh coolant can flush any sludge in the engine. This is frequently mistaken for coolant failure. If you change your antifreeze and later it looks like something is floating in it, change it again. Don't let new coolant to loosen up all the deposits(scale/sludge/...) and move it around your engine for future clogging/sludging.
It will take several coolant changes to fully clean out a poorly maintained cooling system.

I don't believe any stories concering instant sludging after topping off with the wrong antifreeze. All it does is change the interval from extended(5 years) to long(yearly) life.