Hello All,

Like a dumb a** I have been running dex-cool for the last 3 years. Talked to my engine guy and he said use green Prestone. Does green Prestone exist? I see yellow (I think this is their main stuff), red (dex-cool), and a low tox antifreeze (this one is green but I dont think this is what my engine guy was suggesting).

Not sure if I want to take the evans approach or a watter wetter approach yet. Would really like some green Prestone if it exists.

Thanks!!

 

Prestone is a yellow-green coolant that mixes with ALL colors of antifreeze, even the extended life 'orange' ones. You can get Prestone anywhere.....Wally World, Pep-Boys, Autozone, O'Reilly's, Sears Automotive....the list is endless.

 

I've heard bad things about Dex-Cool in our cars too (don't know how true they are)....and I've heard bad things about mixing Dex-Cool with normal anti-freeze....that you can get a white gel....again, the stories may be exaggerated.

But anyway.....Mazda makes a long life, 5 year antifreeze. I was told it came from the factory in my '95......so why not use that? I've been running it for years now with no problems, although I don't wait the 5 years to change it. From what I understand the 5 years is the shelf life.....not necessarily the time it can last with full effectiveness in your engine. (It's the anti-corrosion protection in anti-freeze that wears out.)

 

Actually it IS '5-year' or 150,000 mile antifreeze. It supposedly has protectant qualities that last that long.
Me? I still change the coolant in my vehicles every other year or so when I do complete flush-n-fills.
And for God's sake....use ONLY distilled (not drinking, distilled) water in your coolant system.

 

Cool thanks guys.

The prestone my way is straight yellow. No green to it at all. It says it can mix with anything. I am just getting confused because everyone says it yellow/green but the one I got today at Walmart is stright yellow. I think I am going to go get the green stuff from the dealer. That sounds like the best bet.

Yeah I would stay away from the dex-cool. Also got 30 gallons of Distilled. I am gonna flush the living f outta the system.

 

Yeah, well, apparently you dont' have full confidence in the claim and neither do I.
I'll give 'em 5 years from time of manufacture....maybe. But 5 years sitting in an aqueous solution reacting with metal? uh-uh....I start getting nervous. But I could go for a solid 2 or 3 years without worrying much.

 

DO NOT use the orange Dex Cool. It was originally used by GM in hopes of longer life and drain intervals, but was found to be extremely corrosive in certain engines. It also has a tendancy to chunck and clog small coolant passages. I have seen it eat the coolant seals in our engine and found all sorts of white residue. GM is actually slowly starting to stray away from it.

 

i had a hose blow a month ago and they replaced the hose and refilled the rest of the system with dex cool...mixed it with my green...do you think its done damage already? im going to drain it tommorrow

 

Isn't it normal? When you ahve the time and the car has cooled off, I'd reccomend a flush just for the hell of it.

 

Use Evans.

http://www.evanscooling.com/index2.html

 

Why use evans?

Checking their 'technical' information it seems that its product is actually inferior to water in far more aspects than it is better.

For one the specific heat at constant pressure is at best 70% that of water, which means that at best (all other things being equal) you get 70% the cooling you had. Also the viscosity of the evans npg is 10 times that of water, think of the power being robbed just to power the pump. The extra stress on the pump impeller. Not to mention its actually heavier than water. There could be more than 1 kg of extra weight given a large capacity system.

Also on pretty much any normal engine the coolant pressure inside the block is significantly higher than that of cap rating. Mainly due to the high temperatures and restriction at the block outlet. This is primarily to increase boiling point temperature of the water. This neuclite boiling they speak of is nothing new, and you'll find that most cooling jackets are designed with this in mind, and incl. air bleeds just for this reason.

Personally you wouldnt find me using it. I see too many bad points. Anyway my 2 cents.

 

"Why use evans?"

Because it works. Ask those who use it at the track.

 

That was informative.

 

What more do you need to know about something?

If you need more details just check out their web site.

Much higher boiling point, runs at low or no cap pressure, no water to cause rust or corrosion, higher surface tension, etc., etc.

And with the way our cars are intolerant to overheating, I'd say it's a no brainer. But to each his own.

For what it's worth, there was a group buy a few years back.

 

Just like the organic / synthetic oil debate.
Much confusion and false information.

DEXCOOL is OK if used properly. I have been using it in my FD since 1999 without any problems. And since 2002 in my wifes PT Cruser and my 2002 Protege 5.
It came from Europe where they have been using it in many engines for years, including BMW and Mercedes Benz.

Basically GM had problems and it was caused by poor maintenence, like mixing tap water with it along with using it in a car with a dirty cooling system, low fluid levels, etc. You know, like the common non car educated owner does.

Search the internet for the truth.

 

One main thing about dexcool is you cannot mix it with the green coolant. Scumbag boss I had once would drain the dexcool out of cars selling customers a "coolant flush" Instead of flushing the system, he would just put green coolant in. The reaction between the two would have the cars comming back in a few years later for head gasket failures. He did this to make money. Chuck, I have found alot of powdery white residue in motors that have run dexcool. I dunno if the conversion was done right, but that was my observation when tearing down the motor for a failed coolant seal.

 

Lol did you even read the rest of my post? or stop at the 'rhetorical' question?

You do realise that any addition of coolant (not water) severly reduces your cooling capacity? Pure water is the best solution for coolant as far as cooling capacity is concerned.

Corrosion inhibitors are there to stop fouling caused by impurities in the water you use. You could however use distilled water with a much lower concentration of coolant ie 10% or less. And still get the same corrosion protection.

As far as the propylene glycol solution being superior in its corrosion protection, that may be true to some degree, but thats because it comes with corrosion inhibitors, and actually i would be more worried about not flushing the system properly, considering coolant is generally more viscous than water, you'd want to do a thorough job to remove it all. Otherwise as others have pointed out in their posts, coolants dont like being mixed, and depending whether they swing the solution to either too acidic (red coolant) or basic (organic greens and orange coolants), your problems become quite expensive!

 

Dex Cool is nasty ****, at the dealer we recommended flushing it out to green coolant because Dex Cool has a tendency to find ways to leak and cause damage while doing so.

stay away from it!

 

"Lol did you even read the rest of my post? or stop at the 'rhetorical' question?"

I wasn't replying to you.

And yes, I am fully aware straight water is a great coolant. I am also aware of the reasons why it is rarely used that way.

As to Evans coolant, I use it, others do, works for us. Like I said, to each his own.

 

lol

ya....