Green or Red coolant?
Thread Starter
Joined: Oct 2001
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From: Lower Burrell, PA
Green or Red coolant?
I was just reading another thread, and I some were saying to only use green coolant. Now I have just flushed my coolant system, and filled it with the red(orange kinda) coolant, as Ive read that is is supposed to be less corrosive, and also cool better than the green kind. I just wanted to get everyones opinion of which kind is better, and why?? Thanks
Thread Starter
Joined: Oct 2001
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From: Lower Burrell, PA
Well I know that the red and green kind are not compatable, you cant like mix them or anything. But I flushed the whole sytem with just water 1st before I changed over to the red.
White Comet
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From: Orange County
Yea thats true. But when working at toyota I remember it being mentioned to not use the red coolant on anything other then the cars that came equipped. To be honest I dont know the facts behind it, maybe someone has a better idea why.
NA Powah, Every Hour!
Joined: Mar 2001
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From: Sacramento, CA, U S of A
Yo,
https://www.rx7club.com/forum/showth...threadid=55932
Loose the pink, stick with green. Prestone!
KS
1989 GTUs "Everything old is new again..."
https://www.rx7club.com/forum/showth...threadid=55932
Loose the pink, stick with green. Prestone!
KS
1989 GTUs "Everything old is new again..."
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****! now i have to change mine ....
Originally posted by Ni5mo180SX
hmm, I think I read somewhere that you're not supposed to use the red coolant on vehicles that didnt come like that from the factory(?).
hmm, I think I read somewhere that you're not supposed to use the red coolant on vehicles that didnt come like that from the factory(?).
if i understood the article ... if the car came with green, then putting red in it will corrode the welds in the radiator and start to destroy the water pump - (not quickly, but over time) and vice versa.
hope this helps the guy who originally asked about it ...
and now i have to go and change mine back to green!!!!!
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From: Victoria, BC, Canada
Rotary Enthusiast
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From: Conyngham, PA
Just flushing the green coolant from the engine isn't going to get rid of it. There is residue left in the engine that is caked onto everything.
Switching to red coolant after you're run green causes a chemical reaction in the cooling system with the residual green coolant residue. (IE: That chalky grit that you see on torn down engine parts.) The end result is that the water seals in the engine deteriorate.
NEVER PUT RED COOLANT IN A SYSTEM THAT HAS USED GREEN IN THE PAST. There is no benifit.
Switching to red coolant after you're run green causes a chemical reaction in the cooling system with the residual green coolant residue. (IE: That chalky grit that you see on torn down engine parts.) The end result is that the water seals in the engine deteriorate.
NEVER PUT RED COOLANT IN A SYSTEM THAT HAS USED GREEN IN THE PAST. There is no benifit.
Thread Starter
Joined: Oct 2001
Posts: 7,529
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From: Lower Burrell, PA
Just flushing the green coolant from the engine isn't going to get rid of it. There is residue left in the engine that is caked onto everything. Switching to red coolant after you're run green causes a chemical reaction in the cooling system with the residual green coolant residue. (IE: That chalky grit that you see on torn down engine parts.) The end result is that the water seals in the engine deteriorate.
NEVER PUT RED COOLANT IN A SYSTEM THAT HAS USED GREEN IN THE PAST. There is no benifit.
NEVER PUT RED COOLANT IN A SYSTEM THAT HAS USED GREEN IN THE PAST. There is no benifit.
Well its only been a couple days since I flushed my system and filled it with the red coolant. Should I immediately flush it again and then put the green stuff back in.....or would I be making things worse then?? Should I just stick with the red now?
Opinions are like........
Joined: Dec 2001
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From: Prov RI
There is no such thing as the perfect flush,
My recommendation is to use what the car came with. It was engineered for the green EG which was available at that time.
If you want to toy with other types, there will be no problem if 100% of the old antifreeze/coolant is removed. This is difficult to do. Flushing radiator will not remove all the antifreeze in the engine.
Crud, corrosion, wear.... is only caused by the lack of maintenance PERIOD!
If you don't change your antifreeze yearly or at 15k(whichever first), you will have crud buildup and wear on the cooling system(grand canyon effect). Even the 5/150 antifreeze is only good for about 30k miles.
It will take several so-called flushes to remove all of the antifreeze. Bouncing back and forth between the two is no good. Pick one, switchover, and stick with it.
Switchover is your traditional flush with multiple drain/refills over several weeks in order to remove any residual crap that accumulated over time and to remove the previous type of antifreeze as much as possible.
All coolants are designed to work with most metals. I haven't seen too many cars with anything but aluminum and iron in them. Maybe some really old brass/copper/magnesium equipped vehicles will have problems.
Note that the Chrysler/European coolant is a combination of both. It is an OAT with silicate additives. Traditional green is mostly silicate/phosphate(free?) additives. GM's dexcool is OAT without the silicate additives. I guess that if the ratio additives is correct, then there will be no problems.
The only causes of water seal failure is lack of maintenance, loose engine bolts(noone mentions that) and overheating(overboost/NOS/timing/fanradiatorpump failure........). Thats it! Anyone blaming anything else needs to go back to school. I will entertain any comments/complaints made to the above.
And for everyone who says: it works great, my friends use it, never had problems,........and other worthless opinions, we can't see what it is doing until something breaks and how do you compare two equal things
If you want to toy with other types, there will be no problem if 100% of the old antifreeze/coolant is removed. This is difficult to do. Flushing radiator will not remove all the antifreeze in the engine.
Crud, corrosion, wear.... is only caused by the lack of maintenance PERIOD!
If you don't change your antifreeze yearly or at 15k(whichever first), you will have crud buildup and wear on the cooling system(grand canyon effect). Even the 5/150 antifreeze is only good for about 30k miles.
It will take several so-called flushes to remove all of the antifreeze. Bouncing back and forth between the two is no good. Pick one, switchover, and stick with it.
Switchover is your traditional flush with multiple drain/refills over several weeks in order to remove any residual crap that accumulated over time and to remove the previous type of antifreeze as much as possible.
All coolants are designed to work with most metals. I haven't seen too many cars with anything but aluminum and iron in them. Maybe some really old brass/copper/magnesium equipped vehicles will have problems.
Note that the Chrysler/European coolant is a combination of both. It is an OAT with silicate additives. Traditional green is mostly silicate/phosphate(free?) additives. GM's dexcool is OAT without the silicate additives. I guess that if the ratio additives is correct, then there will be no problems.
The only causes of water seal failure is lack of maintenance, loose engine bolts(noone mentions that) and overheating(overboost/NOS/timing/fanradiatorpump failure........). Thats it! Anyone blaming anything else needs to go back to school. I will entertain any comments/complaints made to the above.
And for everyone who says: it works great, my friends use it, never had problems,........and other worthless opinions, we can't see what it is doing until something breaks and how do you compare two equal things
White Comet
Joined: Jan 2002
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From: Orange County
According to June 02' "Car and Driver" under the column by Patrick Bedard it says
"The GM DexCool forumla (OAT) works fine in systems designed for it. But it eats old-style radiators with lead solder, and the inhibitors work to slowly to protect against the sort of corrosion that happens so fast it actutally erodes metal-for example, the cavitation likely in the imperfectly designed water pumps of older cars. Cars born with green coolant shouldn't be changed to orange, Turcotte advises. "
IMO I'd stick with green or go with Evans. Why take the chance? if it eats through lead solders I dont think its to friendly to your seals.
"The GM DexCool forumla (OAT) works fine in systems designed for it. But it eats old-style radiators with lead solder, and the inhibitors work to slowly to protect against the sort of corrosion that happens so fast it actutally erodes metal-for example, the cavitation likely in the imperfectly designed water pumps of older cars. Cars born with green coolant shouldn't be changed to orange, Turcotte advises. "
IMO I'd stick with green or go with Evans. Why take the chance? if it eats through lead solders I dont think its to friendly to your seals.
Opinions are like........
Joined: Dec 2001
Posts: 879
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From: Prov RI
Whats the difference between the engine o-ring seals, coolant hoses, plastic radiator end tanks, water pump seals, head gasket materials, recovery bottles? Did I miss any non-metal materials that coolant moves through? Dexcool doesn't eat anything. Nor does any other NEW fluid. Its the old, worn, never changed antifreeze that lost all of its buffering capability that is causing problems; also, the coolant that sits for a long time in the car that hasn't run in months/years is causing rot.
Lead solder, that was the stuff that we used to patch leaky radiators with about 15 years ago. Now, with all the parts supplier competition, there is no point to fixing radiators. Just buy a new one or go all aluminum. I am still trying to figure why people waste money with the "rod-out the core" radiator maintenance. If the radiator needs this, it is probably thinned out, fragile, inefficient, and needs replacement. Plus, the cause of a clogged radiator is "lack of maintenance".
I think that Bedard meant to say "imperfectly designed domestic cars not driven frequently". All Japanese cars were always manufactured to better tolerances/clearances/.... using higher quality components.......
Lead solder, that was the stuff that we used to patch leaky radiators with about 15 years ago. Now, with all the parts supplier competition, there is no point to fixing radiators. Just buy a new one or go all aluminum. I am still trying to figure why people waste money with the "rod-out the core" radiator maintenance. If the radiator needs this, it is probably thinned out, fragile, inefficient, and needs replacement. Plus, the cause of a clogged radiator is "lack of maintenance".
I think that Bedard meant to say "imperfectly designed domestic cars not driven frequently". All Japanese cars were always manufactured to better tolerances/clearances/.... using higher quality components.......
