Coolant Recommendation

[0802]

Can anyone give me a recommendation on a coolant for my 96 Suburban with a 6.5TD? Its largely a daily driver but does will see some trailer towing over extended distances 1-2 times a year. It has about 185,000 miles.

I'm vaguely familiar with all the DEXCOOL debate and would prefer to stay away from DEXCOOL, but could be swayed. It does not have DEXCOOL in it now. I'm looking to drain, flush, and refill.

Josh

 

[bullwinkle]

If you don't mind changing it every 2-3 years then regular green would be fine (such as Auto Zone brand green, Zerex, Pride, Full Force, STP, etc.). I've had the same green in my '93 6.2 for over 3 years now, I have Zerex G-05 to put in it when I get around to changing my water pump & harmonic balancer-but Dex has it's lovers & haters here-I'm personally not a fan, but at least the 6.5 (AFAIK) has none of the plastic gaskets that seem to disintegrate using Dexcool.

 

[mechanicx]

What does it have in it now? I think it might have been factory filled with Dexcool. G-05 would be a great choice besides Dexcool for a diesel.

 

[onion]

I would probably use either G05 or a 'heavy-duty' coolant with SCA's like Texaco heavy duty or Detroit Diesel Powercool.

 

[05ChevyI5]

My favorite, John Deere Cool-Gard.

 

[onion]

Originally Posted By: 05ChevyI5
My favorite, John Deere Cool-Gard.


I'm a fan of John Deere cool-gard, too. Until recently, this was basically just G05 dyed green- and I've used it in several of my vehicles. But a few years ago they came out with the new "cool-gard II", which is a completely different formulation. All I know about it is that it uses multiple types of OAT inhibitors, and is silicate-free. I've no reason to believe that there's anything WRONG with Cool-gard II... just pointing out that it isn't the same anymore as what you may be familiar with.

The original cool-gard is essentially the same thing as Zerex G05 or Ford Motorcraft Gold... just dyed a different color.

 

[0802]

Finally found some Zerex G-05 locally. Drained what looked to be DexCool (I didn't think it had DexCool in it previously) out, flushed it twice, then refilled with G-05 and distilled water. What I drained out all three times looked very clear, no sediment or other particulars.

Two questions:

Any concerns with residual DexCool and the G-05 mixing?

How long should this be good for?

Also, I've heard of adding Red-Line Water Wetter -- any concerns with putting a bottle of this in my current setup?

Josh

 

[RegDunlop]

Originally Posted By: 0802
Finally found some Zerex G-05 locally. Drained what looked to be DexCool (I didn't think it had DexCool in it previously) out, flushed it twice, then refilled with G-05 and distilled water. What I drained out all three times looked very clear, no sediment or other particulars.

Two questions:

Any concerns with residual DexCool and the G-05 mixing?

How long should this be good for?

Also, I've heard of adding Red-Line Water Wetter -- any concerns with putting a bottle of this in my current setup?

Josh



It sounds like you got all of the old dexcool out and that it came out clear so you should be good to go. If you want peace of mind do it again in a few weeks, for 20-25 bucks it may be worth the peace of mind to you.

Never heard of redline water wetter making a digfference, probably not good to add anything to a fluid engineered by valvoline to do its job. Redline probably just throwing $8-$12 in the trash.