Dexcool out- PHOAT in

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KMJ1992

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Jan 1, 2018
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Location
Iowa, United States
Hey guys. We all know the troubles that dexcool and its clones bring. But switching to regular green means a lot more changing. Im a Ford tech. We use Orange Dexcool type coolant, Yellow GO5 type, Standard Green, and Specialty Green PHOAT aka F22. The F22 cars have by far the cleanest cooling systems, even when neglected and just topped off occasionally. Dexcool destroys stuff if it gets any air in it at all, G05 is good but if neglected creates quite the mess of its own. But the PHOAT, just makes a little slimy film if neglected, and causes no other colling system parts an early death, and the flush machine gets that stuff out no probelem. So i think this is what we should be switching Dexcool vehicles over to. It has the same 5 year life, and is much more reliable. The only caveat is you need to use distilled water, but you should be doing that anyways. I have been soaking every type of gasket or seal from every type of other coolant we use here in the PHOAT for a couple months now and no abnormal softening or anything to cause me to believe there should be any issues doing so. I plan to be a guinea pig myself anyways and i will report back. Anyone else doing this?
 
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No-but the Asian vehicles in the family that use PHOAT coolants appear to have some really nice looking cooling systems, even my brother's '02 Altima 2.5, which now has roughly 16 years & 175K on the FACTORY ANTIFREEZE!! Can't seem to get him to change it, admittedly other stuff has been breaking recently & costing a few $ (exhaust manifold/precat, cam sensors, floors rusted out, etc.).
 
BMW has some great looking cooling systems and their coolant has 2eha. I think all the dexcool 2eha drama is over and now just comes down to maintenance no matter what you are using. Most cars already self destructed if they were going to from the evil coolant conspirators.
 
I am staying with Dexcool in my Sierra. I have had no cooling system issues other than a couple of thermostats. The cooling system is sparkling clean. On engines that were not designed for Dexcool, PHOAT is probably the best choice.
 
"We all know the troubles that dexcool and its clones bring. "


We do? And what "troubles" would that be?
 
I don't see a specific vehicle mentioned here so I'm assuming it's a Dex spec'd Ford vehicle. With a complete flush/exchange I don't see why the FL22 won't work fine. However, FL22 only comes as a 55/45 premix which means you'll have to find and use block drains for a complete exchange. Or, perhaps you have access to a shop AF exchange machine.

That said, if it was my Ford vehicle and spec'd Motorcraft Orange DexCool, I'd use any reputable DexCool labeled concentrate I could find. Ford engineered the newer cooling system specifically for Dex, including gaskets, orings etc, with pressurized tanks and didn't back spec the older G05 vehicles. Guess I'd trust after all the work and testing with Dex, they know what they are doing. My .02
 
Interesting observations OP, thankyou. We all know that all coolants should work in almost any well designed system, with a good flush, and changed at regular intervals. But your job obviously exposes you to people who push things too far, and it's good to know which coolant survives this abuse the best.

I read the reasons that many European manufacturers went to a Phosphate free, Si-OAT hybrid coolant, was because some people were topping up with hard tap water which then formed deposits. I also read that many Asian manufacturers went to a Silicate free, Ph-OAT hybrId coolant, was because some people were topping up with concentrate or adding too much supplementary adds leading to an over concentration of the silicate which precipitated out and damaged the water pump.

In both cases, if you topped up with a clean 50:50 mix made on distiller water, there were no problems. Most BITOGers would do the right thing just by their nature and never see the problems above.

Now isn't G-05 a low silicate, low pH, phosphate free HOAT making it similar to the Euro Si-OAT like G-48 and G-40 (G40 also Borate free). I think that the G-05 contained Nitrites to control wet sleeve pitting corrosion in diesel engines, but the G-48 doesn't have this, and that is their only major difference - but happy to be corrected here.

OP, out of interest, how does the G-05 fail ? What sort of mess does it create ?
 
You ask a great question about the G-05 SR5. I would be interested to know too. I for one do not plan on pushing my G-05 to 5 years like it is claimed to last. I will be doing drain and fills a lot sooner than that in my Ford F150. I won't flush out the entire system but just do a drain and fill of the radiator every two years.
 
I've done G-05 at 4 years and the radiator looked shiny and new inside.

In Australia, Penrite make the similar G-48 that BMWs use, and they claim it's good for 7 years or 450,000 KM. It's genuine Glysantin stuff made under licence.
 
Originally Posted By: KMJ1992
Hey guys. We all know the troubles that dexcool and its clones bring.




Old, outdated information. We run Dex in a small GM fleet here. All 3500 service vans have open non-pressurized reservoirs and Silverados have pressurized ones.


No difference between the two at all, run to ridiculous mileages. We don't touch them until a component fails. Clean and shiny inside always.


I really don't get the dex hysteria...
 
Thanks for the read. Although I too have yet to run into a Dexcool issue, mind you the system is still working as it should. My Tb got a partial change (approx. 7 liters) when I did the water pump in 2013, the components appeared fine. Last week I did the t stat and did another partial change of approx. 7 liters and things still looked great.
 
OUCH!! Well thankfully, the insides of the coolant hoses were immaculate as was inside the block that was visible from the water pump and thermostat openings.
 
KMJ1992 said:
Hey guys. We all know the troubles that dexcool and its clones bring. But switching to regular green means a lot more changing. Im a Ford tech. We use Orange Dexcool type coolant, Yellow GO5 type, Standard Green, and Specialty Green PHOAT aka F22. The F22 cars have by far the cleanest cooling systems, even when neglected and just topped off occasionally. Dexcool destroys stuff if it gets any air in it at all, G05 is good but if neglected creates quite the mess of its own. But the PHOAT, just makes a little slimy film if neglected, and causes no other colling system parts an early death, and the flush machine gets that stuff out no probelem. So i think this is what we should be switching Dexcool vehicles over to. It has the same 5 year life, and is much more reliable. The only caveat is you need to use distilled water, but you should be doing that anyways. I have been soaking every type of gasket or seal from every type of other coolant we use here in the PHOAT for a couple months now and no abnormal softening or anything to cause me to believe there should be any issues doing so. I plan to be a guinea pig myself anyways and i will report back. Anyone else doing this?
Click to expand...

Ford now agrees with you, as the new yellow is a P-Hoat. I will be switching to it.
 
It's definitely good to hear all of the opinions on this subject. I will say this - If Dexcool is such a great coolant, there would be no reason to change. What I have observed is this: Car companies keep introducing new coolant formulations. I would imagine they do this because the technology gets better and engines use different materials. Having said that - I'm not 100% convinced Dexcool is a good option now. (Especially when they are moving towards PHOAT and others). I say this because I'm actually changing-out the coolant on my 2001 Buick LeSabre and seriously thinking about using a different formulation. I'm also changing the intake gaskets out BECAUSE of the known problems with Dexcool eating gasket material. (Yes, bad move by GM for those years.) I am thinking GO5 for now.

I know others have reported zero issues with their Dexcool, but??? I can't help but think there's a better coolant to use. Why else would Ford go with a new formulation?
 
JGmazda said:
I'm not 100% convinced Dexcool is a good option now. (Especially when they are moving towards PHOAT and others). I say this because I'm actually changing-out the coolant on my 2001 Buick LeSabre and seriously thinking about using a different formulation. I'm also changing the intake gaskets out BECAUSE of the known problems with Dexcool eating gasket material. (Yes, bad move by GM for those years.) I am thinking GO5 for now.

I know others have reported zero issues with their Dexcool, but??? I can't help but think there's a better coolant to use. Why else would Ford go with a new formulation?
Click to expand...
Because dexcool has been fielded in the Ford family for about 25 years and more modern formulations like Prestone’s POAT have come to the market, it’s that simple.

The European, East Asian and American coolant manufacturers now all agree that phosphates are good.
 
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