DO NOT USE Peak Long Life!

[Chuck1986]

Well, I finally found out from a corporate email that Peak Long Life antifreeze does infact contain 2-ethylhexanoate (aka it's a Dex-crud clone.) I'm in the process of flushing this junk out and changing over to Valvoline G05. In hind's sight, I can't believe I was dumb/cheap enough to skimp on buying an unknown coolant - should not buy it just cuz it's the best choice on the shelf! Luckily, I only had it in my car for 1-year/4000 miles. Although you can argue the chemistry of Dex-cool all day long, I'd rather pay an extra couple bucks for a safe, trusted blend instead of some GM-engineered garbage. We all know about the intake manifold and head gasket issues they've had for years, so why chance it with their coolant chemistry? With that in mind, I'd like to share a small list of safe/unsafe brands to run:

Safe:
- Any Japanese OEM fill
- Any European OEM fill
- Zerex G05
- Zerex original green - "low-silicate chemistry"
- Peak Global Lifetime

Unsafe:
- Any Dex-crud clone
- Any GM OEM fill
- Prestone "all makes" - another black sheep for the Dex-cruds
- Any generic brand - why chance it just to save a $ or two?
- Any high-silicate blend - these are becoming scarce though

As you can see, the coolants that I deem "safe" are also the harder, more expensive ones to find. Just remember, with a good flush it will last ya 5 years - so don't cut corners!!

 

[ted s]

whats wrong with Prestone "all makes"??

 

[Chuck1986]

It is a Dex-clone, just like most other brands these days (ie. Supertech, Peak Long Life, etc.) There has been considerable controversy behind Dex-Cool and let me tell ya, whether or not the controversy has any merit, I'd trust the G05 over the Dex-Cool anyday. Think about it, would you trust the preference of GM over the preference of Mercedes and BMW?

 

[MaximaGuy]

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I'd trust the G05 over the Dex-Cool anyday.

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After monkeying with this Peak stuff and blowing up my radiator, I have come to trust nothing except OEM coolants. Though OEM coolants cost twice more than the OTC stuff it is worth the investment, nothing on the planet will convince me to monkey again in the coolant department.

 

[MaximaGuy]

I spent $800 on diagnosis, re-diagnosis, re-re-diagnosis (dealership) and a new radiator for a cheap $10 bet on OTC coolant.

Nissan Long Life coolants costs $20/G .. So, I could have flushed my system $800/$20 = 40 times, ie. every 3 yrs, it would have been 120 (40 *3) cumulative years. I and my kid combined could have flushed their vehicles in their lifetimes.

Once bitten, twice shy with OTC coolants.

 

[Panzerman]

I dont change anti-freeze, I just monitor the nacool level and as long as you monitor it with test strips and add nacool as needed it is literaaly a lifetime coolant.

 

[Thermo1223]

Well isn't this an informative thread...

Nothing wrong with Dexcool, just people who think it was the coolant's fault GM engineered a bad cooling system and it's components.

Blame them for a couple of things but Dex-cool is not one and for your info most European cars use a chemistry similar to it anyway.

Furthermore the blatent trolling is a little annoying when people come to this site looking for facts, not gut feelings.

 

[Chuck1986]

Just for the record:
1) GM has notoriously bad engineering for many, many other things besides head gaskets and intake manifold gaskets. I don't think I need to get into this, but most people who talk about car reliability issues on this forum usually drive a GM (or an "American" car for that matter, but then again many of them are actually made in Mexico and Canada.)
2) I emphasize that I have no conclusive, first hand evidence that Dex-cool is harmful, yet the countless allegations and GM reputation make me think twice before I touch this stuff ever again. I just don't want to risk it cuz my car was such a big investment and I HATE costly repairs, especially the easily preventable ones.
3) You say how European OEM fills are similar to Dex-cool, except there's one problem here: They do not contain 2-ethylhexanoate, which is what makes Dex-cool known for causing Dex sludge.
4) I have yet to see enough convincing evidence that Dex-cool is safe enough that I can justify spending $2 less on antifreeze every 4-5 years. (Zerex G-05 goes for $11, Peak Long Life $9.)

 

[TallPaul]

What I read is that some GM engines had a different manifold gasket design that was no good and there were a lot of manifold gaskets that went bad. Seems these were the same ones where Dex-cool gunked up the cooling system. Perhaps oil leaking past the intake manifold gasket reacted with the Dex-cool and then folks decided to blame the coolant.

 

[Thermo1223]

Blah blah blah, Anti-Domestic this, Anti-GM that...believe what you want but if Dex-cool was the killer you make it out to be why didn't everycar have problems not just 1:100.

 

[MaximaGuy]

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Blah blah blah, Anti-Domestic this, Anti-GM that...believe what you want but if Dex-cool was the killer you make it out to be why didn't everycar have problems not just 1:100.

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My friend you are coming into the forum with a bad attitude, patting the US makers for their follies. That does not help, there are folks who have had their fingers burnt with non-OEM stuff and they are making a claim here. Why should another forum member have a non-US automobile go thro the same headache on costly repairs that can be avoided.

No one is scarily the ____ out of folks here.. You want to use non-OEM coolant go ahead and use it, you may be the lucky one with no problems. The probability of failure exists, that is what I and others are trying to address in the thread.

 

[Thermo1223]

The probability of failure lies with how well the car is maintained, if you used an incompatible coolant without first completely flushing the OEM out than the burden of failure lies with you & you alone.

Also VW's coolant is almost exactly the same as Dex-cool, it has something extra, Sodium-something. I can't remember the pdf is not in front of me.

Your saying go OEM or go home yet agree with what he is saying? If Dexcool is GM OEM why change it? The car will run just great with it provided maintenance is priority #1.

What he was trying to implicate in this thread that without any burden of proof he is claiming that all those coolants are cr-ap and G-05 is gold.

HE-LL I even went as far as being scared of Prestone's AMAM myself but after I read why customer's said they had an issue, it cropped up again as being poor maintance.

 

[Chuck1986]

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Blah blah blah, Anti-Domestic this, Anti-GM that...believe what you want but if Dex-cool was the killer you make it out to be why didn't everycar have problems not just 1:100.

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My friend you are coming into the forum with a bad attitude, patting the US makers for their follies. That does not help, there are folks who have had their fingers burnt with non-OEM stuff and they are making a claim here. Why should another forum member have a non-US automobile go thro the same headache on costly repairs that can be avoided.

No one is scarily the ____ out of folks here.. You want to use non-OEM coolant go ahead and use it, you may be the lucky one with no problems. The probability of failure exists, that is what I and others are trying to address in the thread.

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Very well said. As I'm sure you may know, many foreign automakers (ie. Nissan) take a much better approach to making quality cars than the domestics do. This is exactly why Toyota recently eclipsed GM for sales. As the owner of a Mitsubishi and a Nissan, I would never "cross-contaminate" my cars with cheap GM-quality engineering. And for the love of God, just like everything else, 99% of the time STICK TO OEM PARTS! (Antifreeze is not an exception to this rule!) My family has boycotted American cars for years and we stand by our decision.

 

[Thermo1223]

You two live in your own little world if you want, reality beckons for me.

 

[brianl703]

I have Peak Long Life in my 1988 Ford Mustang. It's been in there for about a year and a half.

No problems.

As far as European coolants go, this MSDS written in Danish for Q8 Antifreeze Long-Life Premixed says it has 2-EHA in it:

http://q8.dk/productservice-pdf/LBA_AntifreezeLongLifePremixed.pdf

 

[brianl703]

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3) You say how European OEM fills are similar to Dex-cool, except there's one problem here: They do not contain 2-ethylhexanoate, which is what makes Dex-cool known for causing Dex sludge.

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This is from http://www.agipbenelux.nl/UK/bulletin/main.html

"G-34 : colour orange, approved only by Opel/GM GM 6277 starting with models 8/2000"

"GM 6277" is the spec for Dex-Cool. Opels and Saabs are filled with G-34, which is another name for Dex-Cool. They sell lots of Opels in Germany and lots of Saabs in Scandinavia.


BTW, G-34 was developed by BASF.

 

[sxg6]

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I have come to trust nothing except OEM coolants. Though OEM coolants cost twice more than the OTC stuff it is worth the investment, nothing on the planet will convince me to monkey again in the coolant department.

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I'm with you there. I haven't had any bad experiences, but i see no reason to stray from oem coolants. Sure, you save a few bucks.. But how is it really worth it when coolant isn't changed all that often?

 

[Buffman]

My gfs 01 cavalier had 6 years and 100K on her factory fill dex-cool. It came out bright orange, and smelling like fresh coolant. I found no brown chunks, or any chunks for that matter, after my 30 minute flushing routine

I've run Prestone Green just fine and dandy in my 95 Roadmaster. Im not some lazy guy though who thinks coolant is a fill for life kind of deal

 

[Thatwouldbegreat]

I've had problems with Dex Cool in 4 cars.

I still use Dex Cool in 2 GM vehicles [ since they are not having problems ] and either oem coolant or G05 in every other vehicle.


"Stick with the original coolant" seems like a good starting point.

 

[unDummy]

I've used Dexcool in 2 of my Nissans, and one of my Mazdas, for 100k or so miles, 5-10 years+ on each, without a crumb of buildup or any cooling issues.

I do agree that a poor maintenance interval can cause issues. Some antifreezes are more tolerant then others.

I do agree that mixing antifreezes is a bad thing. Sorry, but just about every coolant related problem seems to be cause by a blend of various antifreezes. Incompentent flush techniques by backyard and hack mechanics is the cause.

I also have an issue with tap water, certain additives, and incorrect water:coolant ratios. Its amazing what people dump into their vehicles, and the mathematics that they practice when flushing.

Concerning GM, they like EVERY automaker, suffer from issues cause by the 'global suppliers'. Its just not a GM problem. Every automaker has these issues, some just not spread across the net more quickly and loudly then others. I find that certain owners bash away with every issue, and others keep their vehicle problems to themselves.