Ethyl Glycol Coolant (silicate vs oat)

[TexasTea]

hi all,

i have a 04 silverado and it has had dexcool in it since new, likely. i have been wanting to change over to green coolant for EVER...but been afraid due to the fact that GM says their aluminum radiators will corrode without dex cool in them (my [censored] motorcycle has an alum rad. with green eth-glyc coolant)

Anyways, making the issue a little more complicated is the fact that this last round of dex cool perhaps due to age or due to Prestone's budget brand coolant, dexcool has stained my coolant orange. This is not the mud issue this is simply a chalky orange residue, almost like stained kool-aid in the passages, and any metal/alum. surfaces have been coated in this...

I want to put something in the radiator to get rid of the staining and then flush it out and put green in....

Im still a little worried but I just read and re-read the fact that Dex-Cool AND Green traditional coolant are BOTH ethyl-glycol based coolants they only differ in "add packs" of silicate based anti corrosion or OAT corrosive inhibitors (plus other stuff)

is this correct?

What can i use to remove the stains in my coolant passages? I dont want to have a green/orange ugly mess in there that makes it difficult to deal with. I also want someone to say OH it has green coolant if i ever decide to take it to a mechanic again, and not wonder...[censored] is this? when they look at it.

 

[bullwinkle]

Regular green doesn't hurt aluminum radiators, you could flush the Dex out & put green in, or even an all makes-all models Dexclone (like Prestone, or Peak Long Life) without hurting anything. I've seen the red staining in Dex systems before, not sure how to get that out.

 

[Bluestream]

Dex is good coolant, why would you want to go backwards?

 

[AIRJAC3]

Originally Posted By: Bluestream
Dex is good coolant, why would you want to go backwards?


This

You can get Prestone DEXCOOL for pretty much the same price as the all makes all model Prestone, and Autozone, AAP, and Pep Boys all have a GM approved "Orange" house brand that is also not expensive.

The DEXCOOL phobia should be put to bed I think. Even Ford and Chrysler are using forms of DEX so it isn't something that doesn't work.

I have DEXCOOL in my Camaro and GMC Yukon and I see no reason to not continue to do so.

 

[WobblyElvis]

I would gently flush the system and reinstall dexcool. Why take any risk of mixing incompatible coolants?
Dexcool is very good. Make sure you bleed the system well and all components are functioning properly.

 

[nthach]

Keep the Dex-Cool. As long as the gaskets in your cooling system can handle it there's no benefit in getting rid of Dex-Cool. GM had those issues on the 3.1/3.4/4.3L V6s and the older Gen I/II-based V8s and the aftermarket has a good fix for leaky lower intake manifold gaskets.

 

[Donald]

Stick with a real DexCool in systems designed for DexCool. Assuming you have dealt with intake manifold gasket if it was an issue on your engine.

DexCool and some intake gaskets had issues years ago but we are beyond that era and DexCool is an excellent coolant in cars designed for it.

But get DexCool from GM or Zerex, not AM/AM.

 

[Chris142]

Gm used Silicated green coolant in aluminum Radiators until 1996 when they switched to Dex. We still see dexcool disasters. Mostly from unmaintained systems that got low. At least with old school coolant it wont turn to mud if it gets low. I still do not like Dexcool. I know the naysayers wont believe me anyway.

 

[Sayjac]

Simple, if you're wanting to change over to IAT AF conventional green do it. You will need to do a complete system flush because Dex won't mix with the conventional green. Never heard of such a thing a GM saying radiator will corrode without Dex. Sounds like hogwash to me. That said, changing to green will shorten your system service interval to 2 years, maybe 3 max.

That said, only issue for continuing to use Dex would/could be gasket incompatibility because of 2eha used as an inhibitor. But seeing as you have an 04 and haven't noted any gasket issues I'd stick with longer service interval Dexcool and just do a radiator d&f and not mess with the system flush. Imo, no reason to change now.

 

[69GTX]

Running DexCool on my '99 Camaro since day 1. In fact I think the factory fill was in there for 13 years. Everything looked fine after it was drained, and refilled with DexCool. I don't want to risk having left some DexCool behind, only to put in some incompatible fluid in behind it. Most issues with DexCool come from poor maintenance practices, not the coolant itself.

 

[barkingspider]

I had 04 silverado w the 4.8L engine. When I flushed it at over 150K miles, I used dexcool again. No problems. I flushed and use Dexcool is all my GM vehicles w no issues. I would stay w Dexcool if I was u