Where to find Zerex "old green" coolant or something equivalent?

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Ford and Chrysler were still using the conventional green until the early 2000's. They knew Dexcool was not compatible with their cooling systems...especially the plastics.
 
Originally Posted by A_User55555
The only other brand that still makes conventional green coolant is Peak.

There used to be a store in NYC called National Wholesale Liquidators which sold that along with an off brand conventional coolant.

However the store went out of business.



Blast from the past. I remember when they opened when I was a kid. Seem to remember a lot of loud advertising featuring prices listed on top of cartoon explosions.
 
I've been gradually switching the cars & trucks with old green to G-05/Premium Gold-it has enough silicate to protect copper/brass radiators & heater cores, but can handle 5 year changes. Only exception is the F-450 7.3 in my sig, not sure if the WP and oil cooler seals could handle it or not.
 
Napa and Advance do carry the green! I have purchased it from both stores in 2019
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Napa carries Zerex Green, and AAP carries CQ Green

Kmart and Walgreens carry Peak Green
 
You could just switch to G-05 and it would be absolutely fine, as long as it has Silicate and doesn't have 2-Eha it's fine, in fact i am running G40 ( a.k.a VW G12++ ) in my two Fords and they seem happy on it.
 
I've order Zerex Green from Amazon, most auto parts stores should have regular green in stock.

Keep in mind, Zerex's green is slightly different than old school green. It's supposedly a hybrid mixing both an organic and inorganic acid along with phosphates and a low level of silicate. It claims the same 5/100 service interval as G-05.
 
Originally Posted by nthach
I've order Zerex Green from Amazon, most auto parts stores should have regular green in stock.

Keep in mind, Zerex's green is slightly different than old school green. It's supposedly a hybrid mixing both an organic and inorganic acid along with phosphates and a low level of silicate. It claims the same 5/100 service interval as G-05.


That actually sounds like it's just G-05 dyed green
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My question is, why do they even bother?
 
Originally Posted by slacktide_bitog


My question is, why do they even bother?

People with older cars, or Dex-Sludge prone GM products and heavy-duty diesel(bus/big rigs/construction equipment/locomotives) that don't call for a ELC since it plays nice with SCAs.

although, that number is dropping.
 
Originally Posted by atikovi
Originally Posted by 69GTX
I'm not up for a full system drain and fill via engine drain plugs and removing the thermostat.


Drain the radiator and fill with water, drive 10-15 minutes with the heater on high. Repeat 5 or 6 times, the last few with distilled water. Then fill with modern coolant. You wouldn't use a '60's era motor oil in the engine, why are you using a 60's era coolant in the radiator? There are reasons why most cars of the 60's were all worn out by 100,000 miles.


I did that last time around on my 2002 Lincoln Continental when it was on old green. Did 6 flushes with demin water....then shifted from the old green to the yellow G05. A lot of work. Wasn't doing that again.

This time a simple radiator drain and refill with fresh green. 5 qts of 50/50 mix. The coolant that came out looked pretty darn good too. I'll do the same thing as soon as my coolant test strips and/or voltage drop don't test satisfactory. This car was 17 yrs old when I got it. Serviced with green all its life. Everything is good and clean. No leaks. All original components. The green works fine as long as you change it once in a while. My 1969 SuperBee always had green. It was on the original radiator in 1997 when I sold it....at 28 yrs old. It's not the coolant, it's your maintenance. The 1997-2001 Lincoln Continentals were designed with green coolant....from the 60's. In fact my 1997 went 232K miles on that green coolant....and the undercarriage rusted out around that engine/coolant system....original radiator too. This 2001 Conti is staying "old green."
 
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…... Zerex's green is slightly different than old school green. It's supposedly a hybrid mixing both an organic and inorganic acid along with phosphates and a low level of silicate. It claims the same 5/100 service interval
Link and/or citing to that information? Or is the operative word, "supposedly"?

Zerex Green does claim 5/100 service interval and low silicate formula which would help extend the interval. Silicate drop out, precipitation in original green IAT is what shortened their service interval. Afaik, Zerex Green is the only original/conventional green AF that specifically advertises the extended interval.

Original/conventional green can be found in AP stores ( AZ has store branded) and some may be low silicate, they just don't specifically advertise it like Zerex.
 
Originally Posted by Sayjac
Quote
…... Zerex's green is slightly different than old school green. It's supposedly a hybrid mixing both an organic and inorganic acid along with phosphates and a low level of silicate. It claims the same 5/100 service interval
Link and/or citing to that information? Or is the operative word, "supposedly"?

Zerex Green does claim 5/100 service interval and low silicate formula which would help extend the interval. Silicate drop out, precipitation in original green IAT is what shortened their service interval. Afaik, Zerex Green is the only original/conventional green AF that specifically advertises the extended interval.

Original/conventional green can be found in AP stores ( AZ has store branded) and some may be low silicate, they just don't specifically advertise it like Zerex.

These are the two patents referenced in an TDS for Zerex green:
https://patents.google.com/patent/US4548787A/en
https://patents.google.com/patent/US6203719B1/en

It seems like BASF/Valvoline is using a polycarboxylic acid to keep the silicates stable in Zerex green. Of course, a carboxylate is an organic acid. There's something similar BASF sells in Europe for things needing "old-school" green. It looked like some creative chemistry was done to claim both long life and compatibility with existing silicated green.

CCI and Prestone supply the parts store with their coolants it seems. As much as Prestone would love for everyone to use their new pHOAT Cor-Guard formula, they still sell their older Dex-Clone to Walmart and private labels as well as old-school green under the Prime label and other labels.
 
Since I last posted, I see where the Zerex Original Green jug itself says " A patented organic acid corrosion inhibitor....". As I don't use it never noticed that before. That being the case I'd have to agree with slacktide's thought, seems most like green tinted G-05. Strictly speaking, it wouldn't be an Original/Conventional green IAT AF.
 
Originally Posted by Sayjac
Since I last posted, I see where the Zerex Original Green jug itself says " A patented organic acid corrosion inhibitor....". As I don't use it never noticed that before. That being the case I'd have to agree with slacktide's thought, seems most like green tinted G-05. Strictly speaking, it wouldn't be an Original/Conventional green IAT AF.


I don't believe that any of today's conventional green coolants are the same as the very old school IAT high silicate green coolants of decades ago.

Are you insinuating that the Zerex formula is different than the Tractor Supply Store generic green coolant? Remember, ALL of today's green conventional coolants are different than the high silicate formulas of decades ago. The PEAK "conventional" green also states that it uses patented formulas. Remember, the very old green coolants were high silicate and could not be used in diesel engines (if memory serves). The "new" conventional green coolants are ASTM D4948 certified for use in diesel engines with an SCA.

And, G05 does not have the ASTM 4948 classification, so they are still different coolants.
 
I'm not insinuating anything, simply using the known facts available. IAT "old school" original/convention green afaik did not use organic acids now specifically advertised on Zerex Original green jug. As previously noted old school high silicate green known for dropout responsible for shorter service interval.

Not being familiar with TS generic green coolant, can't say if it's is same or different from Zerex Green. I do know that unless it specifically states the 5/100 Zerex service interval it very likely is not the same. At least I would not assume it is. I also noted that many newer "Original greens" like AZ store brand may be low silicate even though not advertised as such.

And while Zerex Green may be different than G-05, the fact that it advertises use of organic acid, would give it the property of a HOAT AF like G -05, low silicate with organic acid. Original/conventional IAT AF was not a HOAT. Now whether the definition for original/conventional green IAT AF has changed in light of newer "Original Green" formulas, suppose that's open to debate. Lastly, it should be noted that prior posts references agreement with another poster using the term "seems".
 
Silicates and OAT inhibitors such as Sebacate are also known to have synergistic effects when used in combination, iirc such as improved solder protection and excellent aluminium protection.
 
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per Sayjac - I'm not insinuating anything, simply using the known facts available.

Ah, yes, it seems that I am the one insinuating. You and nthach present both excellent facts and logic, and FordCapriDriver's note about Zerex similarity to a European coolant is interesting. I was barking up the wrong tree. Please, give me my first course of "eating crow".

When I was studying IAT coolants 18 years ago, it was very evident that most, if not all of the IAT coolants were low silicate. There are lots of examples still today that state this on their label (Peak is not one of them). Sayjac, you are also correct that Zerex conventional is the only one advertising 5 year/150,000 miles life (used to be 5yr/100,000). I have found others that advertise 2 - 3 years/24,000 - 50,000miles max.

I had assumed that Zerex upped their life expectancy because they dropped the silicate level. Wrong. Their use of polycarboxylic acid is something new I learned today. It is still perplexing that they market their product as IAT chemistry. Can anyone explain this?
 
Originally Posted by doitmyself
Their use of polycarboxylic acid is something new I learned today. It is still perplexing that they market their product as IAT chemistry. Can anyone explain this?



With what I know and I'm not a chemist, Zerex/BASF did that since the "traditional" green still fits the mold of a IAT. It has phosphate(dipotassium phosphate), sodium silicate, and the other additives one expects a coolant to have for protecting yellow metals and solder. However G-05 for Ford/older Mercedes, G-48 for BMW/Mini/Tesla and newer Mercedes as well as the current VW/Audi/Porsche fill(G-40, G-12++/G-12 in VW-speak) also fit the same hybrid mold.

I recall in the 1990s, any coolant that wasn't OEM or Prestone all advertised low silicate to keep the diesel engine OEMs and the maintenance council of the American Trucking Association(TMC) happy. In grade school, one of my classmates had a dad who worked at the local Detroit Diesel distributor and he said the coolant we fill up big rigs, buses and fire trucks with was almost the same as what's in your car. High levels of Si didn't play nice with the SCAs used in diesels.
 
doitmyself no need to eat crow on my account, it's all good. Looking at the wording of my statement regarding Zerex Green, likely better said, that 'technically' it wouldn't meet the definition of an Inorganic Acid Technology (IAT) AF since it uses an organic acid. I think it's safe to say that back in the day before organic acid AF's and HOATs "original"/convention green was an IAT AF.

And I learned something new in this thread. As noted since I've never used it didn't realize Zerex "original" Green used an organic acid inhibitor. And besides it low silicate formula, the organic acid likely helps explain it's extended service interval claim.

As for MaxLife AF newly linked in the thread, like many/most things on bitog been discussed this subforum several times. I'll link to one such thread of which I was a part that summarizes my thoughts when it's been discussed. In short though, unimpressed.

https://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=2958429
 
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