is it worth the extra money over the green peak 50/50 from Wal-mart? and is it safe to put in my 3.4 v6, because it is a longer life coolant, like Dex-cool and its gasket eating habits..
i was just wondering if it had the same corrosion propertys as dex-cool, both being long life coolants.
and no i havent had my gaskets replaced, and they dont appear to be bad.
at this moment, i dont know if the last owner got the dex-cool out, it was a female nurse so i doubt it, so im just going to change it so i have peace of mind.
G-05 has a more benign chemistry- the organic acid it uses is not nearly as prone to alter gaskets as DexCool is. It does have a dose of silicate so it probably protects aluminum and soldered brass parts better, too.
The previous poster suggested good ways to flush the system. I prefer opening the block drains, even though its a hassle. You'd be amazed how much casting junk is usually sitting around in the bottom of water jackets.
You could go with Green or G-05. G-05 has some advantages. It should have a slightly longer life. I'm a little partial to Green in this application with the silicon intake gasket. The real reason for switching away from Dexcool here is gasket/coolant compatibility and Green is probably the most compatible. On the other hand G-05 is not really aggressive with the gasket and the gasket will and probably has starting failing either way unless the gasket was replaced.
That vehicle is probably the hardest to flush all the old coolant out. The rear block drain is inacessible and so is the thermostat. Unhooking a the heater return hose to flush it out would probably be a pain and the plastic connectors might break.
I think you have 2 options, the slow way or the fast and easier way. The slow way is to drain and fill the radiator with water and run the engine hot and repeat about 3 times. The fast and easier way is to install a T-flush in the heater inlet hose. you will end up with tap water in the system but that shouldn't be a problem.
Originally Posted By: mechanicx
... The fast and easier way is to install a T-flush in the heater inlet hose. you will end up with tap water in the system but that shouldn't be a problem.
I used T-flush on many cars in the last 15-20 years without any problems.
Originally Posted By: Brenden
So, just get a green anti-freeze like peak 50/50 over the Zerex G-05 from Wal-mart..?
No not PEAK Longlife at Walmart. That is dexclone. It has to say original green formula on it. Advance Auto carries peak green. Zerex also has original Green along with G-05.
Originally Posted By: HTSS_TR
Originally Posted By: mechanicx
... The fast and easier way is to install a T-flush in the heater inlet hose. you will end up with tap water in the system but that shouldn't be a problem.
I used T-flush on many cars in the last 15-20 years without any problems.
I've never had any problems using tap water or T-flushes either. Maybe if I moved some place that had hard water or poor it would be a concern. You can get test strips that test the water from Cummins.
As long as you let the tap water drain well (this is why it is good to remove block drain plugs) and you refill with distilled H2O and coolant you will be fine....the amount of tap water left over from the flush should be miniscule.
G-05 is NOT anything like Dexcool because it does not contain the ingredient 2EHA which is the culprit of all the problems caused by Dexcool.
They both contain ethylene glycol which is the antifreeze, but the anti-corrosion inhibitor is completely different in G-05 and Dexcool. Use G-05 with confidence and use Dexcool at your car's peril. You have been warned.
Originally Posted By: ps49556n
As long as you let the tap water drain well (this is why it is good to remove block drain plugs) and you refill with distilled H2O and coolant you will be fine....the amount of tap water left over from the flush should be miniscule.
That's the problem with this vehicle in the first place. You can't really get to the block drains so you can't get the all the water out. If you could easily drain the block, normally there would be no need to use flush water.