Not neccessarily in my suburban but my wife has a car and it has the dexron coolant in it. I have heard nothing good about this stuff other than its better for the environment. I have heard its corrosive and the old green coolant is better for the vehicle. Any opinions on this topic? Should a person change it out to the old stuff?
coolant opinions??
- Thread starter 961kyle
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Molson02536
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Certain cars are built with Organic Acid Technology (OAT) antifreeze (e.g., DEX-COOL), or with a Hybrid Organic Acid Technology (HOAT) formulation (e.g., Zerex G-05), both of which are claimed to have an extended service life of five years or 240,000 km (150,000 miles).
There are rumors that mixing DEX-COOL with standard green (non-OAT) coolant causes a chemical reaction that produces sludge in the cooling system. According to the DEX-COOL manufacturer, however, "mixing a 'green' [non-OAT] coolant with DEX-COOL reduces the batch’s change interval to 2 years or 30,000 miles, but will otherwise cause no damage to the engine.
According to internal GM documents, the ultimate culprit appears to be operating vehicles for long periods of time with low coolant levels. The low coolant is caused by pressure caps that fail in the open position. (The new caps and recovery bottles were introduced at the same time as DEX-COOL). This exposes hot engine components to air and vapors, causing corrosion and contamination of the coolant with iron oxide particles, which in turn can aggravate the pressure cap problem as contamination holds the caps open permanently.
Should a person change it out to the old stuff?[/QUOTE]
NO! DexCool was specifically designed for your modern engine. It has a different protection package for your engine and cooling system. The green antifreeze is the old ethylene glycol based coolant designed for older engines. The problem is not with the coolant, rather it is with the poor design of the gaskets and materials that they are made with. GM and other aftermarket companies have come out with redesigned gaskets that work fine with the Dex Cool. Other instances that are wrongly blamed on Dex Cool is poor maintenance and air infiltration into the cooling system. Service your Dex Cool every 3 years or 40,000 to 50,000 miles instead of the old recommendation of 5 years/150,000 miles, and check your radiator cap to make sure the seal has not failed, letting air in the cooling system. I own a Jimmy with Dex Cool as the coolant and have NO problems with using it, just do the maintenance like everything else and you'll be fine.
