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08-20-2013
Going to do a thermostat swap and looking to replace the old coolant. Anyone have any preference to the dex-cool orange stuff or the green stuff? It's a 2000 so not really sure when the last coolant was replaced. I heard either can cause some corrosion. Just looking to see what everyone else has had success with.
08-20-2013
Green.
Dex is good, but green is cheaper and can handle air better than dexcool, which will sludge.
08-20-2013
go green.
do a full flush of the coolant system, drain it, add one gallon of straight antifreeze ( not the 50/50 stuff) top off with water.
08-20-2013
I run and like the dexcool myself, it should be maintained on the same schedule as any other coolant though.
Big mistake leaving it in for the 5 years or whatever silly length of time GM reccomended when these cars where built.
That scenario and lack of maintenance have created alot of dexcool horror stories with these cars.
08-21-2013
Any car I have ever worked on (mostly my old Cavalier and my sister's Dodge, etc.) have all had green. So you are saying do a full drain with distilled water, and then only add water again? I'm just worried about getting the right mix. I was thinking drain, run water, drain, and then filling with an even mix of the green stuff and water.Originally Posted by Scottydoggs
P.S. I have heard if you drain and then just top off with green it should be okay as you will eventually work off the orange with regular changes, but it sounds sketch.
08-21-2013
Can I just drain and then top off with the green, hoping there will be little orange left? Which will eventually work itself out? Or should I flush completely in order introduce all green into the engine?
08-21-2013
take the t stat out, put the housing back on, then take the upper hose off the rad, push it down into a bucket. then start up the car, put a garden hose in the rad, when clear water comes out its flushed. let it run for a bit.
then turn off the hose, run the car till nothing comes out the upper hose, shut it off. put the t stat back in, the upper hose back on, add the one gallon of straight coolant, then top off with water, bleed the bleeder valve. after the engine warms up, i wait for the fans to come on idling, rad cap off, topping off as needed with water. once the fans turn on i crack the bleeder, open and shut it a few times, leave it open till a stream of coolant comes out. if the fans are on, the t stat is wide open. this is the best time to bleed it.
08-21-2013
ItsMeDc--
Anything but Dexcool.
Me, being a genius, failed to pop the radiator cap when buying my GTP. When I finally did get around to it, it was completely gunked.
Me, being a genius, flushed, and refilled with Dexcool because that's what all the stickers inside the hood told me to do.
Only to have it re-gunk in less than a thousand miles. The reserve tank was unsalvageable, and I'm sure there's a lot of gunk fused in the bottom of the radiator that I'll never get out. I'll have to replace the rad eventually.
I stuck a garden hose in one end of the radiator, pulled the drain plug at the other end, flushed like crazy while I went up to Sonic to get a couple burgers, came back a couple hours later, refilled with conventional green, and haven't looked back. I will never buy any General Motors car with Dexcool in it, ever again - at the very least, it will be the first thing I fix when I do buy it.
08-21-2013
if you didnt do anything like what i posted, or pull the lower rad hose, well you just mixed green and dex. you dont want to mix the old dex with green, it will booger up worse then before.
all i see is you flushed the radiator. nothing more, theres a lot of coolant still in the engine and heater core.
08-21-2013
Scottydoggs--
Probably due to some poor wording on my end but the entire system has been flushed out, multiple times, including the block and heater core. The rad caught the worst of the Dexcool though. I replaced the reserve tank and hoses more recently, along with another flush. Periodically (every couple weeks?) I pop the radiator cap and ensure it isn't re-gunking, and I haven't had any problem since.
08-21-2013
Use anything but Dexcool. Personally I stick with green!
08-21-2013
The hose I have runs well water which worries me about flushing it with it.
08-21-2013
do you drink the well water? if so its ok.
or go buy a crap load of distilled water. its what your supposed to use, dont know anyone who uses it any more.
your whole cooling system is around 3 gallons maybe a bit more. so 6 or 7 gallons of distilled water, 1/2 or that would be used to flush it.
if using bought water, id pull the t stat, and put the housing back on, then run car till nothing comes out, then dump the water in the rad, 1 gallon at a time with it running, and hope its clear by the 3 rd gallon.
once its clear, run it till nothing comes out, then add the coolant, the t stat back in, and top off with the last 3 gallons of water.
08-21-2013
Sounds good, I don't drink the water so I will just go for distilled, it's cheap. I heard that running with the heater on will help with the heating block too so I figured that's a good idea, Running after the coolant is drained is okay as long as I had the gallons? Run the car with the drain plug undone to see the water come out, or run and add water, stop car and drain a few gallons at a time?
08-21-2013
leave the drain plug in. take the top hose off the rad. t stat out, push the upper hose down, it will pump out the upper hose. when it stops coming out, the rad is dry, add the water, at this point your pumping clean water through the engine, so just dump say 2 gallons in asap after it stops pumping out the upper hose. if it pumps out clear before you need the 3 rd or 4th gallon, your done.
no need to run the heater, its got coolant running to it full time, no off valve.
08-21-2013
Thanks a bunch Scotty! You been really helpful!
08-21-2013
G-05.
Provides instant protection unlike Dexcool.
Five year coolant, unlike traditional green which is a two year.
Superior protection of aluminum in comparison to traditional green.
You should consider that the Dexcool in your car was several times it's expected lifespan. You should also consider that you should have flushed that thoroughly the first time as clearly not all of the contaminants were removed from the system.
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