I have "Orange" radiator coolant , can I add green coolant to top up ?

Dexcool is an awful thing.  GM has sued Havoline over that stuff dozens of times.  My 96 Impala SS had three water pumps and two heater cores under warranty.  Every time, they flushed out goopy snot.

It works great as a coolant and an anti-corrosive, but as soon as it cavitates or gets low and mixes some air in it, it turns to sandy orange jello.  It can also react with the silica in leftover casting sand and propogate crystals.  You should see it react with RTV.

Long story short, if it isn't giving you fits, just top with water.  When it comes time to replace it, I strongly suggest a really good flush and replace with plain old green in a 50/50 mix.

In reply to Curtis73 (Forum Supporter) :

A lot of the dexcool issues were the plastic intake gaskets that would crack and leak, allowing air in.  I only ever dealt with the mud when someone let their Silverado or van go a long time with leaky intake gaskets.

The other issue was that GM was still using a pressure cap on the radiator, and an overflow tank.  This is the opposite of a sealed system and the overflow tanks always got muddy even if the coolant in the engine and radiator was okay.

Another, non GM engineering issue, clued to me by an instructor, was that when people would remove and throw away the nice full circle spring clamps in favor of a worm gear clamp, there are two points in that equation alongside the bit that holds the worm gear where the clamping load is less.  He said that even if it didn't leak coolant out, air could seep in under vacuum when the engine cooled off (another "feature" of the overflow type cooling system) and it would pull a little air in.

I mean, I GET why GM switched to plastic gaskets.  Torquing the intake manifold down for a fiber or all-metal gasket wedges the cylinder heads apart and this leads to cylinder bore and even main bearing bore distortion.  The low torque needed by the encapsulated O ring gaskets let GM limp those old engine designs along just a little bit longer.  But the plastic ones always failed and the replacement metal ones never did.

This may be useful to understanding some of the similar/different formulations used by manufacturers (source):

My go to for domestic vehicles lately has been Xerex G05, but for the Korean and Japanese vehicles I've been going using the recommended formulation for them from Pentosin or Xerex. 

In reply to No Time :

I remember that chart, in doing my research to decide on a flush and fill on a couple engines known to be more of a problem. It's a great tool, as long as one remembers its accuracy is around 50/50... since there is absolutely NO standard as to who can use whatever dye color they like. 
Color is NOT an accurate way to determine what was put in. 

In reply to Curtis73 (Forum Supporter) :

Other than the "plain ol' green", the rest is good info. 
The old, short lifespan antifreeze was green, so us old car guys got used to it. As DexCool and other longer life types came out, green no longer means a thing! (Never did, actually, green was just a convenient dye to ad, to identify it as poisonous)

In reply to 03Panther :

I agree, useful part isn't the color, but looking at the checks in the horizontal rows to see which products at the top use similar technology. 

In reply to No Time :

Just needs better descriptions of the types. I've largely forgotten all that... was a TON of reading. 

DO NOT ADD GREEN TO DEXCOOL

oh my goodness. The red Jeep and I fought that battle for years. Not only does it make glue, but it also makes globs. Not only does it make globs, but it accelerates corrosion. I replaced so many things. SO MANY THINGS.

https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/grm/xj-cooling-system/89243/page1/

https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/off-topic-discussion/how-to-house-a-homeless-friend/130386/page1/

03Panther said:

In reply to Curtis73 (Forum Supporter) :

Other than the "plain ol' green", the rest is good info. 
The old, short lifespan antifreeze was green, so us old car guys got used to it. As DexCool and other longer life types came out, green no longer means a thing! (Never did, actually, green was just a convenient dye to ad, to identify it as poisonous)

I get what you're saying, but it doesn't matter how "long-life" Dexcool is supposed to be, it isn't.  It's a wonderful coolant that can and will turn south based on air.  I mean.... air?  It's wonderful coolant until it isn't, and it seems like the moon phase, saying a certain phrase, or sneezing too close will cause it to be useless, corrosive jello.

Just ask the LT1 guys.  Or the Vortec guys.  Or the Ecoboost guys.  Or the 14 lawsuits totalling something like $220 million.

But I agree... there are better coolants than old-school green stuff.

There ARE universal coolants that will intermix with Dexcool just fine.  They happen to be green in color.  They aren't the old style "green" formula though.

Just to add to the fun factor.

In reply to Curtis73 (Forum Supporter) :

I wasn't supporting or defending dex cool, in any way. Horrible stuff! Just that color doesn't identify it; other companies made the same formula, with a different color dye... and had problems also. 
Just like green does not identify the "old green" stuff, anymore, either!

back in the ol' iron block V8 with iron heads, most everyone I knew hardly ever changed their coolant system, mixed it it tap water (and everyone was on wells then) ran straight tap water in the summer! Basically abused everything against "recommended"... and got away with it. Can NOT do that today. I became a HARD CORE believer in distilled water only, and picking out a brand / formula, and not mixing, just cause the advertising label says ya can. Tons of reading, and chemical research!

IIRC, what is sold as  Dex Cool, isn't even the same formula, since they had so many problems.

But the TL, DR, is: Color means ABSOLUTELY nothing!

Color sometimes means *something*.  I bet it's safe to mix all the different kinds of green stuff.

Berck said:

Color sometimes means *something*.  I bet it's safe to mix all the different kinds of green stuff.

Nope. Several completely different formulas (one is compatible with OATs, but not the "old green". But uses the same color green dye.) I know it sounds hard to believe, but color is just non regulated dye, and means nothing. 
I can take the time to look up the various chemical formulations, if my life lets me slow down some (I'm not a degreed chemist, so can't quote them off top of my head) or go back and read 100 hrs (or more) over several weeks, on the topic. The color means nothing, and 80% of the info written on the unregulated advertising sticker on the bottle is just that. Unregulated advertising, and worth less that the paper the sticker was printed on. 
Life would be easier if it meant something, so most folks think it does. 
 

That all being said, most formulas sold, have made their brand much closer to universal, than the so called longer live stuff, when it first. There are several (of various colors of dye) that claim can be mixed with Dex , and with "old green". I wouldn't, but I know Peale have, without problems. I also know folks that HAVE had problems. Cause there is zero regulation to prevent "saying" "ours is compatible "

So glad this thread came along.

Got called to change the coolant in the town fire truck. Cat Diesel with red coolant. Smelled like glycol but no way I was going to chance it.

Trip to Finning for 4 gallons of Cat ELC concentrate.

All coolants save for a couple weirdos like Evans and Sierra are ethylene glycol based.  (And THOSE are propylene glycol)  Ethylene glycol by itself is pretty corrosive, so all coolants have various anticorrosion additive packages.  The issue is that some additive packages are incompatible with others.

Ok, so now I have to change the coolant for the first time in my 2008 Mustang.  Research tells me Zerex G5 is the correct replacement for MotorCraft Gold.

On topic, my Uncle topped up his Chrysler minivan recently due to a leak.  He was just trying to make it to the next shop while on a road trip.  It jelled up instantly, overheated, got towed, then received a full flush to go with the new radiator.

If universal coolant was ok for all cars, all brands would come with universal coolant to save costs.  This didn't used to be a problem when it as all cast iron and brass, then came aluminum, plastic, BMW.

I don't even know what I put in my kids BMW.

A squirrel chilled with me at work yesterday, he just wandered in and climbed a shelf.  He peed a little when I told him it was time to go, I didn't want to lock him in all night.  Poor fella was scared. 

Call me crazy, but it just seems if the car was on its original coolant, it just seems easier to continue to buy that stuff even if it means getting it from the dealer, where in my case (Honda Coolant) costs nearly the same as what the brands you buy at the autoparts store. 

In reply to aw614 :

True, I have found quite a few parts are competitively priced at the dealer, and some that are triple for no reason.  I'm going for what is the correct product, available anywhere and not a useless color.

And my truck e-mailed me this morning to say it's due for a coolant change.

Looks like i'm off to the GM store for some Dex-Cool.

ShawnG said:

So glad this thread came along.

Got called to change the coolant in the town fire truck. Cat Diesel with red coolant. Smelled like glycol but no way I was going to chance it.

Trip to Finning for 4 gallons of Cat ELC concentrate.

 

That stuff is the bomb.  Super-long anti-cavitation properties.

Hi , thanks for all the replies , 

QUESTION : If I want to change the unknown coolant in my 4.8 V8 Chevy van how do you get the old coolant out of the motor , radiator and hoses , 

and is the old coolant considered toxic waste and not to be dumped down the drain ?

Again thanks for your replies

Usually counties have disposal options for fluids like Coolant and brake fluid. Most autoparts sttores won't take it. I would not dump it down the drain. 

In reply to aw614 :

The locality where I used to work said that we could dump up to 12 gallons down the sanitary sewer per day.

If we needed to do more than that, we were directed to call them and let them know, so they could adjust the mixture of whatever they do at the treatment plant.

We did not do this, we saved it in barrels for recycling, but it was good to know that if there was a coolant explosion that it was okay to get rinsed down the drain.

I mean, I guess we do put things like hard-core detergents and even all sorts of caustic or acidic drain cleaners down the drain, coolant in retrospect us not that awful.  And some of the bacteria just love the stuff.

In reply to Curtis73 (Forum Supporter) :

Last date written on the coolant overflow was 2001