mentis Posted September 2, 2004 Share Posted September 2, 2004 Maybe everyone already knows this and I'm more of a n00b that I realize, but just in case, here's a heads up: One of my two mechanics informed me yesterday that I was starting to leak coolant while he was checking out some other stuff for me. I had been using the orange Halvoline brand dexcool. He also told me that the reason for my leak is because dexcool should not be used on anything but 2002 and newer GM vehicles. The dexcool corrodes your gaskets and waterpump (including the head gasket) and begins to leak through them. Apparently they have been doing a LOT of coolant replacement on older GM vehicles as well because many people have been using the dexcool. In other words, STAY AWAY FROM DEXCOOL!!! Fortunately, when the system is flushed and the green stuff's back in, many of the gaskets stop leaking according to my mechanic. I hope this is of use to you guys. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. RX Posted September 2, 2004 Share Posted September 2, 2004 Well I use the Permatex orange stuff, it works great. It seems to be a little thinner then the green stuff, so if you get a leak, you will notice it sooner with the orange then the green. Also the green stuff reacts with the aluminum in the Subaru engine and will eventually clog your radiator. Every clogged radiator in a Subaru that I have run across has had the green stuff in it, I have never seen a clogged radiator in a Subaru using the orange stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
subieman Posted September 2, 2004 Share Posted September 2, 2004 Yeah I found that out the hard way on my 91 Legacy. Soon after I changed over to orange my head gasket blew.. ah well. Green for life. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. RX Posted September 2, 2004 Share Posted September 2, 2004 Yeah I found that out the hard way on my 91 Legacy. Soon after I changed over to orange my head gasket blew.. ah well. Green for life.If it blew soon after you changed over, it wasn't the antifreeze, the head gasket was on the way out. I have used the orange stuff from Permatex for over two years without a single problem. If you keep the green in there, you might as well buy stock in a radiator company. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mentis Posted September 2, 2004 Author Share Posted September 2, 2004 Your Permatex may be different that the other brands. I personally have never heard of Permatex, so I am guessing it's better quality than the stuff you can pick up at any old store. Most of the dexcool antifreeze available from the common brands seems to be doing damage many many cars, not just soobs, according to the track record at my mechanic. In other words, I believe that the stuff you got works well for you, but I'm not sure where to get my hands on Permatex. Perhaps you can tell me where you got yours? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeneralDisorder Posted September 2, 2004 Share Posted September 2, 2004 The 22 year old radiator in my Brat doesn't seem to mind the green stuff. Works great even with 100 degree heat and traffic not moving..... I think the biggest difference is in the water you use. I use distilled water to keep the corrosive elements down. Even if my radiator bit it next year, I think that 20+ years on the green stuff is more than enough - I'll gladly buy another radiator if they all hold up like that. Just my thoughts... How about some of that German G-012 stuff? My friends Audi called for it - it's hot pink in color... VW uses it too now..... works awesome in their all-aluminium radiators. GD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. RX Posted September 3, 2004 Share Posted September 3, 2004 Boy am I red faced, it is Prestone, not Permatex. The full name is Prestone 5/150 Extended Life Antifreeza/Coolant. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mentis Posted September 3, 2004 Author Share Posted September 3, 2004 Ah, yes. I use green coolant, but it is also Prestone. And what is this G-012 I am hearing about? Never heard of it, but it sounds interesting. Can you buy it easily? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edrach Posted September 3, 2004 Share Posted September 3, 2004 The primary difference for the Prestone extended life orange coolent is that it is low phosphate and less prone to corrode aluminum radiators and/or leave deposits that can clog the tubing. I used the orange Prestone (diluted with DISTILLED water for 5 years on my '86 GL without any problems). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ratty2Austin Posted September 3, 2004 Share Posted September 3, 2004 i also had dex cool (not sure what brand) in my XT... then the waterpump blew up.. and a few more gaskets.... then i switched back to green... and viola! no more leaks! (and I also had to reseal the whole engine... and flush... and... yeah!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShawnW Posted September 3, 2004 Share Posted September 3, 2004 Here to end this arguement is an article that explains it much better than I do. http://popularmechanics.com/automotive/sub_care_sat/1999/3/right_coolant/ In summary, orange and green antifreezes CANNOT BE MIXED as the corrosion speed is increased GREATLY. Your mechanic is incorrect that the Orange caused it because honestly the green is as much to blame as the orange, as is the person that mixed them before. To change from orange to green you must do a full flush and have a radiator that is compatible with the Orange coolant. Neither Orange nor green is really much better than the other and Older Generation Subarus came with Green originally so unless you plan on a complete flush and a replacement radiator there isn't any good reason to use the more expensive coolant. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mentis Posted September 3, 2004 Author Share Posted September 3, 2004 Is it possible that Prestone does not use dexcool, and that their formula is different then? Edit: I see. Well, I guess it's the mixture that causes the problems then. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rallyruss Posted September 3, 2004 Share Posted September 3, 2004 dexcool is the type of coolant not an aditive. havolin ,prestone and a/c delco all make it to the same specs. no. do NOT mix not evin after a flush. You really cannot get all that crap out because it soaks into seals and gaskets and then you have the same corosion problem. I ran dexcool In my toyota truck after rebuilding it completely. new everyting. so far so good. the German stuff GD talks about is really good stuff. I belive it can be used in place of green stuff. there are tons of different coolants out there right now in the truck and heavy equipment being relased. I try really hard to stick with the OE stuff when possible. do not let a dexcool car run low because air will help cause the dreaded dexcool mud that you may see in some cars. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aba4430 Posted September 3, 2004 Share Posted September 3, 2004 Folks, I have used the Prestone extended life orange coolant in a 1994 Nissan Altima since 1998 (came with green from the factory). Now at 132K miles. Yes, I recently replaced my radiator and as a precaution the water pump. The radiator is aluminum and plastic (top) and there were hairline cracks in the plastic at a couple of places. But I am happy with even 10 years on a radiator. When I recently (May, 2004) did a lot of work (including adding a 2-row radiator and new water pump) on my 1987 Brat, I totally flushed the system with DIW and added the Havoline DexCool coolant at @50% concentration. I have only driven 3.5K miles since all the work on my Brat. There is nothing that I have read that specifically states that DexCool is detrimental to aluminum radiators or engines and seals etc. It is supposed to be a phosphate and silica free formula (so they claim). Perhaps they have improved the process and the Quality Control is better now. Regards, aba4430 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aba4430 Posted September 3, 2004 Share Posted September 3, 2004 Well, I stand partly corrected. I just read the PM article and it states that the DexCool is not compatible with brass radiators. The new radiator in the Brat has brass tanks, I believe. I will have to watch this over time. I would think the jug would have specific precautions as well..., or I hope the radiator manufacturers have upped the manufacture to make their radiators compatible with the orange stuff. Regards, aba4430 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. RX Posted September 3, 2004 Share Posted September 3, 2004 Thanks for tha article Shawn, very informative. I did notice a pattern here with people who had trouble with the orange stuff. It seems like they all added it to systems that were old without replacing anything. Then when something failed, as it probably would have anyway, they blamed the orange stuff, then replaced all the gaskets and seals and put in green stuff. If they had put orange stuff back in, they probably wouldn't have had problems either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mentis Posted September 3, 2004 Author Share Posted September 3, 2004 Indeed, I have come to the same conclusion. Since it is the mixture of both coolants that causes the corrosion, a flushed system would in most cases do fine with either coolant. After my mechanics suggestion I did do a flush by dilution and then put the green coolant back in. I will obviously stick with green now because I don't want to flush again for a looong time. It was a time consuming pain in the butt since I didn't want to fork over the chunk of cash they want for a flush at radiator shops. Anyway, I'm glad we've got this thing mostly figured out. Thanks everyone! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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