cooling / antifreeze

[Heather]

What type of coolant is the best?
Is there any difference between green and red one?

Susanna

 

[Bill Putney]

What type of coolant is the best?
Is there any difference between green and red one?

Susanna

If you're talking about a late model Chrysler, you should be using the
Chrysler-specified G-05 type - AFAIK Zerex is the only brand of that
that you'll find in the stores (might be cheaper than the dealer).
According to Ford and Chrysler, the orange stuff (Prestone Extended
Life™/DexCool™), while better than the traditional green stuff, has been
found to have some corrosion problems due to being silicate-free. The
G-05 has a small amount of silicate which Chrysler claims is shown to
give longer pump (impeller?) life.

So to answer your question: Use G-05 *only*. Whether this is
universally true or not I don't know - I would think the laws of physics
are the same for any brand of car, barring different materials being
used in the seals and metal parts.

Bill Putney
(to reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my
address with "x")

 

[Richard Benner Jr]

If you're talking about a late model Chrysler, you should be using the
Chrysler-specified G-05 type - AFAIK Zerex is the only brand of that
that you'll find in the stores (might be cheaper than the dealer).
According to Ford and Chrysler, the orange stuff (Prestone Extended
Life?/DexCool?), while better than the traditional green stuff, has been
found to have some corrosion problems due to being silicate-free. The
G-05 has a small amount of silicate which Chrysler claims is shown to
give longer pump (impeller?) life.

So to answer your question: Use G-05 *only*. Whether this is
universally true or not I don't know - I would think the laws of physics
are the same for any brand of car, barring different materials being
used in the seals and metal parts.

Bill Putney
(to reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my
address with "x")

CHRYSLER PRODUCTS.
You can get the MOPAR anti freeze from the dealer but it is very
expensive. He is right when he says you should use Zerex G-05. DO NOT
USE Dexcool. It may LOOK the same but it is NOT. YOU WILL VOID your
warranty if you do. Here is the website for the new antifreeze:
http://www.valvoline.com/pages/products/product_detail.asp?product=10

One thing you will notice is that it is NOT the same color. It is
yellowish where the Mopar is red/orange. That is ok. It IS the
recommeded antifreeze. IF it has the red/orange in it, do NOT mix
GREEN anti freeze with it. USE THE RIGHT STUFF.

Good Luck

 

[C-BODY]

When DexCool came out and Chrysler later came out with a SIMILAR but not
the same coolant, there was a reply posted about the different chemistry
of the Chrysler-spec and GM-spec coolants.

GM claims that you can mix DexCool with normal green coolant in an
emergency, but when people have done that (for whatever reason), it can
form a brown mud-like solution in the cooling system. End result, a
full flush job is needed to get everything cleaned out again. GM does
state that if you have to mix the two coolants, that you get things
flushed out and returned to the original spec coolant solution as soon
as possible.

Interesting about the silicate situation. GM claims that silicate-free
extends water pump life, but we've still replaced some small block Chevy
pumps during the warranty period.

The main problems with DexCool equipped vehicles, and this varies from
vehicle platform to vehicle platform and customer demographics, seem to
have been the result of poor maintenance. Meaning, the radiators must
be maintained at the proper coolant level and not allowed to be too low
for an extended period of time. GM issued a service bulletin on the
S-10s about this and also required a radiator cap change too. The
bulletin also spec'd the Prestone 2-part cleaner to use to get things
cleaned out.

I suspect that some of Chrysler's situations might be similar in this
respect.

I have seen the Valvoline coolant at WalMart and probably other similar
chains have it too.

Check the link to the Valvoline information. It's quite good.

Some of these maintenance requirements might seem a little different,
but they work.

Hope this helps,

C-BODY

 

[C-BODY]

Be sure that when you drain the cooling system that you might need to
purge the air from the system. In that case, where the thermostat on
the engine is at a higher level than the radiator, there should be a
brass valve similar to a brake bleeder valve on the highest point in the
cooling system (usually the thermostat housing). If you don't purge the
air, the cooling system performance will be substandard as it isn't full
of coolant. It might mention this in the owner's manual and certainly
in the service manual.

Enjoy!

C-BODY

 

[Steve]

DEXCOOL shouldn't be used in ANY Chrysler product.

As far as the G-05 type, my understanding is that its only advantage
over traditional glycol with silicone (eg. regular Prestone) is extended
life. If I had a car that calls for G-05, I'd check the manual carefully
and if it said that traditional Glycol MAY be used if you revert to an
annual or 2-year drain cycle, that's what I'd do, otherwise I'd use G-05
but flush it every year instead of waiting 5 years. I don't trust
"extended life" coolants at all. Also, never mix antifreeze types.