Newer coolant... ?? (red stuff) Now a warning post.

I've got that orangey/red stuff in my New Beetle.

I remember that I needed to add coolant and read this paragraph in my owners manual about only using the orangey red stuff yadda yadda yadda... or I'd void my warranty.

Hmmmm... what to do?

 

Regarding protecting Fido, Dexcool is an ethylene glycol product and is, therefore, just as toxic as standard antifreeze. Here is an interesting web page: http://www.penray.com/bulletins/dexcool.htm

 

Would someone post the procedure for doing a total flush of the dexcool?

I was told:

1-drain your radiator and refill with water

2-run motor with radiator petcock open, garden hose turned on constantly filling the radiator, and your car heater on full hot position.

Is that correct?

 

<font color="green"> I think the best way is to get the kit as mentioned earlier.

With the kit you are backflushing the system.

RASHY </font>

 

Yes that's right. Run the hose and the engine until it starts coming out clear, then go another 5-10 minutes. After that just refill accordingly with antifreeze/water mix.

 

Okay, thanks for the tips guys.

I checked the overflow bottle for my SBF. Since it was low, I found at the waterline a glob of that fine mud like stuff. That's a glob about the size of a grape and the motor only has 2,500 miles on it. We're talking all new motor, hoses, radiator, heater, etc.

 

My '97 Yukon had the red stuff in it, I owned it from '00 to '02 with 85k on the clock &amp; didn't have any problems. Guess I was a lucky one. I know the VW's use a synthetic red coolant that turns to sludge as well if you mix in the green stuff (I think certain types of water with heavy minerals can have a similar effect too). Either way it's a bad deal.

 

It's part of the planned obsolescence throw-away-car conspiracy.
It's a ticking time bomb that they are banking on not destroying the engine till it is out of warranty then you're screwed.
Just don't buy any cars that arent already 30 years old!.

 

dexcool is evil coolant, every customer i have i recommend them to change it out. the downside is you have to flush out the old stuff completely, block, core, hoses...... my mom's 2000 buick had it, i changed it out at about 35k (with the thermostat). i've seen nothing but trouble from that stuff, it turns to a "sandy" consistancy (just look at the overflow bottle).

 

from what i have been able to gather the problem stems from getting air in your cooling system. the air changes the make up of the coolant and causes corrosion. the newer vehicles don't even have a radiator cap.

no cap
no open
no air in system
no problem

I HOPE

we'll see as i just bought a 04 silverado.

later jim

 

Huh... you guys mighta just solved one a my life's greatest mysteries....

I bought a '71 chevelle back in '94... Drove it from bay area, my orig home, to so cal where i went to school... upon arriving and looking the car over, my nice green antifreeze turned to brown mud! The horror, I thought I'd blown a headgasket...

MULLLTIPLE subsequent flushings and replacements of regular green antifreeze still did not fully eliminate the mud after being run for a while. Finally just lived with it and changed the***** every 6 months. Even went as far as to have a guy do that chemical test on the used coolant to see if a headgasket was leaking... nope, the***** wasnt oil.

Previous owner worked in the body shop of a chevy dealer... there we have it!

Cool, thanks, I can sleep better now...

 

Well glad this post made it as far as it has. Hopefully we can save some newer chevys from dieing a quick death.

 

OK, after all this, I remember someone once telling me that it was imperative that you mix the red/orange/pink stuff only with DISTILLED water? Could that have anything to do with the problems everyone is having?

If you need me, I'll be out in the driveway flushing &amp; refilling my 01 Grand Am!

 

i've heard the distilled water thing too, i don't think it's true. most of the cars i've worked on (that had dex kewl) was put in there at the factory and it still turned muddy at 45-60k (and they say it's 100k coolant HA!!!). i think it has more to do with the coolant*****ing dog****. i even watched a piece on t.v (20/20 or something) a few years ago and all the radiator shops that opened up the plastic tank were horrified.

 

Due to the widespread use of composite intakes(ie. 3800 Buicks,LS1s, etc..) on the newer GMs, they were having a lot of problems with leaking gaskets(different expansion rates). Ethylene glycol will destroy bearings if leaked into the crankcase, Dexcool won't(so they say). Our dealership converts vehicles BACK from ehtyl glycol TO Dexcool. We've never had a problem.