Good to know. I had wondered if a freshly-rebuilt engine would benefit from running Dex-Cool, or something similar, in it. But you can still get the green anti-freeze, right?
I've always used Dexcool in all my stuff. 15 years and I haven't had any problems. '75 block with aluminum radiator '91 TPI with br***,copper radiator. Wife's '94 Lesabre.
I found it cheapest at the grocery store, best choice antifreeze. good old green ethyline glycol. TASTY!
I guess I'm not too up on what the newer cars are using, but I thought silicone was often used in place of gaskets on newer engines. As for conventional gaskets, I ***ume this means paper type gaskets that are often used for water pumps, thermostat housings, etc. in our older cars. And not the modern teflon coated, etc. head gaskets we now use on our older engines. Obviously older engines and cooling/heating components are produced from the same materials as the newer engines, so is the concern mostly for paper gaskets?
I didn't read everyones' response here but I have several friends that run Water Wetter with distilled water and never have a problem. So, this really alleviates the whole what if the green stuff doesn't have the same chemical properties anymore. Also Water Wetter will keep the engine 20 degrees cooler according to all the guys that I know using the stuff. I will put it in my car on Friday and find out how great it is for myself.
Water Wetter is great for coolant, but it's not any good as antifreeze. In colder climates, the "antifreeze" name is much more appropriate.
not to hijack this BUT does anybody know who sells the "anode caps " manufactur ???? thanks mike "carryallman" wahl
Personally, I really like Dex-cool. I make loads of money fixing Dexcool-caused leaks. And I have no problems finding green coolant.
I have a gallon jug of this in the shop. NAPA extended life, it says you can add it to any type of other anti freeze and has no warnings about not being able to use it on certain types of products. This stuff seems to have few warnings at all as compared to the old stuff. Now I did do a very quick look at it, about like most of us would in a hurry, but nothing really jumped out from the labeling. Not a lot of DO NOTs.
I always thought that metro detroit was a nice area to put distilled water in your radiator. The air is cleaner up there, and you dont have to worry about deposit build up in your radiator.
Hi Everyone, Many of your farm stores have the old stuff. GeBo's Farm Supply has it in Clovis, NM.. Check others in your area.. Dexcool eats up into alum over time. Research the GM 3100 V6 engine problems that Chevrolet had with Dexcool.. Intake manifold leaked and dumped antifreeze into the oil... duane (NM Sandrail)
will never put tap water in a rad,the mineral deposits in that stuff is not going in my engine.Water will eat away at anything regardless if it has minerals in it or not.Having minerals in water doesnt make it less corrosive.Mineral deposits are not good for the engine or the rad, distilled water is a pure form,deposit free.I wouldnt put dirty oil in my engine and i dont want deposit formation in my gas lines,why would i have it in my rad and block.Have ran distilled water for years,nothing has corroded.and the rad,well you could eat out of the damn thing
I have two good friends who run a professional engine building service - everything from industrial diesels to round-track & drag engines. They both detest Dexcool and its variations. Anything that comes into their shop leaves with green antifreeze. I've heard the same thing from both GM and Ford master techs. They put whatever's recommended into customer vehicles for warranty reasons, but run only green in their own vehicles. Also, about animals ingesting antifreeze. CarQuest and several other brands add "bitterant" to the antifreeze. Doesn't hurt the performance, but makes the antifreeze taste nasty to animals. Look on the label - if it's in there, it will say so on the front.
I can remember having a choice between alcohol and "permanent" antifreeze here in the Northeast in the mid fifties.
I had a service station in 1971, and still carried Alcohol antifreeze. Many people wanted it because it was one third the price of permanent antifreeze. Dexcool has destroyed more engines in the last 20 tears than freezing has.
Will the dogs and cats still die fast if they lick it up ? I am wondering if that's why they changed the formula . So how can you tell the good from the **** ? Retro Jim
1. Propylene glycol is safe for pets. It's more expensive than ethylene glycol but if you have animals and they like to lick things... 2. The newer antifreezes are silicate free. That's about the only difference I know of. My modern motorcycle uses silicate free antifreeze because it doesn't eat up the seals like old antifreeze does. 3. Antifreeze gets old and becomes corrosive. That's why you are supposed to change it every few years. Kinda like you change your oil. If more people did it, there would be less issues with corroded out coolant parts. There is even a troubleshooting step that involves draining and refilling coolant to stop a trouble code in "certain" new cars (Ford).
Here is a good alternative. same concept, just not part of the cap. http://www.flex-a-lite.com/auto/html/anode.html
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