We've talked a lot about this over on the Suburban Board. In 95
or 96, GM started using the orange anti freeze. Both orange and
green anti freeze are ethylene glycol based. The main difference
is the corrosion inhibitor package chemistry. GM calls this stuff
Dex Cool. On the Suburban board, it has picked up the name Death
Cool and here's why:
Supposedly the stuff is good for 5 years or 100,000 miles. The problem
is that by then it gets pretty sour and does some weird things.
If it is exposed to air (like from an empty overflow tank) at high
temperature it will suddenly and catastrophically turn to unpumpable
gel and the engine and tranny fry.
The consensus is to not believe GM and change it every two or three
years, and especially to keep the overflow tank topped off as high
as you can without having it overflow. Some people also believe
in using distilled water, not tap water, to dilute it.
The main advantage to Death Cool is that the corrosion package seems
to prolong the life of the water pump. The main disadvantage is
that it usually costs a lot more.
It can be replaced with green coolant, but the additional corrosion
benefits will be immediately lost and you go back to the coolant
we have known and dealt with for years. Once green coolant has been
used in the engine, there is no advantage to switching back to the
orange stuff, so there is no benefit in using it in our old trucks.
Texaco and Prestone used to make replacement Dex Cool, but I haven't
seen either in the stores now for about a year, don't know if they
still make it. That probably says something all by itself.
Hope this helps some.
Bruce Kettunen
57 3200
65 Electra
96 Suburban
At Tuesday, 23 April 2002, you wrote:
>The new style antifreeze is reddish. While your truck isn't new,
someone
>might have replaced the antifreeze. It just depends if yours is reddish
>like rust or reddish like strawberry Kool-Aid. On my new truck, if you
>replace the antifreeze with the green stuff you void the warranty!
>
>Bill
>
>> some stuff in the reservoir that is a reddish brown color and thought
>> flushing the system would be a good idea. I am not sure what kind of
>> antifreeze is in the truck, since I just bought it and do not
know any
>> history of it.
>oletrucks is devoted to Chevy and GM trucks built between 1941 and 1959
>
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