Dexcool vs. Universal coolant

[falconbrother]

What's your thoughts on mixing universal coolant with Dexcool orange? The label on the universal says it can be mixed with any coolant of any make. I personally don't feel good about it. But, out on the road it could be a body's only choice..

[ItsyRV]

falconbrother wrote:
But, I was at the Wallyworld and noticed that they didn't seem to carry an orange coolant at all.

As an FYI, the color of the antifreeze isn't always an indicator of the type of antifreeeze. The color is just a dye since antifreeze is clear. The colors should designate the type but you'll be surprised that a manufacture can make a standard IAT (green) antifreeze and dye it orange which a person not reading the label would think is HOAT. So long as the container's label has the correct type, it's perfectly legal (and a bit more common than people think) to sell.

[GeoBoy]

Ralph Cramden wrote:

Grit dog wrote:
Pretty sure OP just lobbed up a random thought. Like looking for a solution to a problem that doesn’t exist.

Well I never!..........looking for a solution to a problem that doesn’t exist? At Rvnet? You're kidding? LOL.

I'd be careful mixing it, you could end up torching your face like Richard Pryor. He mixed skim and whole milk together and when he dipped his donut in it sploded.

:B

[Ralph_Cramden]

.

[Charlie_D_]

Walmart has Zerex Dexcool, Prestone Dexcool and Shell Zone Dexcool

[GeoBoy]

Walmart probably only offers a universal antifreeze because it simplifies their inventory. Stop at NAPA and pick up a gallon of 50/50 Dexcool and carry that in your travels.

[Ron3rd]

falconbrother wrote:
What's your thoughts on mixing universal coolant with Dexcool orange? The label on the universal says it can be mixed with any coolant of any make. I personally don't feel good about it. But, out on the road it could be a body's only choice..

Personally, I wouldn't do it. Prestone makes a version of Dexcool you can buy at Walmart. I'd use that. In fact I have a jug in the garage for the wife's Traverse.

[time2roll]

No. Use distilled water until you get the right stuff.

[falconbrother]

OP here.. I don't need any dexcool now. But, I was at the Wallyworld and noticed that they didn't seem to carry an orange coolant at all. All that I saw was "Universal Coolant, can be mixed with all makes and models". Well, that just sounded like snake oil to me. I have used it with an old Honda that used the green coolant and ran it for years like that, mixed with the original green. But, this stuff is sort of a blue green color. It made me ponder what one might do if out on the road and needing to top up the coolant, fix a broken hose, etc.., and all that's available is the universal stuff.

Would you use it mixed with Dexcool? It says all makes and models but, in the modern era veracity doesn't seem to be important in marketing.

[time2roll]

falconbrother wrote:
What's your thoughts on mixing universal coolant with Dexcool orange? The label on the universal says it can be mixed with any coolant of any make. I personally don't feel good about it. But, out on the road it could be a body's only choice..

I would not mix coolants. In a pinch add distilled water.

I recommend a good washout if changing coolant types.

[FishOnOne]

One of the biggest problems with the quick lube shops is some of them top of the radiator fluid and get it wrong and mix fluid technologies and causes havoc down the road.

Many years ago I was working a lot hours and decided to try a quick lube shop to change the oil in my '98 F150 and luckily I just happened to walk towards my truck thinking they were done and low and behold the guy was just about to pour some red coolant into my coolant degass bottle which had green coolant. I quick shout prevented a big mess on my truck, but it happens to many vehicles all over and causes big problems.

[BenK]

American Green is silica based protection

DeathCool is organic based protection. OATs for GM and HOATs for non-GM. Organic Acid Technology and Hybrid Organic Technology

Since organic protection, it needs all metal parts to be acid etched down to bare metal before the organic material can plate a protective layer

Extra acid in the formulation for down the road re-etching and re-plating

Etched metal is in the form of an acidic oxide that is held in suspension

O2 in that mix is bad news. As the O2 will react with the acid oxide to turn into sticky, gelatinous globs during a cooling phase (in any of the radiators of the system). Where it will both block the radiator core tubes and continue to eat metal surfaces

That acidic glob has metal oxides within them and makes the liquid more conductive and is another issue. This creates a battery and there is electrolysis process inside the cooling system. Another reason to never open it up (unless recharging/fill or flushing). The why coolant work has a DOM used to check voltage inside the coolant system



The first gen had huge problems and where I nicknamed it DeathCool. Plus where started my Suburban/SUV/Pickup forum trying to find info or anyone who knew what was going on.

I'm the type that checks fluids often. Coolant and oil the most often. Did NOT know at that time, DeathCool does NOT do well with O2 in there.

Why these next gen automotive radiator systems now have a pressurized overflow bottle. Some OEMs even removed the radiator cap to keep folks from opening up the coolant system to air (O2)

I've switched my Suburban's 7.4L to American Green around 1998 or so

I do NOT recommend anyone with later vehicles to do so, nor mix with American Green and/or between OATs and HOATs. Especially those with closed, pressurized over flow bottles. The translucent over flow bottle is the way to check coolant level and condition

[ktmrfs]

1) don't mix
2) I've had mulitple vehicles that came with Dexcool. All of them had 150K miles or more when sold, 10 years or more. I changed the fluid (dexcool) every 3 years or so. On none of them did I ever have a coolant problem. One vehicle is a 1995 S-10 V-6 that came with dexcool. It now is approaching 300K miles. zip issues with Dexcool.

In the early days there were some issues with dexcool compatability long term with gaskets. That was fixed in short order but did give dexcool a bad rap.

[Grit_dog]

Pretty sure OP just lobbed up a random thought. Like looking for a solution to a problem that doesn’t exist.

[FishOnOne]

I recently changed my radiator fluid in both the primary and secondary radiators and the fluid still looked very good. The fluid was Ford Motorcraft Orange coolant which I believe is very similar to todays Dex Cool. I replaced with Motorcraft Orange coolant and distilled water to a 50:50 ratio.

No leaks and still factory original water pumps at ~7 years and 167k miles.