Is it harmful to put green coolant in my cooling system? One shop refused to do it because it "might cause damage" and then I went to Valvoline. I told the IDIOT at Valvoline to put the green stuff in last year and he agreed to do it, then they started working on it and then the manager confronted me and we got into an argument about it and he said that he CAN'T put the green coolant in it because it doesn't call for it. I told him that it is MY car. I even had labels under the hood on the label on the radiator support and the overflow tank and radiator caps saying "DO NOT USE DEXCOOL" and they ripped them off. I told him that the DEXCOOL ate the intake gaskets and I had to have them replaced. He said he has a friend who works for GM and he said that GM knows about it and if I already had the gaskets replaced, there is not problem. Since they already had the machines already connected and they were emptying the coolant out, I didn't really have a choice. I was about to tell the guy to refill the radiator, get my car out of the bay and give me my spare key back and I will leave. Never went back there. Was there any truth to their statements? Should I call the Better Business Bureau? Will green kill the water pump and heater core? Thanks for any advice.

 

there have been many members who have done the switch to the old "green stuff", and i don't think i ever remeber any of them coming back here later and say they were wrong, or that it caused problems.

i plan on doing the switch to the good old glycol antifreeze in the Spring. i need to change my blower motor & there's something wrong with the Auto Climate Contol system in my truck (it won't switch to the floor). so if i'm going to have to pull my dash to fix that, i've decided to do the heater core (i'm already there) since my truck has just passed the 200K mark.

'cause we all know, a week or two later, that heater core will puke all over the place.

 

I had mine converted over to GREEN after I replaced the intake manifold gaskets, water pump, heater core, t-stat and rad cap. I was told by several mechanics that as long as you replace the gaskets that you should be fine. Seems to be true...aint' got no leaks yet!

 

The type of coolant you use has absolutely no effect on the gaskets. If you wish to change to 'green' just be sure that you do complete flush of the coolant system because mixing DexCool and non-Dex is bad news for the engine. For further discussion please see WHO'S HAD GOOD LUCK WITH DEX-COOL because we don't want to start another 'DexCool' discussion thread.

 

The problem is that just about all of the over the counter coolants are not 'good old glycol'. Very few are. Most have gone the route of more environmentally friendly, but have taken different paths.

My opinion, go with one or the other and stick with it. You have the same chance of having problems with the LIM gaskets on either. It's the water that causes the problem, not the coolant. If you have replaced the LIM gaskets with the updated metal frame design, you shouldn't have that problem again anytime soon.

And as Rich has said, if you want to debate the pros/cons of Dexcool, do it in the thread linked to above.

 

I will confirm... use ONLY the green stuff. That orage crap is bad in my opinoin. As soon as I got my Escalade, that was one of the first things I did was to change that crap out. Ask any indy mechanic, most will tell you glycol base anti-freeze is best.

 

If you think you have something to add, read through that thread completely first and then comment. Anything else and you only have part of the story.

 

thanks Rich & Kyle.

i've read through that thread before-very interesting material, definately worth the read if anybody hasn't gotten around to it yet.

 

OK thanks for all the advice and sorry if I started another green vs. orange battle. My next question is: what is the proper way to flush the coolant when I make the switch from orange to green? I don't feel comfortable anymore with that orange crap in my truck when I am trying to make it last another 12 years. I don't think I want to pay a shop $120-150 to do it if it is easy enough to do. I have heard of using a garden hose, but wouldn't cold water crack the engine block during the flush from thermal shock? Thanks

EDIT: Should I be replacing anything else but the coolant while making the conversion?

 

You aren't going to want to flush it when it's hot. That would make it miserable to work on. Garden hose first, then drain the block out again and flush a few gallons of distilled water through the system. Hook everything back up properly and put in 1/2 the system capacity of coolant (~6 qts), then top off with distilled water.