I am changing my coolant on my pilot and I just drained out the old green stuff and flushed the system with some water. Is it ok to use the Prestone orange stuff mixed 50;50 with water??

thanks

Welcome 850-R,

The color of the anti-freeze doesn't matter you just have to make sure it is made for aluminum engines/radiators, I believe that is the only way they are availible anymore.

I, myself, always buy the premixed anti-freeze since I never have to add it to my street legal cars and I don't have to mix it. Coming up with a extra 1 gallon container to mix the anti-freeze in is next to impossible around this house hold.

50/50 would be the preffered mix with water,just check the bottle for application.I think the orange just may be more environmentally friendly.

Just do not add regular tap water if your gonna pre mix it yourself, use distilled water, tap has impurities in it that lead to corrosion buildup in the alumn.

DO NOT MIX THE TWO. They are not compatible. It WILL cause a chemical reaction that will destroy EVERY gasket over a period of time. Flushing the system is not adequate to prevent the chemical reaction. Spend the $8 for the green antifreeze vs the $50 for the gasket set plus labor. Extended life antifreeze is not glycol based therefore should not be installed into a system that previuosly used a glycol coolant.

I read the bottle says contains ethyolene gylcol just like every other bottle on the shelf... Is this wrong...??

What does the front say? If it says extended life 5yr/100,000mile then it is not ethylene glycol. If you are not sure then just put the green stuff back in.

usually orange ati freeze is dex cool it is required for most newer gm vehicles

I run the old green stuff I have no doubt it works...

Hmm well it is the extended life stuff. But the problem is I already put it in. Shloud I go back to the green stuff now or.....

Most modern cars use aluminum radiators, have aluminum blocks, and have aluminum heads. You should be OK.

DO NOT mix the two types of coolant!

Dexcool is not compatible with the standard glycol based coolants, it is also highly susceptable to contaminants, and is meant to be run in a tightly closed and sealed system.

Most of the GM owner forums refer to it as "Deathcool" because of it's tendency to destroy intake manifold gaskets once it's started to break down.

It has done this to both our '99 suburban and '00 silverado, both have had the intake manifold gaskets replaced under warranty because of the coolant breakdown.

http://forums.vmag.com/suvsuburban0103/ ... 11765.html

so now that I have screwed up and put it in should I get it out ASAP?? How should I get it out. I did not mix it I took the old out and flushed with water then added the new but it sounds like I should get this stuff out??

Unless you have to have it for warranty coverage I'd toss it.

I flushed the suburban's system with dish soap and distilled water two years ago and switched it to the standard green prestone antifreeze and haven't had an issue since. The silverado's system was refilled under warranty and is still clear (when it starts going bad it will change to a murky brown color) so I haven't changed it out yet, but will soon since the warranty has expired now.

There's lots of reading you can do and most all of it is bad.

I would go buy some gallon jugs of distilled water and pour them in maybe put a
drop or two of liquid laundry detergent (wont foam like dish soap) in and start the
Engine let it circulate 5 min then drain, do it a few times until you think you got
it pretty clean the last time you can do it without soap.

I would not lose sleep over this just swap back and don't worry about it.

Use the dexcool. it's great! I have been using it on my Pilot, both my 250r's, my RM250, and RZ350 KR edition for 4 years on all but the RZ350 (just 2 years now) I use 55% Dexcool and 45% Distilled water and I add about 3 to 4 ounces of Water Wetter. On average with the mix I run the Dexcool mix runs about 10 degrees cooler than the green stuff. There have been rumors and reports of the dexcool causing gaskets to fail - I've never seen any proof with my own two eyes nor know anyone (mechanics included) who have witnessed this as well. Engine ice works great as well and is more environmentally friendly and you'll get just as much cooling as the Dexcool usually even more. Hope this helps.

Yeah I wouldn't loose any sleep over it either, at least not this soon, but the stuff is bad (my personal experience), the GM mechanics said they wouldn't use it in their own cars unless they had to for warranty reasons, that says something.......

It actually disolves the aluminum once the coolant starts to degrade and breakdown and air in the system is the largest cause of breakdown.

Check out some of the links in the page link I posted or just do a web search, tons of reading to do.

Why take the chance?

Disclaimer:

We don't own ANY water cooled ATV's, ours are ALL air cooled (read "RELICS"), FL250's ATC250R, ATC90, 350X, etc, etc. My experience is based solely on automotive use, but the principle is the same.

Flush it out with a bottle of Lestoil and your garden hose. Then put the green coolant back in. You will be ok as long as you didn't run the Engine up to temp.

OK, I have a 2002 Silverado with the Orange stuff still in it from the factory. I was told and remember reading somewhere (Owner's manual I think) that the stuff was good to 100,000 miles. I did have a bunch of stuff including a intake manifold gasket replaced before the 36,000 mile warranty was up. I believe they added orange stuff to the radiator at that time as well (not 100% sure). Now in looking in the overflow bottle I see tiny black specks and am ready to flush this thing out and put in the green stuff. Anybody got any special trade secrets on how to get it "ALL" out of the system including the Engine block? I know on Corvettes they have special plugs you pull out of the block but don't know if it is the same on the V8 (5.3L) in the Silverado.

Any thoughts/ideas would be appreciated!

Pilotman

Hey Craig, where you been hiding?

You gonna come out riding with us?

I'm still here... just working and stuff....

Going riding in couple weeks if this hot stuff breaks.....

Will see if a fall trip is in the works for Wyoming....

Pilotman

We need to ride too Pman. Soon Come. Maybe a great west adventure? hmmm


the Redish stuff is made by Toyota and the orange is made by Mercedes, GM has a orange version out too dexcool, they are all super good stuff but is a dealer only item. that I know of, and crazy exspensive. I haven't bought any for at least 3 years. The extended stuff should only be used in vehicles designed for it, the hoses and seals won't take it GM had issues when it first came out.

I am sure there are some cheap knock offs coolants that are orange or red at the local auto parts store but I wouldn't mix cheap stuff with the good stuff unless there was the same grade markings. Don't mix red or orange and green. I heard that it can be corrosive but at the least you'll just ruin the good stuff that is in there.


I drain at the radiator then flood my system, enough of it gets cycled through the block etc., drain again then add a flush (i used Arm& Hammer Washing soda, yes laundry detergent) run for 15-30 minutes drain and rinse again then add 50% coolant 50% distilled water, it works great, is cheap, safe, and will even save an iffy radiator. use alot 1/4 box or so i do it every 2 or 3 years, I have seen a noticable temp drop in many vehicles after doing this. I been using the green since i flush the system regularly.

There should be a pipe plug on the rear sides of the block that would allow drainage of the block. The problem is not getting it ALL out. The problem is the chemical reaction that occures from the impregnated coolant in the gaskets and metal reactiing with the opposite coolant. At the dealership I worked at we had an order for 150 trucks. All came through with green antifreeze. The head guy at the state DOT insisted on using the red/oragnge extended life coolant. We drained and flushed every Engine. Blew shop air through the system to dry it, removed block heaters to dry inside the block and then filled it with the extended life coolant. (I argued to not switch the coolant for weeks prior) With in two years EVERY Engine came back with major coolant leaks, mostly front Engine covers and radiators. Shortly after Navistar released a TSB as to not interchange the two. The little black specs you are seeing is probably aluminum that is cavitating in the intake manifold or cylinder head. Absolutely do not interchange the two coolants. You WILL void your warranty as it is the incorrect fluid for your vehicle.

OK, I see your points... But what do I do now? I have 69,000 miles on the truck and am well beyond the factory warranty. Do I buy an extended warranty after the fact and just wait for the Engine to poofkaboom (a stoneman phrase used with permission of stoneman)?. Or do I just flush it and replace the orange stuff with more orange stuff? Are the black specs a sign of disaster looming? Being the hottest time of the year with a ride trip towing a hefty trailer looming in a couple weeks, I am worried this might be a "found on road DOA" scenario?

Pilotman

I have no experience with the new stuff orange red what ever only the green stuff
when they came out with the new stuff and said you don't touch it for 100k miles
I laughed at them, guess them morons after building cars for 100 years forgot about
erosion and corrosion LMAO with the green stuff I check it once a year to see what the
freeze protection is I also check it with a volt meter when the voltage of the coolant
gets to 1.0 volt DC then I drain and change, I refill with 50/50 mixture using
distilled water, I also add a table spoon of baking soda to neutralize the acid
and 2-3 drops of liquid laundry detergent (same shit is watter wetter) been
doing this for 30 years I get 170-200k out of my cooling systems, leaks are
not a problem, think I have changed 3 water pumps in 30 years tighten a few
hose clamps, I usually change radiator hoses with the timing chain and gears
every 100k miles.

FYI avoid people trying to sell you something to lower your temps by 10 degrees
just remove your grill and clean out all the dead bugs to get your cooling capiticy back,
remember all the times you washed your wind shield to remove bugs, how many
times you cleaned your radiator they are plastered just at thick there....