Dex-cool!!!

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Truckasaurus44

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I just had my radiator replaced and the shop filled the cooling system up with old fashioned green coolant rather than the recommended dex-cool.

Now, I've heard horror stories about Dex-cool. They're either stories of cooling systems filled with sludge or stories of the coolant becoming extremely corrosive and eating the engine from the inside. I've heard that the sludge happenes under normal use, while the corrosion is a result of overheating the dex-cool and leaving it in there, but this is all hearsay. I've been planning to get answers on this stuff and changing the fluid over if I found that Dex-cool is evil, but never got to it. I guess now is the time to look into this.

My 2004 Liberty's cooling system has been fine (86k miles) other than the cracked radiator that brought me to this issue I need some answers on dex-cool:

1) Is Dex-Cool the DEVIL and should the green coolant be left in there as its soooo much better?

2) Should I be worried about trace amounts of dex-cool mixing with the green coolant that the truck was filled with? Should I drain this tainted coolant and fill it with fresh green stuff?

3) Should I drain, flush and fill my cooling system with new dex-cool since that's what Daimler-Crystler did when it was made. Is there a benefit to dex-cool?
 

maverick7321

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3) Should I drain, flush and fill my cooling system with new dex-cool since that's what Daimler-Crystler did when it was made. Is there a benefit to dex-cool?

Actually I don't think Daimler-Chrysler used dex-cool in the libertys I know they did not in 2005 for they used G-05 Antifreeze/Coolant.
 

Marlon_JB2

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They didn't use DexCool. They've never used DexCool. Mopar coolant just so happens to be orange as well though. My question however, is if they flushed it before they replaced the radiator because if they didn't...... um, yeah that would be really bad. There's rumors that mixing coolant types starts sludging but officially all it does is reduce the effectiveness of the coolant.

Mopar's G-05 coolant does not have issues.
 

Truckasaurus44

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OK, the parts places all told me to use prestone coolant that says dex-cool on it. Got me. Is there an issue with running the green stuff if the tainted coolant is flushed and replaced?

Oh, and if the Mopar stuff is fine and I don't want to pay dealer prices for coolant (I never checked but I'm guessing its at least twice as expensive) what is the best over the counter replacement for Mopar G-05?
 

maverick7321

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belvedere

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Dexcool is OAT, G05 is HOAT - 2 different chemistries.

I don't think the green will hurt anything, but remember that it has a lifespan of 2 years vs the G05's life of 5 years.
 

tjkj2002

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OK, the parts places all told me to use prestone coolant that says dex-cool on it. Got me. Is there an issue with running the green stuff if the tainted coolant is flushed and replaced?

Oh, and if the Mopar stuff is fine and I don't want to pay dealer prices for coolant (I never checked but I'm guessing its at least twice as expensive) what is the best over the counter replacement for Mopar G-05?
If you don't want to run the pricey HOAT(GO5) coolant in your KJ the best is to use the old green stuff.DO NOT USE DEXACOOL OR ANY UNIVERSAL COOLANTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Our cooling systems are designed to need silicates in the coolant to keep the water pump lubed.

Dexacool/universal coolants = OAT,non-silicate based coolant
HOAT(GO5) = low silicate based,based off of ethylene glycol
Ethylene glycol(the green stuff) = high silicate based


HOAT mixed with OAT = ACID
 

Ry' N Jen

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Interesting reading!
People will spend all sorts of money on lottery tickets, booze on the weekend, and cigarettes- what one two packs a day ($10.00 per pack!)
But they are too cheap to spend the money, what twice a year to have their coolant flushed/ replaced!
Stupid people
 
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Dave

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But they are too cheap to spend the money, what twice a year to have their coolant flushed/ replaced!
Stupid people

Socks, that G05 HOAT stuff is good for 5yrs/150,000 miles or something like that so you shouldn't have to mess with it for a long time. The green stuff......not so much.

You can run the green stuff if you want. It is your jeep. Personally if it were mine, I would give it a good flushing and use the G05. But that's me.

Oh, and the Dex-Cool question. GM used it and what happened was it ate intake gaskets on 3.1L and 3.4L motors mostly in certain year vehicles, and they leaked. This happened to a lot of people and there was a class action suit against GM and a settlement. GM always maintained that there was nothing wrong with the Dex-Cool but I think they changed the gasket material to something that the Dex-Cool did not eat up......That is from what I remember anyway as it was a while ago....... You could probably Google it as I am too lazy......haha.

Dex-Cool is a deep red color while the G05 HOAT stuff looks a little more orange to me unless I am going a little color-blind in my old age.....haha

Dave
 
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tjkj2002

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Socks, that G05 HOAT stuff is good for 5yrs/150,000 miles or something like that so you shouldn't have to mess with it for a long time. The green stuff......not so much.

You can run the green stuff if you want. It is your jeep. Personally if it were mine, I would give it a good flushing and use the G05. But that's me.

Oh, and the Dex-Cool question. GM used it and what happened was it ate intake gaskets on 3.1L and 3.4L motors mostly in certain year vehicles, and they leaked. This happened to a lot of people and there was a class action suit against GM and a settlement. GM always maintained that there was nothing wrong with the Dex-Cool but I think they changed the gasket material to something that the Dex-Cool did not eat up......That is from what I remember anyway as it was a while ago....... You could probably Google it as I am too lazy......haha.

Dex-Cool is a deep red color while the G05 HOAT stuff looks a little more orange to me unless I am going a little color-blind in my old age.....haha

Dave
GM still is using Dexacool,and it still is eating gaskets on 3.1/3.4/3.5/3.8's.FelPro has come out with a metal intake gaskets that seem to be holding up better then the OEM GM ones.
 

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