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I am trying to decide between Dexcool and regular coolant. I came across this commentary, which was written by a well respected guy in the Street Rod world. Please read and discuss. There has been a controversial discussion going on about "Red" or Dexcool antifreeze and regular "Green" antifreeze at many car sites and garages. Many believe that the Dexcool supplied in cars today plug and corrode more than they protect. I have seen scaling with my own two eyes in Dexcool engines and only run ethlene glycol (EG) or the green stuff in my cars at this point. Read on...it's my usual science lesson dribble.
First, one myth is that all red antifreezes are Dexcool. This is not the case. There are standard EG antifreezes that are red and cars that have Dexcool will be labeled as such. Both ethylene glycol (EG) and propylene glycol (PG) are used as the antifreeze base. Additional additives and inhibitors are added to packages depending on manufacturer. Each glycol has supporters and pundits, although the best choice depends on the intended use. There are several considerations to be made when choosing an antifreeze, the most important being performance. Notwithstanding the heat carrying abilities of both, additives determine most performance criteria so all coolants supplied by a respectable manufacturer will perform well.
The one major difference in EG and PG is toxicity. In antifreeze we are most concerned about accidental ingestion by pets and children. The acute toxicity of PG is substantially lower than that of EG. Propylene glycol, like alcohol, is not toxic at low levels (we all know what happens there tho....whooooooah).
Another controversial issue is phosphate additive use in EG based brands. In many US and Japanese antifreeze formulas phosphate is added as a corrosion inhibitor. European vehicle manufacturers recommend against the use of phosphate containing antifreeze. In the US market, a phosphate inhibitor is included in many formulas to provide several important functions that help reduce automotive cooling system damage. The benefits provided by the phosphate include:
-Protect aluminum engine components by reducing cavitation corrosion during high speed driving.
-Provide for corrosion protection to ferrous metals.
-Act as a buffer to keep the antifreeze mixture alkaline. (This prevents acid build-up that will damage or destroy metal engine parts)
European manufacturers feel that these benefits are achievable with inhibitors other than phosphate. Their main concerns with phosphate containing products are the potential for solids dropout when mixed with hard water. Solids can collect on cooling system walls forming what is known as scale. This concern comes from the fact that European water is much harder than water in the US. Because phosphate "softens" water by forming solids of calcium or magnesium salts that can dropout of solution, there is potential for cooling system blockage. The phosphate level in most US and Japanese antifreeze formulas do not generate significant solids.
The concern with mixing the two comes from the fact that there are very different chemical inhibitor packages in use than Dexcool. Most leading technologies will work very well when used as intended, typically at 50% or less in good quality and preferably distilled water. Actually, most tap water will do without doing any damage as well. If the EG becomes mixed with Dexcool, however, one study showed a possible aluminum corrosion problem in certain situations. The other question is a concern for dilution of the protection packages due to cross contamination.
I personally would not recommend Dexcool in a vehicle that did not come from the factory with Dexcool in the cooling system. It would be very difficult, if not impossible, to flush out all the conventional anti-freeze coolant from the cooling system of an older vehicle, and any conventional anti-freeze would contaminate the Dexcool. This is not good.
Compared to old-fashioned phosphated antifreeze, Dexcool may be more stable and slighty improve water pump life, even though most water pumps today do not need lubrication. Evaluations of the two technologies to compare their respective service lives have found them comparable by both GM and Ford. No gain there.
After all the long drawn out speech, my conclusion is this, if your car came from the factory with Dexcool, use Dexcool for replacement or to top off. If your car came from the factory with standard "green" antifreeze, use that for replacement or to toping off. Case in point also. Dexcool has been known to cause failure of head gaskets in certain applications also. I just had to throw that in.
For me and mine......simply green will do!
I report.....you decide?
--
Steve Jack
Engineering & Marketing Technologies
ConceptOne Brackets and Pulleys
Chad Purser
'98 Silver SVT
Mostly Stock
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Something to think about: I personally would not recommend Dexcool in a vehicle that did not come from the factory with Dexcool in the cooling system. It would be very difficult, if not impossible, to flush out all the conventional anti-freeze coolant from the cooling system of an older vehicle, and any conventional anti-freeze would contaminate the Dexcool. This is not good.
1996 Contour SE Sedan 4D (Royal Blue)
Duratec V6 2.5L 24-valve DOHC
Automatic
75,000 miles
No Mods (unless you call the DMD a mod)
Replaced EGR valve (gunked up), EVR (EGR VR), PCV valve, and evaporative emissions hose (cracked).
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I'm running Dexcool, over 10K miles now. Switched to it at 20K.
For the flush, because I knew this would be very important, I stuck the garden hose in the overflow tank and let it go for about 25-30 minutes.
I really really think I got it all.
No sludging to be reported.
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DexCool is EG or ethelyne glycol, just like conventional green fluid. The difference is in the additive package. DexCool uses OAT (organic acid tecnology). OAT is becoming more common as a coolant additive. VW / Audi use an OAT coolant, as do others.
I have used DexCool in most of my family cars nearly since it was introduced. I have had no difficulty with it. Most of the positive information I obtained about it was from the Texaco web site which is no longer available. Since Texaco was bought out by Chevron, the detailed information about coolant with OAT technology has been removed.
Ford uses Texaco supplied coolant in three formulations. Conventional green which has been the standby by decades. DexCool which has been factory fill for the 99 and newer Cougar. And newly introduced gold which so far is only used in trucks. Ford does not recommed changing from one type to another. When the gold was intorduced, they did say that studies were underway to see if the gold could be interchanged with green. They have not described the composition of the new gold coolant.
Anyway, Dexcool works great for me.
Jim Johnson
98 SVT
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I was told by my Chevrolet Service advisor that when I have a flush done at 70,000 or 100,000 he suggests going to the green. He doesn't like the orange coolant.
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Well, I have done a lot more research, and the consensus is that, if your car came with green, then stick with the green. Even if you flush out all the old stuff, it is not a good idea to switch to the orange stuff. My feelings are this: Why risk it? Here are some good articles: Article 1 Article 2
Chad Purser
'98 Silver SVT
Mostly Stock
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if u want added cooling to your car, just run to pepboy, autozone, or maurrys and ask for water wetter. it will improve the cooling. 10 degrees ferenheit, is what i experienced with computer.
b4 water wetter it was 124 degrees
after water weeter it is 114 degrees.
its the best thing u can do. but for winter u might wanna flush the coolant.
Experience is the worst teacher; it gives the test before presenting the lesson.
"You peel my onion down to the nun" - Gene Hackman [Under Suspicion]
-Walter-
96 Contour LX
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Originally posted by NITROS:
b4 water wetter it was 124 degrees
after water weeter it is 114 degrees.
I find it hard to believe your car runs that cool since normal operating temperature is around 185-190 degrees. Also Dex-cool for the last 20k on my SVT. Works great and the extra benefits are nice too.
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