How to convert coolants

[Hawks#1]

I was wanting to convert the dexcool collant to the green stuff. how would i go about doing this.

and also my car has 82k miles and i wanted to know what weight oil to put in it and i heard somthing about an oversized oilfilter to put in our cars

[BobbyZ72]

Well, now all the green stuff is mixable with dexcool. Basicly just drain your coolant, flush with water, drain, flush again, install new coolant. I did and i have had no problems.

[slow6]

i think people use filters off a 4.3L Chevy, maybe blazer?

If your environment is cold temperatures(winter up north), use 5w-30.
If your environment is hotter(summer down south) use 10w-30.

[cam98aro]

Originally posted by slow6:
i think people use filters off a 4.3L Chevy, maybe blazer?

If your environment is cold temperatures(winter up north), use 5w-30.
If your environment is hotter(summer down south) use 10w-30.

what???? you can use a PF52, or PF47 oil filter.


Also, my friend is a mechanic, and he has told me horror stories from people who changed theirs, and fried their water pump, which inturn overheated the engine.

If you do proper maintence, there is no problem with dexcool... but whatever.

If you are really intent on changing it, i would suggest draining it, and buying a flush kit, its not that expensive, and will mostlikely save you money in the long run.

[slow6]

i used the flush kit, i still have a slightly rusted (bad) waterpump and alot of rusty looking deposit in my system.

[BobbyZ72]

Dexcool sucks! I changed mine and have had no problems, if you dont beleve me, you can look at all my pics on my page below and you wont see any red crap.

[terminaldegree]

All green stuff is *NOT* mixable with Dexcool. There is still the traditional green stuff out there, and then there's the green/yellow stuff that is "all makes/all models" compatible with anything. The old style green stuff mixed with Dexcool can be catastrophically bad.

You can convert from one to the other, but I'd highly recommend doing multiple cycles of flushing, refilling with water, running it, purging, then do it again.

Do that at least two times before switching to another coolant. Keep in mind that your system will then have mostly water, so refill with mostly coolant. Don't forget the overflow tank under the battery. Bleed out all the air and enjoy.

p.s. I use Dexcool still with no problems, but I drain and refill the system more often than the 5 years/100000 miles. [twice as often]

[cam98aro]

Originally posted by terminaldegree:


p.s. I use Dexcool still with no problems, but I drain and refill the system more often than the 5 years/100000 miles. [twice as often]

that is what im gonna do.

how would you recommend me flushing the system?

Just draining it, and adding more water/dexcool?

my car has almost 100,000 miles, and im sure it is still on the stock dexcool

[CDNFB]

I flushed and changed the Dexcool (with new Dexcool) in my '99 at 85K miles. It too was the factory original stuff. Here's what I did:

WARNING: THIS METHOD INTRODUCES AIR INTO THE COOLING SYSTEM WHICH REQUIRES USE OF THE COOLANT BLEED VALVE TO REMOVE. FAILURE TO REMOVE ALL THE AIR FROM THE COOLING SYSTEM WILL RESULT IN SEVERE DAMAGE TO THE ENGINE DUE TO VAPOR LOCK OVERHEAT.

1) Add dexcool compatable radiator flush additive to the radiator.
2) Start the engine and follow the flush additive instructions regarding time and temperature required.
3) Stop the engine.
4) Drain the overflow reservoir.
5) Remove the radiator cap.
WARNING: REMOVE THE RADIATOR CAP SLOWLY TO ENSURE CONTROLLED RELEASE OF PRESSURE.
6) Disconnect the upper radiator hose at the radiator.
7) Put a container in place at the disconnected upper rad hose to capture coolant from engine.
8) Start the engine.
9) as the thermostat opens, the old coolant will begin to flow from the disconnected upper rad hose into the container.
10) Keep the radiator full with clean water.
11) All the old Dexcool and flush additive will be removed when the water coming out of the disconnected upper rad hose is clear.
12) Stop the engine.
13) Open the radiator drain valve and drain the radiator of all water. (the engine block will drain somewhat also.
14) Close the radiator drain valve.
15) fill the radiator with new Dexcool.
16) Start the engine.
17) Keep the radiator full with new Dexcool.
18) When the new dexcool starts to flow out of the disconnected upper rad hose, stop the engine.
19) Re-connect the upper rad hose to the radiator.
20) Top up the radiator with new Dexcool.
21) Install the radiator cap.
22) Start the engine.
WARNING: THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT PART. DO NOT SKIP THIS NEXT STEP OR YOU WILL DAMAGE YOUR ENGINE DUE TO VAPOR LOCK OVERHEAT.
23) Open the coolant bleed valve and make sure all the air in the system is removed.
24) When no more air is coming out of the bleeder valve, close the valve.
25) Slowly remove the radiator cap to remove any pressure, and check the fluid level in the radiator. Make sure it is full.
26) Reinstall the radiator cap.
27) Continue to run the engine. Keep an eye on the engine temp gauge. If it gets hotter than normal ops temp, open the bleeder valve and bleed all air out. Close bleeder valve.
28) Fill the overflow reservoir to the proper level.
29) shut down the engine.

Within 1-2 hours of driving after accomplishing the above procedure, check and make sure the coolant level in the reservoir is correct.

DZ