cooling system question

[MattM450]

hi, i have a question about my cooling system. lately my car's engine temperature had been dangerously high and close to overheating. I checked my coolant levels and it seemed to be extremely low. I contacted my mechanic and they said to put some coolant in it and bring it over. i read that you should use a 50/50 mix of coolant and water, but I just wanted to put enough in to make sure it wouldnt overheat on the way to the mechanic. I put in about 2 cups full of my anti-freeze that i had in my garage without any water (green in color,) and took it over to the mechanic with no problem, the engine temperature stayed at about halfway, and i didnt even fill the coolant up to the recommended level. and now I just read somewhere that i am not supposed to use this green type of coolant and i shouldn't have mixed it with what was already in my car? dex-cool or something? it says that this green coolant will mix with the dex-cool and corrode things such as the water pump. i dont know much about this type of thing so sorry if this is a stupid question...but what should i do? I didnt put much in...is it safe to have this in there, or should i flush it all out and flush the engine with water and then replace the coolant while i have it over at the mechanic? i only drove about 10 miles with it in there.

82k miles 1995 3.4l

[terminaldegree]

have the shop flush the entire system, then put in whatever you want. Obviously, you'd want them to pressure test the cooling system for leaks.

BTW, it's a really bad idea to run an overheating car for days at a time. Change out your oil, it's probably cooked.

[BobbyZ72]

Better have it flushed out right away, and what ever your do dont drive it. This happend to a friend of mine, whats going to happen is under heat and pressure your coolant is going to turn to gel and could destroy your engine. Do it your self or have a shop do it, make sure you tell them what has happend so they can spend extra time flushing it. Then you deside rather you what "green coolant" or "red dexcool" coolant. i just changed my car to green. read about the diffrence and you deside.

[98Camaro3.8]

Careful there guys, check his engine.

3.4s don't use Dex-Cool....you're fine. [img]smile.gif[/img]

[MattM450]

damn well i found out i need a new water pump and freezer line leak...in addition to a problem with my egr valve. can anyone give a rough estimate on the price range in getting this fixed by a mechanic?

[BobbyZ72]

what is freezer line leak? A problem with the egr valve??? the valve eather works or it dosent.

[homer]

i bought an egr valve for $170.i havent got around to installing it yet.they started using dex-cool in 1996.it prevents damage to aluminum components

[MattM450]

Originally posted by BobbyZ72:
what is freezer line leak? A problem with the egr valve??? the valve eather works or it dosent.

sorry, i meant freeze plugs. and i think my egr valve needs to be replaced but the first shop i took it to said that there was a leak in the intake manifold and the second says there isn't and its just the egr valve. i know that the manifold can mess up the valve if there is a leak, so hopefully the first shop was wrong.