Which coolant should I use?

[VictoryRed]

Went out and bought dex-cool for topping off coolant occasionally only to find out that my coolant is green I haven’t owned my tahoe that long so I had no idea, anyway what should i do in this situation? flush and convert to dex cool or just flush and put some kind of green in?

 

[Scooterwrench]

Regular ol ethylene glycol works best. Dump,flush and change in 2yr intervals.

 

[454cid]

"Green" doesn't really mean much.... is it the old "traditional" green, or is it a "long-life" green? I'd probably buy a universal long-life in your case. Dex does best in sealed systems, and we have overflow bottles at atmospheric pressure, which is not ideal for Dex-cool.

I kept Dex in my Saturn, as it was what was there, and it had a sealed system.

 

[454cid]

Regular ol ethylene glycol works best. Dump,flush and change in 2yr intervals.

Most all coolant is ethylene glycol including Dex-cool. Since you say 2-years, I suspect you're thinking of the traditional (non-longlife) green.

 

[Scooterwrench]

Most all coolant is ethylene glycol including Dex-cool. Since you say 2-years, I suspect you're thinking of the traditional (non-longlife) green.

Yup! Antifreeze turns acidic which eats aluminum components toot-sweet. There are coolant life extenders but you're better off changing out the antifreeze when you're only having to buy a couple gallons.
I thought Dex-Cool was propylene glycol?

 

[454cid]

I thought Dex-Cool was propylene glycol?

No, I don't think any automaker specs propylene glycol. You can find a few marketed as "safer" or "waterless" that are propylene glycol, Though. Dex like most coolant is ethylene glycol. The big difference between all the normally discussed types is the additive packages.

 

[VictoryRed]

"Green" doesn't really mean much.... is it the old "traditional" green, or is it a "long-life" green? I'd probably buy a universal long-life in your case. Dex does best in sealed systems, and we have overflow bottles at atmospheric pressure, which is not ideal for Dex-cool.

I kept Dex in my Saturn, as it was what was there, and it had a sealed system.

no clue on if it’s traditional or long life i haven’t owned it long so i’m not sure what was put in unless there’s visibly a difference between the greens idk

 

[Scooterwrench]

The old stuff is a bright fluorescent green,the extended life is a darker translucent green.
Not knowing what was in there it may be better to do a good flush and start from scratch.

 

[454cid]

The old stuff is a bright fluorescent green,the extended life is a darker translucent green.
Not knowing what was in there it may be better to do a good flush and start from scratch.

That would probably be the right way to do it. I'd probably test it for freeze protection, and assuming that was decent, I'd top it off, and wait until warm weather to do anything more. I hate working in the cold.

 

[termite]

When in doubt, flush it, pull the block drains/knock sensor and start over. At the least, I'd take 454cid's approach until decent weather to work in. Unless you have a shop/garage