Prestone Rather Than DesCool ?

On Thu, 7 Aug 2014 20:40:46 -0700 (PDT),
wrote:

>On Thursday, August 7, 2014 12:08:24 PM UTC-7, Bob wrote:
>>
>> Have a 2009 Buick LaCrosse.
>>
>> Manual says to use DexCool for antifreeze.
>> I think it also says, somewhere, "only".
>>
>> I see that the Prestone product(s) all say "for any car".
>>
>> Safe to use Prestone, instead ?
>
>Prestone says it meets GM 6277M, the specification for DexCool:
>
> http://prestone.com/enmx/learn_more/...sked_questions
>
>OTOH why bother switching when Prestone makes its own version of
>DexCool, and at most you'll save just $15 every 5 years or 150,000
>miles?
>
>Sometimes when you switch from one type of antifreeze to another,
>the new stuff dissolves deposits left by the old coolant, and in
>my case the changeover turned the coolant a murky brown-green in
>a month, despite the system having been flushed with a strong
>chemical, just before refilling. This was with a 1993 Ford, over
>15 years ago. It had conventional green coolant, and I decided
>to try DexCool. I still have the car and still run DexCool, and
>it's never needed new cooling system parts, except a radiator cap
>and hoses. I also run DexCool in a 1986 Toyota that was given to
>me, about 5 years ago, because its original owner had long used
>it (he did not assume it was like Toyota antifreeze just because
>both were red).

You may have gotten lucky with using it in the Ford. There are some
Fords that had gaskets that were not compatible with Dexcool. I read
a long article on it about 5 years ago where they talked to a ford
engineer about the whole question of what coolant to use.

On 8 Aug 2014 10:46:48 -0400, (Scott Dorsey) wrote:

> > wrote:
>>On Thursday, August 7, 2014 12:08:24 PM UTC-7, Bob wrote:
>>>
>>> Have a 2009 Buick LaCrosse.
>>>
>>> Manual says to use DexCool for antifreeze.
>>> I think it also says, somewhere, "only".
>>>
>>> I see that the Prestone product(s) all say "for any car".
>>>
>>> Safe to use Prestone, instead ?
>>
>>Prestone says it meets GM 6277M, the specification for DexCool:
>>
>> http://prestone.com/enmx/learn_more/...sked_questions
>>
>>OTOH why bother switching when Prestone makes its own version of
>>DexCool, and at most you'll save just $15 every 5 years or 150,000
>>miles?
>
>Long-term, using DexCool is supposed to save you money due to the extended
>change interval, and the Prestone equivalent is just fine.
>
>However, I know several people who have changed from DexCool to conventional
>antifreeze because they were getting black gooey material in their cooling
>system, the source of which was never properly tracked down but which went
>away when they moved to Prestone.
>--scott

I tried some Orange stuff, not sure if it was literally dexcool or
some other name, in my 92 explorer and as soon as I started using it
little orange foamy "leakage" bubbles started forming around the edges
of all the hoses where they were clamped down. None of those places
had ever leaked any of the green stuff but somehow that orange stuff
managed to ooze it's way out. I drained it back out within a few
months and went back to the green stuff and no more of that problem.

On Fri, 08 Aug 2014 11:49:42 -1000, Geoff Welsh >
wrote:

>Bob wrote:
>> Hello,
>>
>> Have a 2009 Buick LaCrosse.
>>
>> Manual says to use DexCool for antifreeze.
>> I think it also says, somewhere, "only".
>>
>> I see that the Prestone product(s) all say "for any car".
>>
>> Safe to use Prestone, instead ?
>>
>> Thanks,
>> Bob
>
>
>Prestone sells DexCool spec fluid.
>
>If you are really wondering about mixing two-year coolant with
>five-year...it just turns it all into two-year. It says that on the
>bottle and in the fffing manual.
>
>Don't forget the true weak link is that the pressurized cap has a
>one-year expected life span!
>
>GW
>


Where did you get the idea that caps have a one year life span. Most
of mine came with the car and are still working just fine, some for
over 20 years.

On Fri, 8 Aug 2014 12:14:27 -0700 (PDT), dsi1 >
wrote:

>On Thursday, August 7, 2014 2:37:32 PM UTC-10, Ashton Crusher wrote:
>> On Thu, 07 Aug 2014 15:08:24 -0400, Bob > wrote:
>>
>>
>>
>> >Hello,
>>
>> >
>>
>> >Have a 2009 Buick LaCrosse.
>>
>> >
>>
>> >Manual says to use DexCool for antifreeze.
>>
>> >I think it also says, somewhere, "only".
>>
>> >
>>
>> >I see that the Prestone product(s) all say "for any car".
>>
>> >
>>
>> >Safe to use Prestone, instead ?
>>
>> >
>>
>> >Thanks,
>>
>> >Bob
>>
>> >
>>
>> >---
>>
>> >This email is free from viruses and malware because avast! Antivirus protection is active.
>>
>> >http://www.avast.com
>>
>>
>>
>> From what I've read, yes, it's fine to use the Prestone. The only
>>
>> difference is it won't last 100K miles like the dexcool supposedly
>>
>> does. Of course, you could use Dexcool and not worry. The price
>>
>> can't be much different. The big issue about dexcool, again, this is
>>
>> from what I read, was that people who are always opening their
>>
>> radiator cap to 'check the antifreeze' are letting air into the system
>>
>> and the air reacts with the dexcool and if enough air gets in it can
>>
>> cause problems. If the system is just left alone and the level
>>
>> checked by simply looking at the level in the overflow bottle there
>>
>> should not be a problem. I would NOT use Dexcool in any car that did
>>
>> not use it from the factory. And if you mix other non-dexcool stuff
>>
>> with it you lose the long life benefit.
>
>I had that problem with my Chevy Lumina or rather many people had that problem with their coolant on that car. The problem was supposed to be solved by slightly changing the design of the cap by adding a little spring to the vent the equalized the pressure with the atmosphere. I never could figure out how that was supposed to work.


I would guess the change in cap design allowed the system to form a
vacuum of a few psi instead of letting the reservoir suck in air as it
cooled. The vacuum would have caused the hoses to slightly collapse
when cool. That would prevent a lot of "fresh air" full of oxygen
from getting in and reacting with the dexcool and degrading it.

On 8/8/2014 12:23 PM, Ashton Crusher wrote:
>
> I would guess the change in cap design allowed the system to form a
> vacuum of a few psi instead of letting the reservoir suck in air as it
> cooled. The vacuum would have caused the hoses to slightly collapse
> when cool. That would prevent a lot of "fresh air" full of oxygen
> from getting in and reacting with the dexcool and degrading it.
>

The old Lumina cap had a design that prevented a vacuum from forming in
the radiator. If there's no vacuum present, water won't be sucked back
into the radiator from the coolant reservoir on cool-down. What gives?
OTOH, I suppose that all that doesn't matter much these days.

On Fri, 08 Aug 2014 13:25:50 -1000, dsi1
> wrote:

>On 8/8/2014 12:23 PM, Ashton Crusher wrote:
>>
>> I would guess the change in cap design allowed the system to form a
>> vacuum of a few psi instead of letting the reservoir suck in air as it
>> cooled. The vacuum would have caused the hoses to slightly collapse
>> when cool. That would prevent a lot of "fresh air" full of oxygen
>> from getting in and reacting with the dexcool and degrading it.
>>
>
>The old Lumina cap had a design that prevented a vacuum from forming in
>the radiator. If there's no vacuum present, water won't be sucked back
>into the radiator from the coolant reservoir on cool-down. What gives?
>OTOH, I suppose that all that doesn't matter much these days.

With the coolant recovery system there is not supposed to be any air
IN the engine side of the cooling system. There will be air inside
the coolant recovery bottle (on top of the coolant that's in it) but
that air is OUTside the actual cooling system. So when the engine
cools down the coolant will either flow back into the engine side and
form a vacuum in the space above the coolant in the recovery bottle. I
doubt it's much of a vacuum, you wouldn't want to collapse the bottle
but a few PSI isn't going to hurt it. I'm just theorizing as to what
the change might have been in the cap and why. The issue was the need
to keep fresh air from being able to mix with the dexcool and the only
way to prevent it is to do what you can to stop air from getting into
the bottle. Not opening it keeps giant amounts from getting in when
you take the cap off, forcing it to form a slight vacuum (by having a
spring loaded valve in the cap) would be a way to stop air from
"breathing" in and out as the engine heats and cools.

I always use Prestone, no problems yet. I change it at least once a year.

I thought Prestone specifically had a Dexcool product. Bought some back in February. Did they stop already? I could swear that's what the bottle said, as I wouldn't have put anything else, being that's what the manual calls for.