I'm doing a complete flush. What's the advantages of either orange or green coolant?

And what really happens if you mix them? ("They" say not to.)

 

Green was for the copper brass cars and orange was introduced for the aluminum rad/head combinations to prevent corrosion compatability problems.
You should not mix the two.
Gm further ran into many warranty problems with the orange switch. It tended to clog and congeal in the coolant systems. It should not be left in there for years. Google for that.
I use orange, religiously flush and replace once a year.
This is per the fine print for BMW engines. I trust their recommendations and have never had any problems with it.
Test your coolant with a Ph strip to test for acidity.

 

Green: Proven over decades. Lasts 1-2 years. Not optimal for aluminum components and silicates tends to hurt water pump seals.

Orange (dex-cool): Lasts 5 years. No silicates. Better for w-pumps and aluminum. If you get air in the system it tends to sludge.

I ran orange in my 71 for about 7 years (with one flush after 4 years) with no problems. Only thing was my overflow bottle had sludge in it. No sludge in radiator or motor. This last time I went with the prestone yellow stuff. So far so good.

 

You shouldn't run orange in a car that's not designed for it.
Orange gets messed up if there is any air at all in the system.
All the newer cars have a steam bleed to bleed air off from the system.

Bottom line: Do not use it in your C3.

 

Getting ready to put the coolant system back together on my 73. Not a tree hugger, but Sierra seemed to be better for a copper (heater core), aluminum (radiator) system, and steel (hoses) system:

What about protection against corrosion?

SIERRA's formulation has demonstrated outstanding performance in tests that measure its ability to prevent corrosion in all cooling system metals including aluminum, copper, cast iron, steel, and solder. SIERRA Antifreeze has shown excellent performance in all aspects of the ASTM D 5216 specification (Propylene Glycol Base Engine Coolant) and in the Ford BL2-2 Dynamometer Test. Additionally, SIERRA Antifreeze meets all the corrosion performance requirements of ASTM D 3306 and ASTM D 4985 (the primary specifications for premium ethylene glycol antifreeze).

 

A C3 does not have a completely closed system and air does get into it.

 

I flushed the Dexron (Orange) out of my system and replaced it with good ol Prestone green ethylene glycol antifreeze based on expert comments and previous threads in this board. I think the orange stuff has a weird consistency, it's kinda sticky like, and does not rinse clean like the old stuff.

 

I won't enter into this discussion of which is better, but let me argue against two statements that don't seem to hold up to the facts.

"Orange gets messed up if there is any air at all in the system" To the best of my knowledge, ALL cooling systems have air in them. Can you elaborate on "gets messed"? Give us some engineering or chemistry to work with that statement.

"newer cars have a steam bleed to bleed air off" Again, from what I understand in reading my service manuals, this isn't a steam bleed since our systems are designed NOT to boil, but a pressure relief valve designed to expel trapped air.

In my reading on other boards as well as Zerox information, the DexCool brand of orange antifreeze does have some detrimental affects on our older systems. Relying on memory, those effects are issues with Dex-Cool attacking the the solder. Zerox G-05 does not have those issues.

The problems with Prestone-type green antifreeze is that has silicates in it. Over time, these silicates precipitate out. Again, relying on years old chemistry, the white stuff you see on your rad tubes is this silicate. The Zerex brand of antifreeze, G-05, uses organic acids that don't have this issue with precipitating out as the white "snow" we see in older radiators.

I have switched my 72 to Zerex G-05, as well as my 79 Mercedes. When my '05 Lexus needs new antifreeze, I will switch to a Toyota appreoved antifreeze, which I don't think is proprietary but is a licensed Zerex product.


What to use? In my mind, Zerex. If you choose to use Prestone, be sure to follow the recomendations of changing it out and flushing it every two years. Don't forget the water trapped in the block and drain that by removing the two drain plugs at the bottom of the block. Use distilled water in a 50/50 ratio.

Gary

 

I don't have enough data to state any facts about the various flavors of anti-freeze. A lot of people have had problems with sludge buildup when using DexCool, the orange stuff. Then again, a lot of people have had no problems using DexCool!?!
As stated earlier, do a Google search on "DexCool sludge" .
Either way, I thought you might enjoy seeing these pictures of DexCool sludge in my 2000 Chevy Blazer. The radiator is only 18 months old due to a minor fender bender.
I do not believe that it had a dexcool sludge problem prior to the accident/radiator replacement.

I thoroughly flushed the system with a flush kit.
I ran Prestone Super Flush through the system for about 6 hours worth of driving and then refilled the system using green anti-freeze and distilled water.



I've got an unopened jug of orange dexcool in my shop if anyone wants it!

 

Ok I'm confused, when I get my new aluminum radiator next week, what antifreeze should I get?

 

Zerex G-05.

It is NOT Dex-Cool. It is orange and does not have the same sludge issues. IIRC, there may even be a law suit or two out there on Dex-Cool.

If you are still doubtful, go with Prestone and change and flush your rad every two years.

 

I change my oil before 3,000 miles as it is. Might as well flush my radiator every year, too.

After seeing those pictures I NOW know why my radiator isn't doing its job. The retarded owner previous to me was running that crap in it. My dad and I were wondering how the hell it looked like mud inside of it. So as long as I change the coolant every 1 - 2 years it should be fine and not mess up the system?

 

Dexcool..you idiot,,,Dexron is transmission fluid..

 

Green for sure if you have a brass radiator. Otherwise, your choice.

 

No need to re-invent the wheel so to speak on some of this stuff. For 1974 Corvettes the Owners Manual recommends 50/50 mix of water and ethylene glycol anti-freeze/coolant (green stuff). Flush the cooling system every two years or every 24,000 miles.

 

Holly crap Mike
It looks lke a hurricane Katrina victim
Thats incredible....
Is the blazer ok now?

 

As for right now, it is working well. I wasn't able to get ALL of the mud out of the system. I don't know what else I can do for it at this time.

Time will tell. Based on some reading I have done, it's possible that I could be looking forward to failure in the following areas: Heater Core, Water Pump, Head Gaskets, Intake Gaskets.
Who knows, with a little luck, it will make another 75K-100K miles without a problem. It currently has ~115,000 on the odometer.

 

Time is already starting to tell!
This morning I found anti-freeze running down the carport. The gasket between the water pump and impeller cover plate is leaking. Repairing this particular gasket failure is not such a big deal. I just hope it's not a precursor to future cooling system gasket failures such as intake and or head gaskets.

Perhaps I should take a closer look at GM's 72 hour sale.