Anyone with a Champion radiator and using Dexcool?

Disclaimer: Links on this page pointing to Amazon, eBay and other sites may include affiliate code. If you click them and make a purchase, we may earn a small commission.

chevrol8t

Full Access Member
Joined
Feb 10, 2016
Posts
169
Reaction score
175
I ordered a 3 row aluminum radiator from Champion radiators. To my surprise after getting the rad yesterday, outside on the box it says to only use "Ethyl glycol "The green stuff" in regards to coolant choice. Well I use use Dexcool (with no issues). I contacted Champion about this and just got a reply from them today and they confirm that they do not recommend using Dexcool or any other color coolant with their radiators, only the green coolant. Heck I wish JEGS would have mentioned that on their site before I purchased it. Anyway have anyone here who used a champion radiator ran Dexcool anyway? I really hate to send this back but it seems I just may have to.

Thanks.
 

swathdiver

Full Access Member
Joined
May 18, 2017
Posts
19,100
Reaction score
25,029
Location
Treasure Coast, Florida
I ordered a 3 row aluminum radiator from Champion radiators. To my surprise after getting the rad yesterday, outside on the box it says to only use "Ethyl glycol "The green stuff" in regards to coolant choice. Well I use use Dexcool (with no issues). I contacted Champion about this and just got a reply from them today and they confirm that they do not recommend using Dexcool or any other color coolant with their radiators, only the green coolant. Heck I wish JEGS would have mentioned that on their site before I purchased it. Anyway have anyone here who used a champion radiator ran Dexcool anyway? I really hate to send this back but it seems I just may have to.

Thanks.
Too bad, the green stuff is a downgrade, the radiator is supposed to be an upgrade. Judging from all the problems folks are having with these all aluminum radiators, it seems the OE is still the best option.
 
OP
OP
chevrol8t

chevrol8t

Full Access Member
Joined
Feb 10, 2016
Posts
169
Reaction score
175
Too bad, the green stuff is a downgrade, the radiator is supposed to be an upgrade. Judging from all the problems folks are having with these all aluminum radiators, it seems the OE is still the best option.
Yeah, pretty bummed about it. Now I need to contact JEGS about this. I don't mind sending it back, but I will be pissed if they try to make me pay for return shipping or a restock fee...
 
OP
OP
chevrol8t

chevrol8t

Full Access Member
Joined
Feb 10, 2016
Posts
169
Reaction score
175
I was checking out some other forums about this and it seems there are some who are running DEXCOOL with their aluminum rads. It seems the consensus was as long as you maintain your coolant change you should be fine. I think I will take one for the team here and be the guinea pig.
 

MassHoe04

Full Access Member
Joined
Nov 4, 2021
Posts
1,586
Reaction score
2,796
Location
Western MA
Too bad, the green stuff is a downgrade, the radiator is supposed to be an upgrade. Judging from all the problems folks are having with these all aluminum radiators, it seems the OE is still the best option.
I have seen a bunch of people, especially when I had my Jeep TJ and was active on the Jeep forum. So many people were antsy to get all kinds of crazy aftermarket radiator and fan set-ups, only to have regretted doing so later on. More cooling rows and more surface means better? Right? Not always.

It turns out that factory engineers put a lot of, well... engineering and thought into the parts they were designing. Sure, they had corporate on their tails to make production costs low and profits high. But engineers are still engineers and every one I have eve known is over the top with OCD and striving for that perfect design. They weren't always perfect, but they try and are very scientific about what they do.

I agree @swathdiver ... While there are certainly better things that come along to make improvements here or there, OEM design is often the best option when it comes to components that are part of a larger integrated system (cooling, electrical, fuel delivery, etc.).

Too bad the OP was told he had to run green stuff. That would be a downgrade that would reduce the benefit of going with what was believed to be an upgraded radiator. Maybe the Dexcool will eat away the aluminum? Maybe it won't. I think @chevrol8t is helping us find out what happens, if anything. The rest of the cooling system is compatible with the Dexcool, so that should be fine. Worst case... The radiator starts leaking after some point. I doubt it could happen overnight anyway. I'd bet you have a few good years out of it at least. Be interesting to see what happens. This is like Mythbusters on TV!
 
Last edited:
OP
OP
chevrol8t

chevrol8t

Full Access Member
Joined
Feb 10, 2016
Posts
169
Reaction score
175
Ok, I got the radiator installed on Monday evening (in between badly timed calls from work). One thing I can confirm from one of the reviewers on Jegs who purchased this rad is that you do have to trim your radiator (if you have factory electric) to get it to fit on the new rad. Since I swapped out my clutch for a direct oem electric fan from an `05 that obviously applies to me as well. If you look at the two pics you can see where I trimmed for fitment. I used painters tape as a guage as to how far down to go. It seems however I had to take those edges down near flush. there is still a small side gap between the rad and the E-fan after mounting but I have some high temp weather strip on the way to take up the space and I see that as a very minor issues (if at all).

Also note that the upper radiator port on this rad is slightly smaller than the OEM port. The OEM hose was just a tad loose fitting. Just enough where there was a minor drip when I was testing it out. a second clamp solved this issue.

So far everything seems okay. I will follow up if anything happens.

Sorry I did not include the pic of the rad. It fits exactly like OEM. Nothing out of the ordinary.
 

Attachments

  • 20220718_143354.jpg
    20220718_143354.jpg
    240.4 KB · Views: 8
  • 20220718_143400.jpg
    20220718_143400.jpg
    224.9 KB · Views: 8

SnowDrifter

Full Access Member
Joined
Sep 5, 2016
Posts
2,402
Reaction score
2,577
Location
Washington. The desert side not the Starbucks side
New green or old green?

IAT or OAT?

Cause there's a biggggg difference

I can't imagine why a newer PHOAT or even SIAT formulation wouldn't work.


I'm also astounded that champion would try to classify coolant as 'ethylene glycol' which literally every single f*king automotive coolant on the market is.....Hmmmmmm
 
OP
OP
chevrol8t

chevrol8t

Full Access Member
Joined
Feb 10, 2016
Posts
169
Reaction score
175
Just updating folks. So far no issues (as I figured...or hoped ;)). All is well and I figured as long as maintain normal coolant changes I should be fine.
 

rockola1971

Full Access Member
Joined
Dec 29, 2016
Posts
2,376
Reaction score
2,972
Location
Indiana (formerly IL)
Just updating folks. So far no issues (as I figured...or hoped ;)). All is well and I figured as long as maintain normal coolant changes I should be fine.
If anything is gonna happen its not going to be in 3 or 4 months. More like 1-2yrs maybe even longer.
Me personally I would pee in my radiator before I ever used DexPuke. Sure the stuff works. The problem comes in when 1 of 2 scenarios happens. (1) Some numbskull adds green to Dexpuke. (2) Lots of air (oxygen) gets into the cooling system and causes DexPuke to become highly acidic and it starts attacking head gaskets.
When DexCool mixes with the green or gets lots of oxygen mixed in, it then becomes DexPuke and clogs up the radiator. It literally looks like some threw up chunks in your radiator. It is not a fun mess to have to clean out of the cooling system and takes alot of time. The green has worked for alot longer than I have been alive so I stick with it. Never had the problems of DexPuke with the Green old school formula. Changing out anti freeze is not rocket science and doesnt really take that long to do.
 

SnowDrifter

Full Access Member
Joined
Sep 5, 2016
Posts
2,402
Reaction score
2,577
Location
Washington. The desert side not the Starbucks side
If anything is gonna happen its not going to be in 3 or 4 months. More like 1-2yrs maybe even longer.
Me personally I would pee in my radiator before I ever used DexPuke. Sure the stuff works. The problem comes in when 1 of 2 scenarios happens. (1) Some numbskull adds green to Dexpuke. (2) Lots of air (oxygen) gets into the cooling system and causes DexPuke to become highly acidic and it starts attacking head gaskets.
When DexCool mixes with the green or gets lots of oxygen mixed in, it then becomes DexPuke and clogs up the radiator. It literally looks like some threw up chunks in your radiator. It is not a fun mess to have to clean out of the cooling system and takes alot of time. The green has worked for alot longer than I have been alive so I stick with it. Never had the problems of DexPuke with the Green old school formula. Changing out anti freeze is not rocket science and doesnt really take that long to do.
I see you too are a man of class

fwiw I use phoat in mine

Can be found branded as honda coolant

Obligatory warning to flush the system several times with distilled water. Do it until you think you're done. Then do it 2 times more. You definitely do NOT want any side reactions to happen on account of contamination. And because you're using distilled water, you'll want to pick up some concentrate so you can actually get it to the appropriate concentrations. Do some math to sort how much concentrate you need to add, introduce that amount to the system, then top up the rest with distilled water. If you want to validate, use a refractometer (like 20 bucks on amazon) or a chemical test strip. Don't bother with the float things unless you have a glass unit like one used for brewing. The plastic ones aren't worth their weight in scrap. I've never found one that's accurate to under 25%

or
 
Top