Which coolant

[BrainDead]

Going to be changing out the radiator, hoses, water pump and gruven parts billet T's in the upcoming weeks and wanted to know what people were running besides dexcool?

I've read good reviews about Peak's global lifetime antifreeze, anything else I should consider?

 

[Doubeleive]

dexcool and flush it annually. just my .02 for good maintenance

 

[BrainDead]

The flush it annually is the problem, that's why I'm lookin for something that will last a little longer

 

[Doubeleive]

dexcool is good for 100k miles but I wouldn't recommend keeping any kind of coolant in a system that long, the idea behind the flush is to keep the whole system fresh, it's a low cost item and easy to do.

 

[Foggy]

DexCool is just fine... Put in new every other year would be fine.. I do all of
coolants every year.. but I'm very picky.. Every other year is fine

 

[thompsoj22]

prestone DEXCOOL concentrate $14 at china mart, mix 50/50 with a gallon of distilled water and you will be done. my 02, dont switch coolants.

 

[91RS]

Dexcool only.

 

[BrainDead]

Ok, I'll stick with Dex.

Any particular radiator flush to use?

 

[Foggy]

I personally would not flush the system...Drain... Clean as many components as
possible with clean water. Replace any hoses, T stat, etc necessary.
And refill with Dexcool and distilled water.
If you still feel like there is "gunk" in the system... Do it again in a couple of
months

 

[swathdiver]

DexCool is good for 5 years or 100K miles after the first service, whichever comes first. I've always flushed with water, meaning, drain and fill until it comes out clear and then fill with 50/50. Been using Prestone because I could not acquire ACDelco when needed.

 

[Larryjb]

I've flushed my system once each year. 1st time to change a thermostat gasket. 2nd time to do the thermostat gasket again because it leaked. (use RTV thermostat seal with the gasket, that solves that problem). 3nd time to change the water pump. 4th time to replace a cracked head. I'm just waiting for the 5th thing to go wrong.

Seriously, though, this coolant should be fine for several years at least. If you really want to know, get a test strip and check the pH of the coolant. Coolant becomes acidic over time. As long as it's basic (pH>7 or 8), it's probably fine.

The real issues with Dexcool were in vehicles that had coolant flowing through nylon intake manifold gaskets such as in the 3.8L motors. Switching to an aluminum framed gasket solved that problem, although in my Buicks I flushed the system out and switched to G-05. However, because there is no coolant flowing through the intake manifold gasket of the 5.3, this is not an issue so the Dexcool can stay.