slowjunk

i took my 2001 jeep to the shop and have them flush out the old coolant. after i got home i look at the resevior bottle and saw dex cool in it. i went to check on the owner manual and it recommend to use the green stuff. my question is should i go back to the shop and tell them to change back to the green coolant or leave as it.

Roler

Dont know this dex cool. Is it red coolant?

slowjunk

Yes its red coolant

cdf43

Could be a universal that's red. or orange. I'd call the shop and ask what they used. I use green universal in my 87 XJ

Willys55

More than likely they used a universal coolant, shops would go broke trying to keep every type of coolant on the market available in their shops.

DFlintstone

Sheez, what's the world coming to? If it's already red, how do you tell when it's old and red/rusty looking? I'm curious what Djb and the others have to say on that one. I don't like it.

tjwalker

It can get tricky with the colors of universal coolant and even trickier when you get a system that hasn't been maintained properly so coolant is mixed with some rust, etc.

Because of that, I use and recommend conventional (green) coolant. It's all the 4.0 needs. That way, you know what color to look for! Change every 30k.

You do NOT want true Dexcool in your engine..............

Firestorm500

Nothing wrong with Dexcool. I have a motorhome with a 454 that sits 99.9% of the time.

I had to change an upper radiator hose last year. I was able to see down into the thermostat area, in the manifold.

Everything in there looked brand new and shiny.

The motorhome was 20 years old. And I hadn't changed the coolant in at least eight years.

tjwalker

I'm not trying to demonize Dex-Cool; I think it's fine for newer vehicles that are designed to run it.

However, improper mixing of coolants like Dex-Cool and conventional green has the potential to cause corrosion issues. This warning is noted on some coolant mfg websites. Here's but one of those.

http://www.valvoline.com/faqs/system...antifreeze/104

Search the web for threads and articles on it. Yes, you will find some controversy and differing of opinions, but plenty of documented problems with it.

Unless you were to flush out every bit of green coolant (and most guys definitely don't do this; quite a bit of residual coolant can be left in the engine and reservoir) before adding or switching to Dexcool, you could be setting yourself up for some problems.

My 99 XJ 4.0 is not spec'd for Dexcool. I'm not going to roll the dice and hope I'm a lucky one that has no problems; I'm sticking to conventional green and changing it every 30k. By doing so, my coolant has always stayed clean and green..... good to go! Just my 2 cents.

Firestorm500

On a complete coolant flush and refill, I am now using Prestone 5/50 extended life coolant.

I've got Dexcool in several antique Mustangs. They sit a lot, too. Cooling system is A-OK with no corrosion. They certainly came out before Dexcool.

The reason I used Dexcool back in the day was because it was the first extended-life coolant.

But, to each his own.

djb383

Seems to me over the past 10+ years the "new conventional" antifreeze is the various brands of "extended life" antifreeze. Most of today's antifreeze/coolants are a somewhat different formulation from years ago. Kinda like motor oil changing over the years, at the request of auto mfgs (but we don't want to go there again........not for a bit anyhow).

Years ago, virtually all coolants, put in the rad at the factory, were some shade of green.....the past 10+ years or so seems different auto mfgs have filled rads with every color coolant under the rainbow. Read the labels on the bottles.....most brands chemical components read close to the same but the food color may be different. LOL.

For the past +/-125 years blocks/heads have been made of iron or aluminum or a combo.....not much change. Antifreeze/coolant has changed over the years and been vastly improved, not to mention become a little safer.

I look at it like this.....I'm old, so I'm kinda conventional, so green's good, and if an old trusted coolant mfgr tells me their antifreeze/coolant works in "all makes, all models, and mixes with any color antifreeze", and provides protection for up to 5 years/150K miles.......hey, works for me. For me personally, 2 years max on coolant drain/flush/refill.

People....raise those hoods, have a look, it's fixin' to get hot. LOL