Ok to use Prestone Yellow 'universal' Anti-freeze?
Ok to use Prestone Yellow 'universal' Anti-freeze? Says its safe to mix with either brand but i have just water in there right now. I was just going to run this stuff in my car. As luck would have it i had a fuel delivery issue as i parked it in my trailer just as were reaching freezing temps so now that i've got that solved i'm going to add this antifreeze (already bought it) and wanted to make sure it was safe to run with the LS1 gaskets. Ive had a spacer heater in my trailer for 3 days now lol.
On The Tree
Joined: Aug 2008
Posts: 171
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There has been a huge debate about that on here. If all you have in it is water and your sure the stock dexcool is out go for it. There has been a debate weather you should use dexcool or regular coolant. I personally hate dexcool even though there are a lot of people that tell you the stuff is fine there is evidence that its garbage and for that a lot of people have switched to regular coolant without any problems. This choice is going to have to be on your own because everyone has there own ideas of what is better.
Oh i know the green stuff is fine i bought the yellow stuff. I wanted to try something new. I have no idea why. I have a duramax that had my dexcool start to gel up and at some point blew a headgasket. A nice $4500 to replace them so I'm not a fan of dexcool either.
On The Tree
Joined: Aug 2008
Posts: 171
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I just don't understand why people run dexcool just because they haven't had issues yet. They say that if GM says its good then its all right. Well how many times is there recalls on things. Well everybody screws up even GM even though I love there products. How do you explain the piston slap that is common on the 5.3's that is supposed to be no big deal. Yeah it will costs them money so its a normal problem. I'm just saying why run something that might causes problems compared to something that is proven to work as long as you change it when its due. Would anybody run oil in there car that they said is good for 150,000 miles and keep it in that long I doubt it. As far as the yellow stuff I'm not sure about it never heard anything bad.
Staging Lane
Joined: Aug 2008
Posts: 71
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From: Miami, near the U.S.A.
DexCool does not like air. You have to keep your system TOPPED OFF. And use distilled water, not the ion-laden junk from the faucet.
I retrofitted my 1984 C-10 diesel (brass soldered radiator and all) to DexCool + distilled water in 1993, and have zero problems since, because there is NO air in the system with the coolant.
I retrofitted my 1984 C-10 diesel (brass soldered radiator and all) to DexCool + distilled water in 1993, and have zero problems since, because there is NO air in the system with the coolant.
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Just a quick question. There are no issues with dex-cool in the LS1's? in the 3400 and 3100 series engines you eat LIM (lower intake manifold) gaskets like crazy with dex-cool.
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TECH Enthusiast
Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 502
Likes: 1
I prefer not to mix anything. Even universal. I recommend a complete drain and flush before changing types. In an emergency, I would use universal if I couldn't find the right type and just drain and flush when I got the car back home.
You will be fine mixing, yes the best way to do it would be to do a complete drain, flush and refill but i've never had a problem mixing the universal and i do it on a daily basis where i work. Dexcool is junk, it's expensive and if you don't keep the system flushed that **** literally turns into mud after 100k mi. or so. Imo the best stuff is the good old regular green stuff.
this is the stuff I'm using... it's a greenish-yellowish color... IMHO I think it's MUCH better than the dexcool.... The dexcool crap clogged up my cooling system so friggin bad. I'll never put it back in. My current mix includes about 60% Distilled Water, 40% Prestone Antifreeze Coolant, and 2 bottles of Water Wetter...
Registered User
Joined: Dec 2010
Posts: 1
Likes: 0
DexCool does not like air. You have to keep your system TOPPED OFF. And use distilled water, not the ion-laden junk from the faucet.
I retrofitted my 1984 C-10 diesel (brass soldered radiator and all) to DexCool + distilled water in 1993, and have zero problems since, because there is NO air in the system with the coolant.
I retrofitted my 1984 C-10 diesel (brass soldered radiator and all) to DexCool + distilled water in 1993, and have zero problems since, because there is NO air in the system with the coolant.
Just a thought.
