Orange or Green Anti freeze?

-
kc0r8y

kc0r8y

Well-Known Member
Joined
Aug 25, 2015
Messages
253
Reaction score
84
Location
Connecticut
I'm using an aluminum Radiator in my 408 stroker and someone mentioned I should use the orange anti freeze in it rather then the green...Thoughts?
 
Xerex G0-5 for aluminum. It's made for it...the green stuff isn't.
 
I currently run Prestone 50/50 in my aluminum rad because I was a lazy SOB
I don't have distilled water at my tap ether.
 
I have run the good ole green stuff for Years in my aluminum radiator................ no issues.
lots of cars have had aluminum radiators, intakes, heads & ect with good ole green antifreeze.
my big block has aluminum heads and still has Green antifreeze........
 
The key is not leaving it in there too long, regardless of color.
 
GO-5 is what Chrysler specs, and it's great stuff, and RRR nails it. ANY antifreeze will eat your stuff if you don't change it every couple years
 
jos51700 said:
GO-5 is what Chrysler specs, and it's great stuff, and RRR nails it. ANY antifreeze will eat your stuff if you don't change it every couple years
Click to expand...
I know they say to change antifreeze some. I have never changed it in anything, from farm tractors to hemi`s, and have never had a problem . If it`s dirty or rusty, I`d change it, don`t remember any of that. wehen I have to add antifreeze for winter, I use the stuff that will mix w/ either one, and usuall keep it 25-40 below for protection around here. "a little overkill ".
 
I always thought it was certain minerals in the tap water people used that cause the breakdown of aluminum hence why you use premix, or a proper proportion of distilled or DI water and antifreeze.

Someone correct me if that doesn't sound right.
 
To my knowledge orange is still poisonous.

Changing the antifreeze is more critical in mixed - metal applications, in order to prevent electrolytic corrosion
 
Cars born with green coolant shouldn't be changed to orange. It's also a bad idea to mix the two, the result may turn into witches' brew.
 
Actually, the revised spec for FCA cars and trucks from 2013 to present is DEX-COOL.
 
I was doing a cooling system repair on a Taurus today and had to look up which coolant it was supposed to have (apparently "mud" isn't a color) and ran across this on a Taurus forum....

"Do not use Prestone universal in any Taurus. This is an Organic Acid Technology (OAT) coolant. The Prestone "Long-Life (5yr 150,000mi)" coolant contains sodium 2-ethyl hexanoate according to the bottle, which is probably the salt formed from mixing 2-ethyl-hexanoic acid with sodium hydroxide base. From the August 2004 issue of Motor magazine: "All DexCool-approved coolants to date use two organic acid rust/corrosion inhibitors, one called sebacate, the other called 2-EHA (which stands for 2-ethyl hexanoic acid). ....The rust inhibitor 2-EHA poses another issue: It's a plasticizer (softens plastic), so it has been blamed for coolant passage gasket leakage. Softening (and the resulting distortion) was reported by Ford, which encountered gasket leakage problems when it tested a DexCool type formula on its V8 engines. Ford also saw similar issues with other gasket materials. That killed the OAT coolant idea for Ford". Use the Zerex G-05 long-life (Ford specification WSS-M97B51-A1, A.K.A. "yellow stuff") instead which is a hybrid organic acid technology product not based on 2-ethyl-hexanoic acid. A complaint has been filed against Prestone for misleading advertising in the use of the word "universal". One can also use the good old fashioned short-life green stuff and replace it more often."
 
I put an aluminum Be-Cool radiator in my 65 Newport, so am switching it to Evans (drying it out for 6 months), like all but one of my other 6 vehicles. I didn't want to risk that expensive radiator on anything that risks corrosion (even though I bought it cheap on ebay). My one non-Evan's vehicle is a 96 Voyager. I recently drained coolant to fix an intake manifold vacuum leak and was pleasantly surprised that the orange Dex-Cool in it looked perfectly clear and pristine after several years. Maybe the color just masks the rust. On a M-B forum, people rant about how bad Dex-Cool is, even in 1980's cars (preferring some M-B brand). There is a confusing mix of coolants at auto parts now, with little quart bottles of pink and blue stuff for certain mostly Japanese models. Good luck. Many opinions to read.
 
NEVER EVER USE DEX-COOL! The stuff is terrible with aluminum! Nearly every manufacturer out there with the exception of GM (go figure) warns against using it. There have been numerous articles written in the trade magazines about its harmful effects. I can testify personally to a case where a customer had been using it in his car and in 2 years it ate away at the engine block and pitted the head so bad it had to be junked because there was so much damage that there was enough surface for the head gasket to seal against.
Green is fine with aluminum. So is the global type and the red or pink stuff.
And as Rusty Rat Rod said you have to change whatever you put into it often enough.
 
Last edited:
Many years ago I couldn't afford antifreeze, and the worst fear was opening the cap on a radiator and it looking like tomato soup! There is no way I would BUY Dex Cool that looks like tomato soup already, and pour it in my radiator. I've had nothing but great results using Prestone ethylene glycol and distilled water at 50/50 mix. I'm 62 now so I can't see changing anything at this late stage of the game.
 
SGBARRACUDA said:
Many years ago I couldn't afford antifreeze, and the worst fear was opening the cap on a radiator and it looking like tomato soup! There is no way I would BUY Dex Cool that looks like tomato soup already, and pour it in my radiator. I've had nothing but great results using Prestone ethylene glycol and distilled water at 50/50 mix. I'm 62 now so I can't see changing anything at this late stage of the game.
Click to expand...
Same here, never had a problem w/ it . Same stuff is in my 15 yr olds dodge ram that it came w/, only had to add the universal stuff a couple times when new. And yes, it still looks clean.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
-

Back
Top