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Car Forum / Jeep / June 2007

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Dexcool coolant warning

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Stupendous Man - 17 May 2007 05:32 GMT
After learning that silicates (powdered quartz) in coolant kill Honda bike
waterpumps, I have been running Dexcool in all my vehicles, not wanting to
spend $30 for Hondaline pre-mix once a year.
I didn't think too much about it when my VW diesel blew a headgasket last
fall with less that .0015 In. warpage. I have ben running Dexcool in my
Goldwing for 3 years, and it blew a headgasket last month. I found less than
.001 In. warpage and the gaskets where they were free-standing in coolant
had all the material either gone or blistered up badly. A short Google turns
out that lots of people have had similar problems.
I changed the coolant in the other 6 vehicles.

Signature

Stupendous Man,
Defender of Freedom, Advocate of Liberty

Richard J Kinch - 17 May 2007 06:50 GMT
> silicates (powdered quartz)

So, professor, you're saying that this product contains powdered quartz?
Stupendous Man - 17 May 2007 15:39 GMT
> So, professor, you're saying that this product contains powdered quartz?

I'm not a Professor, just a Master Mechanic, so you may refer to me as
"Master". lol
"Normal" modern coolants contain silicates to scour the cooling system clean
of corrosion, and are fine for most engines. It's really tough on pre-1930s
packing gland style pumps. Some of the new types of coolant are free of
silicates.
A coolant that actually eats the engine or gaskets through chemical action
or electrolysis is kinda bad.
Signature

Stupendous Man,
Defender of Freedom, Advocate of Liberty

Richard J Kinch - 18 May 2007 06:15 GMT
> "Normal" modern coolants contain silicates to scour the cooling system
> clean of corrosion, and are fine for most engines.

I think you're confusing "silicates" (cleaning agents) with "silica" (quartz).
The former is in your dishwasher detergent, the latter at the beach.

Actually, I don't know that Dex-Cool even contains silicates:

 http://www.havoline.com/images/products/pdfs/anti_exlife.pdf

 http://www.pzlqs.com/Tech/Pdsheet/DomesticMarketing/Specialty/pdf/DexcoolExtende
dLifeAntifreeze&SummerCoolant.PDF

Stupendous Man - 21 May 2007 22:18 GMT
> I think you're confusing "silicates" (cleaning agents) with "silica"
> (quartz).
> The former is in your dishwasher detergent, the latter at the beach.
>
> Actually, I don't know that Dex-Cool even contains silicates:

I think you need to re-read the original post. I switched to dex to avoid
silicates.
Prestone has described silicates as powdered quartz, maybe that's wrong but
that's what their engineer said.
Earle Horton - 22 May 2007 00:35 GMT
> > I think you're confusing "silicates" (cleaning agents) with "silica"
> > (quartz).
[quoted text clipped - 6 lines]
>  Prestone has described silicates as powdered quartz, maybe that's
> wrong but that's what their engineer said.

More than you ever wanted to know, unless you are a geologist that is:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silicate

Silicate is the basic building block for almost all kinds of rock.  There
are about a zillion different ones, some real soft and some hard like
quartz.  Saying that something has "silicate" in it, tells you nothing about
what it will actually do to engine cooling system components.  If it had
quartz in it, that would be bad.  It wouldn't stay in suspension either, as
far as I know.

The Zerex chart that I posted a link to says that their G-05 is good for
pre-1996 Honda, and their Dex-Cool is good for 1996 and later.  For Jeeps
you want Green for pre-2001 and G-05 for 2001 and later.  My 1999 Honda
Civic came with Green in it.  It now has Honda Genuine blue.

Cheers,

Earle
Hootowl - 22 May 2007 04:58 GMT
>"Stupendous Man" <spam@trap.com> wrote in message

>Silicate is the basic building block for almost all kinds of rock.  There
>are about a zillion different ones, some real soft and some hard like
>quartz.  

Oops-just to get picky :>, quartz is not a rock, it's is a mineral.
Sorry, but this old science teacher just couldn't resist....

Dan
>Saying that something has "silicate" in it, tells you nothing about
>what it will actually do to engine cooling system components.  If it had
[quoted text clipped - 9 lines]
>
>Earle
Earle Horton - 22 May 2007 16:33 GMT
> >"Stupendous Man" <spam@trap.com> wrote in message
>
[quoted text clipped - 4 lines]
> Oops-just to get picky :>, quartz is not a rock, it's is a mineral.
> Sorry, but this old science teacher just couldn't resist....

"Rock: aggregation of solid matter composed of one or more of the minerals
forming the earth's crust"

http://www.bartleby.com/65/ro/rock.html

Quartz is a mineral, that can be formed into rocks.  Most people wouldn't
pay any attention to the difference, if there is one.  Besides, if you look
closely, I wasn't saying that quartz is a rock, only that it is hard.

Earle
Hootowl - 24 May 2007 04:23 GMT
>> >"Stupendous Man" <spam@trap.com> wrote in message
>>
[quoted text clipped - 13 lines]
>pay any attention to the difference, if there is one.  Besides, if you look
>closely, I wasn't saying that quartz is a rock, only that it is hard.

Yep, you're right, I just noticed.  Quartz hardness=8.0, making it the
hardest common mineral.

A mobile mass of petrified matter agglomerates no bryophytes. ;)

Back to the subject-my Jeep has driven over a lot of quartz.

Dan

>Earle
Richard J Kinch - 22 May 2007 04:42 GMT
> Prestone has described silicates as powdered quartz, maybe that's
> wrong but that's what their engineer said.

The only silicate I know of in antifreeze is sodium silicate (water glass),
which inhibits corrosion of aluminum.  Same as in automatic dishwasher
detergent.  Nothing like quartz.
Earle Horton - 17 May 2007 18:19 GMT
> > silicates (powdered quartz)
>
> So, professor, you're saying that this product contains powdered quartz?

More like chalk.  When I was a kid they caught a dairy near me putting it in
milk, so it can't be that bad, heh.

Earle
Lon - 03 Jun 2007 12:46 GMT
Earle Horton proclaimed:

>>>silicates (powdered quartz)
>>
>>So, professor, you're saying that this product contains powdered quartz?
>
> More like chalk.  When I was a kid they caught a dairy near me putting it in
> milk, so it can't be that bad, heh.

You had silicate chalk?  We just good old carbonate chalk when I went to
school.
Earle Horton - 03 Jun 2007 18:50 GMT
> Earle Horton proclaimed:
> >
[quoted text clipped - 7 lines]
> You had silicate chalk?  We just good old carbonate chalk when I went to
> school.

"Like" chalk.

Saludos cordiales,

Earle

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Earle Horton - 17 May 2007 18:18 GMT
I put Honda Genuine premix in both my Hondas, a 2002 CR-V and a 1999 Civic
HX.  The Civic came new with green antifreeze, probably identical to the
Zerex Green that you can still get at Autozone, but I am not taking any
chances.  Ten bucks a gallon for premix seems a lot, but that is enough to
change the entire cooling system in the Civic and a gallon and a half for
the CR-V.  The bad part is I have to drive 135 miles one way to get it.

Afaik, Dexcool is for GM vehicles.  "DEX-COOL is a registered trademark of
General Motors Corporation."  What don't people understand about this?

The auto industry is seriously out of control on the coolant issue.  I have
four different vehicles and this requires three different coolant types.
But if you mix and match or even try to save money by using a sensible
alternative you are looking for trouble.

Earle

> After learning that silicates (powdered quartz) in coolant kill Honda bike
> waterpumps, I have been running Dexcool in all my vehicles, not wanting to
[quoted text clipped - 6 lines]
> out that lots of people have had similar problems.
> I changed the coolant in the other 6 vehicles.
Coasty - 19 May 2007 00:17 GMT
Preston makes a universal for all makes and models which meets all
manufacturer specifications.
http://www.prestone.com/products/antifreezeCoolant.php  I have been using it
in all my vehicles and jeeps one size fits all you got to love it.

Coasty

>I put Honda Genuine premix in both my Hondas, a 2002 CR-V and a 1999 Civic
> HX.  The Civic came new with green antifreeze, probably identical to the
[quoted text clipped - 28 lines]
>> out that lots of people have had similar problems.
>> I changed the coolant in the other 6 vehicles.
Earle Horton - 19 May 2007 00:46 GMT
I believe that this is the same as the end-of-the-aisle one-size-fits-all
coolant sold as SuperTech by Walmart.  I posted the ingredients here and
someone told me it was DexCool, or a blend of DexCool ingredients and
something else.  I put it in my GM vehicle but I am not taking chances with
my Hondas or my Jeep.  If you would like to look at the thread, the subject
is "Coolant Surprise" from December 2006, pretty easy to find in Google
Groups.  It is also explained there why a single formula cannot meet the
CONFLICTING OEM requirements for IAT, OAT and HOAT coolants.

Here is the relevant response, that made me not use it in my Jeep.

"Incidentally, presense of 2-EHA (sodium 2-ethyl hexanoate) in the coolant
you've examined means you're looking at Dex-cool.  If you put this in a
Jeep, I don't want to hear you whining like a spoiled 3-yr. old later when
you have to replace the entire cooling system."

Outatime posted that.

I wouldn't use the Prestone stuff you are using in Jeep unless it says
"meets Jeep specifications" or lists the ingredients.

Earle

> Preston makes a universal for all makes and models which meets all
> manufacturer specifications.
[quoted text clipped - 35 lines]
> >> out that lots of people have had similar problems.
> >> I changed the coolant in the other 6 vehicles.
Coasty - 18 May 2007 23:59 GMT
You may want to read this
http://pages.infinit.net/mcrides/engine_tech/engine_coolant.htm

Coasty

> After learning that silicates (powdered quartz) in coolant kill Honda bike
> waterpumps, I have been running Dexcool in all my vehicles, not wanting to
[quoted text clipped - 6 lines]
> Google turns out that lots of people have had similar problems.
> I changed the coolant in the other 6 vehicles.
Jeff DeWitt - 19 May 2007 04:38 GMT
For DECADES we used the same green ethylene glycol coolant.  The price
was reasonable, it worked well, and was harmless to the environment as
long as you didn't let critters get to it.

Then the government screwed everything up (as they do SO well).

Does anyone still make the good old fashioned coolant anymore?  I want
to use it in my 96 Cherokee and my Studebakers.

Or is real coolant considered an environmental hate crime these days?

Jeff DeWitt

> After learning that silicates (powdered quartz) in coolant kill Honda bike
> waterpumps, I have been running Dexcool in all my vehicles, not wanting to
[quoted text clipped - 6 lines]
> out that lots of people have had similar problems.
> I changed the coolant in the other 6 vehicles.
Earle Horton - 19 May 2007 05:01 GMT
Zerex Green is supposed to be close.  Autozone has it or can order it for
you.

http://www.valvoline.com/pages/products/product_detail.asp?product=8

Earle

> For DECADES we used the same green ethylene glycol coolant.  The price
> was reasonable, it worked well, and was harmless to the environment as
[quoted text clipped - 19 lines]
> > out that lots of people have had similar problems.
> > I changed the coolant in the other 6 vehicles.
Coasty - 19 May 2007 10:27 GMT
This may help a good read
http://www.aftermarketbusiness.com/aftermarketbusiness/article/articleDetail.jsp
?id=358271


Coasty

> Zerex Green is supposed to be close.  Autozone has it or can order it for
> you.
[quoted text clipped - 32 lines]
>> > out that lots of people have had similar problems.
>> > I changed the coolant in the other 6 vehicles.
Herb Leong - 19 May 2007 10:35 GMT
#For DECADES we used the same green ethylene glycol coolant.  The price
#was reasonable, it worked well, and was harmless to the environment as
#long as you didn't let critters get to it.
#
#Then the government screwed everything up (as they do SO well).
#
#Does anyone still make the good old fashioned coolant anymore?  I want
#to use it in my 96 Cherokee and my Studebakers.
#
#Or is real coolant considered an environmental hate crime these days?
#
#Jeff DeWitt

Don't go by color alone.  It's just a dye added in by the coolant
producer.  Look at the specs that the stuff meets--Chrysler MS 7170,
Chrysler MS 9769, Ford ESE-M97B44-A, Ford WSS-M97B51-A1, etc.

Two coolents can have the same specs and be two different colors and
likewise, be the same color and not be compatable.

Ford G-05 and Zerex G-05 are yellow.  Chrysler G-05 and GM DEX-COOL
are both orange.  Zerex G-05 meets both the Ford and Chrysler standards.
Chrysler G-05 and GM DEX-COOL are totaly incompatable.

As a side question, the rental Ford I drove around recently had a "no
orange" sticker on the coolant overflow bottle.  Definatly no DEX-COOL.
But does it also mean no Chrysler G-05 since Chrysler uses 10% recycled
ethylene glycol and Ford does not?

/herb
Earle Horton - 19 May 2007 15:40 GMT
Heh, I count three basic types of coolant, IAT, OAT and HOAT, plus the
Walmart SuperTech stuff that is "compatible with all types".

This is a pretty chart.

http://www.valvoline.com/zerex/pdf/Zerex_CoolantChart.pdf?coaid=1B5D1AEA1AFC

Don't blame the government solely for screwing this up.  The auto
manufacturers played their own parts, but developing water pump seals that
each "require" their own special type of coolant/lubrication.  You can
choose to believe them or not, but who wants to take chances?  A water pump
seal isn't too expensive a lesson, but a head gasket can be a major pita.

Saludos y buena suerte,

Earle

> #For DECADES we used the same green ethylene glycol coolant.  The price
> #was reasonable, it worked well, and was harmless to the environment as
[quoted text clipped - 26 lines]
>
> /herb
 
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