Re: Dexcool problem?

["Ken Keith" <keith@specialdevices.com>]

My car unfortunately currently has the wrong kind of coolant in it.  I 
have a bottle of some flushing solution that I got from a German car 
repair place.  I hope this stuff works, and gets rid of the bad stuff.

If it works, should I expect to get more efficient cooling?  Or, should I 
stop dreaming that it will even work?

Thanks,

Ken

"Graydon D. Stuckey" <graydon@apollo.kettering.edu> wrote:
> 
> On Sun, 9 Aug 1998, Steve Manning wrote:
> 
> > traditional phosphate/silicate antifreeze has never been used.  However, if
> > any traditional antifreeze has ever been used in your car's cooling system,
> > it is strongly advised to avoid using Dexcool.  This is because, short of a
> > dangerous strong acid cleaning or complete replacement of all parts within
> > the cooling system, it is physically impossible to remove all residuals of
> > phosphates and silicates - even with repeated flushing.  If Dexcool is used
> > in such a system, deposit formation will be almost instantaneous and will
> > seriously affect your car's cooling system eficiency and performance.
> > Because most corrosion occurs under such deposits, it will also affect the
> > long-term corrosion prevention in such a system as well."
> 
> This is true.  I talked to the engineer at GM that was responsible for
> releasing the long life coolant, and he told me basically the same thing
> as what you found above.  The long life is not compatible with the ood
> style coolant, and it isn't as good from a heat transfer standpoint as
> the old coolant.  It does last longer though, which is the only reason it
> is used.