Curious: What kind of antifreeze

are you all using? And what ratio?

Another question is do you guys know if all Ethylene Glycol based antifreeze's are compatible with each other?

I've been using 'Peak' pre mixed when I catch it on sale. I suck out the overflow bottles & flush them with the garden hose (when it's warm out) and as much as I can get out of the radiator atleast once a year on my vehicles. Coolant always looks new. Yes any ethylene glycol based should be compatible. If it aint green, I wouldnt mix. I love the way manufacturers go with their own 'colors' these days & force you to the same. :banghead:

G/luck
Joel

Think I may have found a mistake that I've been doing for the last year.

I've been adding in Prestone pre-mixed ethylene glycol based antifreeze, similar to what you've been doing by taking it out of the reserve and refilling - but after doing some research the antifreeze I've been using is somewhat like a pee-yellowish color, which I've read is very similar to a Dex-cool product.

I'm wondering if this can lead to a problem?

Did have the system drained again when they did the timing belt and the stuff they put in is definitely a pretty GREEN! Not yellow in any way!

Thanks! Would like to hear what others are using??

I use Prestone premixed from WallyWorld. And I also add a (maybe a 1/2 qt) of straight Prestone too.

50/50 mix of prestone

i added a bottle of redline water-wetter also. i don't know if it really does anything, but i haven't had any heating issues yet..

...kind of along the lines of tiger repellant. i haven't been attacked by a tiger yet...

prestone, but I mix it myself. I try to get it as close to 50/50 as possible. No doubt I am off.

Prestone with distilled water 50/50. Glad the truck is holding it now, too.

Prestone with distilled water 50/50. Glad the truck is holding it now, too.

:grinyes: 10-4 good-buddy! I copy you there.

Low or high silicates? when choosing an antifreeze - seems the green can come in either low or high.

SOOO confusing - Geesh, I just want an antifreeze that's compatible with the GREEN stuff.

Here's a pretty good article on antifreeze types, colors, brands etc...

http://www.popularmechanics.com/automotive/sub_care_sat/1272436.html

You know the problem is is there now saying that not all greens are the old green antifreeze types, and you can't even be sure that ANY green is the same green your vehicle has or is using.

There are some greens that have no silicates, however, it seems our older Rodeo's anyhow, came with the green WITH silicates - this is the problem I'm having, as those that have no silicates have the potential of also being a DEX-COOl derivative that can not be mixed with the old green or it will form sludge.

Not only that, but if you look at the bottles of the Prestone yellow jug formulas - which we all use to believe was the old true green antifreeze, it in fact is actually a dex-cool mix now. Prestone no longer makes the old green antifreeze - they say that it's safe for all colors, and all types, but in reality dex-cool and the old green antifreeze are not supposed to be mixed.

We have inadvertenly been mixing the two in our 2 older vehicles without even realizing that ALL Prestone bottles are now dex-cool formulas - some actually say it, and other's (yellow jug) don't, but the active ingredients/chemicals on the label are the same.

Our mechanic has been putting in a green antifreeze with high silicates - for aluminum heads/engines, but we've had to replace some hoses on the toyota and we did mix in Prestone for refill.

I'm not too concerned about the Rodeo, we just had it flushed last week, and it was dumped again earlier this week - so it's all the true green again.

But I just need to find some antifreeze to carry in our vehicles - thinking of just having my mechanic fill a couple empty gallon containers for me. Seems this stuff's getting impossible to find.

I'm coming up on my next major service and will do a full cooling system flush. I'm looking to use the Shell Rotella ELC product. It is an ethylene glycol based product with silicates (how much? not sure). It is advertised as a fill-for-life product, with a minimum life of 300,000 miles before adding a extender that jacks up the minimum life to 600,000 miles. Compatible with conventional antifreeze.

The thing is, even with traditional antifreeze products, my antifreeze looks new after two years, and I've never had any cooling system problems. So, I figure this shell rotella, should give me that extra ooomph as my vehicle approaches middle age.

http://www.shell-lubricants.com/products/rotella_elc2.html

http://www.shell-lubricants.com/products/pdf/RotellaELC.pdf

How long do you all go between changes?

I changed mine last year and will do it again this year because I want to change all the cooling hoses because the Rodeo is 7 years old and sees extreme temps all year. I may try and do the thermostat, but it may be too hard for me to do. After that flush, it will stay in until I do the timing belt and that may not be for a long time unless it is needed.

I feel kind of guilty changing it after only a year because these are chemicals that pollute the earth. I should have done all the hoses last year.

One of these days I am going to post a picture of my engine bay so you guys can point out all the hoses I can change.


marc

Every 2nd summer, unless some other work has to be done requiring draining the coolant, I drain the system, including the plug on the side of the block, flush it, and refill. Everything always looks great; maybe a little white sediment gets flushed from the rad and block. The only time the system failed was due to a corroded freeze plug and disintegrating rubber o-rings.

As far as the environment goes, my city has a hazardous household waste collection every six months for fluids like coolant to be dropped off. I don't know what they do with it, but it can be recycled. In January I had several gallons to be discarded due to flushes in three vehicles, plus the several flushes I did on the Rodeo when tracking down my leak. I couldn't get a clean enough catch when I drained it, so I didn't reuse it. I just hope it got recycled.

Flush mine about every 1 1/2-2yrs living in Colorado, never really looks bad though.

When I lived in the hot desert for the 1st 5yrs/70k of the truck's life, I flushed at the beginning of every summer, the upper hose always seemed to need replaced every year as well - the heat REALLY takes a toll on that upper hose.

I use Prestone mixed 60/40 with filtered water. Gets cold here in Maine, so I use 60% antifreeze. I filter the water through a Brita pitcher because my well has a high mineral content. I don't drive this vehicle much at all in the summer so I don't worry about overheating on that mixture.