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Antifreeze - the red stuff....

Had a buddy with a 97 3.4l tell me that he got hot under the hood yesterday.... this morning, he pops his cap, can't see any fluid... takes his other car to get some antifreeze for a flush... gets home, and as he's opening the lower drain plug, black fluid runs out.... keeps running out, and when he's done, he's got a tub full, plumb full of black fluid.... he calls me and asks me if I'm using the same stuff... I am... I check mine about every 15-20k miles... it was low once, I topped it off, been ok ever since....

He goes on to tell me that he's heard some horror stories of the 'red stuff' and swore that he'll never use it again.... I told him, I've not had any trouble other than using more than the 'green stuff'....

So I ask you... Do you know any horror stories about the red stuff, or does he have a leak somewhere in his cooling lines in the block or somewhere... I know the cooling lines for the ATs go thru something, but this is a 5sp tranny, but still gets cooled somewhere...

Mine is the AT, and I have no problems with it at all, his is a 5sp, and he's had nothing BUT problems... Myself, I think it's a maintain problem.... I however, am pretty meticulous about my baby... :^)

Reply to
RedForeman ©®
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The antifreeze with the bad rep is GM's Dex-cool, and it's orange, not red. Toyota has red antifreeze, VW has a different red AF, and RV drinking water system AF is red. All are different, and none have a bad rep.

Exhaust leaking into the antifreeze will turn it dark gray, maybe black.

I think your bud should buy a strong flush product, clean his cooling system, and use green AF, either the usual ethylene glycol or safe propylene glycol. Never mix green ethylene glycol, nor green propylene glycol, nor orange Death-cool, nor anything else. Pick one and stick with it. He should have a shop test his engine for head gasket leaks.

All types of antifreeze should be flushed and renewed every two years...maybe some of the European stuff is good for longer, but two years is safe.

Ken

Reply to
Ken Shelton

I remember a guy bringing his Chevy into the garage where I worked. The boss took the radiator cap off and you could smell exhaust gas coming from the radiator. I figured it was a pretty sure bet it was a head gasket problem... :>))

Problem is, diagnosis isn't always that obvious or easy.

This would have been around 1965 and the car was a '59 Chevy wagon with a 283, 2-barrel and Powerglide (Sour-slide) transmission. Talk about a slug!!!

Tom - Vista, CA

Reply to
TOM

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