Coolant

Mickey · 2004-06-12T16:32:19+00:00

Was reading a topic in another non-automotive group and the subject of coolants came up and got to be a hot topic. Was wondering what official position is on coolant for Subbies, the green Ethylene glycol or the orange propylene glycol (DEX-cool).What type are you folks using?Mickey

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Rick Courtright 22 years ago

Not that it will change your mind, but my Subie went over 300k miles on the original radiator before I replaced it. It started running a bit warm starting the climb up to the local mountains during the heat of summer (100 def F and above in my area) but didn't actually overheat. The car's got 354k miles right now.

My Toyota Camry went 168k miles before the radiator was replaced due to a leak caused by impact with some road debris. It's now got 215k miles. Cooling system's spotless.

My Toyota truck had 136k miles on the original radiator, which was also spotless, when it was stolen. It replaced a VW Rabbit that had 189k miles when I sold it, again, with a spotless radiator. My brother's usually traded his Hondas and Nissans at around 150k, a buddy's wife is closing in on 200k with her Camry. Their experiences mirror mine (despite Honda's warning to use only their brand of coolant, at least in later models.)

I could relate more, but my point remains that if you use regular green Prestone coolant with DISTILLED water, I think the horror stories are overblown. Not that I'm standing up for Prestone, but since they sell about a zillion gallons of their product each year, if they were really responsible for so much damage, I'd think they'd be changing things. (Think back to DuPont Zerex with the anti-leak formula of the early '70s--DuPont bought a few engines and pulled the stuff off the market muy pronto.) As to the experience with the shade tree guy, I guess that might explain why I do my own work whenever possible--assuming he used the entire gallon of coolant with only half a gallon of distilled water, I can come up with several things that could be wrong with that picture.

Nothing wrong with going silicate free if you wish. Just remember the sky's NOT gonna fall if you can't find it (though it shouldn't be hard--IIRC, Havoline was silicate free for years before any of the others, probably still is, and is relatively widely distributed at least for those here in the US. For the greatest peace of mind, get your coolant from your dealer parts dept.)

Rick

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CompUser 22 years ago

They're good, but I don't feel they are worth the premium H&K exacted on the civilian market for years...haven't looked lately so I don't know if they're still high or not. See more below.

Yeah...I'd be surprised if there aren't some 34s still in service, somewhere around the globe. Again, quite a contrast in approaches...I'm sure the H&K "systems" are products of engineering committees. Compare that too what some call the best assault rifle ever designed, the Kalashnikov...designed by no less than a buck sergeant, T-34 driver...as sophisticated as the H&K design is, the AK is butt ugly simple, strong and reliable. To maintain some impartiality here, I'll have to sling mud on our 16 too...it poops where it eats and is also a bit overdone, in the engineering "solutions" department.

Since the likes of Browning, I'd have to say that only Kalashnikov came close. At a recent birthday celebration, K reportedly commented that he wished he "had invented a lawnmower."

Steve

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y_p_w 22 years ago

Nah - he never touched the distilled water. He seemed to have used the right amount of coolant. He just sort of blew me off about the distilled water. Our municipal water supply is exceptionally soft though. I don't particularly trust the guy, but it was my mom's car, and she insisted on using him. I've since learned to do it myself. I wouldn't let him touch any car I own, but my folks still insist that he work on their cars.

It's $15 for a gallon of uncut OEM coolant at the dealer vs $7 for a bottle of yellow Prestone at Wal-Mart. Given a 2 gallon capacity and a change period of 30K miles/30 months, I figure the difference in cost is neglible.

I've seen one heavy-duty coolant manufacturer's info referring to silicate gelling as "green goo". Almost all makers of silicated coolants say they have a rather limited shelf life (18 months). You theorized that perhaps hard water has an effect on silicate gelling, and some of the info seems to back that claim up. At the very least, almost every auto manufacturer is going to lower silicate coolants.

However, most of the info I've seen indicates that silicate gel isn't water soluble, and that restoring a gelled system requires a lot of effort:

"Unfortunately, there are few effective methods for cleaning the gel from an already-clogged system. Radiators must be removed and sent out for a thorough cleaning. The engine must be flushed with a caustic solution. The gel is not water soluble, so flushing with water alone will not work."

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Coolant

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