Topic: Coolant Pink? Green?

[MonstaMonsta]

Hi everyone,

So I finally decided to go through with flushing out the coolant that came with the avy and replace it with this WILD green stuff from "ABRO".  I'm curious about what the difference between the green and original pinkish stuf that came with the Avalanche...   The Green stuff contains Etheylene Glycol, is that alright for the Avy? 

I'm kinda hoping I did the right thing here by using the ABRO Green stuff, since there is no DexCool here in Egypt and the other easily obtainable solution is this "33% Concentration" Mobil 1 stuff that is pink...   

As far as I have figured out the green stuff is for old veichles?  and the Pink is for the newer models? 

I'm confused...

[oHIobellboy]

I don't think I'd use that. Check the owners manual and see what it says but I'm really thinking you need the pink/orange stuff. Also, check the label on that can to see if it's a replacement for the dexcool.

[MonstaMonsta]

Says nothing on the label about being a replacement...   Hmmm...   Nothing in the manual ethier...  Other than "Don't use anything but Dexcool" ...   but what if theres no dexcool?  Its in the engine now... until I can get something better?  I dont know if this stuff is that bad to begin with

[MyBigToy]

You can run regular green coolant in the Av - BUT - before you do, chemically flush the coolant system to get every last vestige of Dexcool out. If you don't you will likely end up with a nasty brown sludge which will cause all kinds of problems. Personally I wouldn't run anything except Dexcool or Dexcool-compatible coolant.

I know there are horror stories about Dexcool but those are kinda like the "don't switch to synthetic oil" stories; there were issues with gaskets way back when but the technology quickly caught up with those issues. I ran Dexcool in our 92 Grand Caravan from the initial flush until we sold it in 2004 with absolutely no issues.

[MonstaMonsta]

Alright, will do MyBigToy,  I'll run this stuff until I can get a hold of some Dexcool...  Thank you OBB and MyBigToy for the advice!!!

I read the same stuff MyBigToy on the horror stories and came to the same conclusion too, only wanted to see what ya'll thought! 

[MonstaMonsta]

So I've been doing so more research on what I replaced the old Coolant with and discovered this...

The 7 year old coolant I was running was "watered down" big time...  That canned stuff in the first post isnt coolant replacement!!!! its an additive!!!!   I was reading the can and nowhere on it does it states the percentage silicates or anything other than to add the contents to the anti freeze solution!!!   

I have to drain it ....  alll of it...   then find the right stuff and "AFTER" doing a chemical flush and praying that no damage has been done, check it out and fill it with some proper coolant...   

I might take a trip down to the BMW facility or Mercedes and enquire on their coolants

[MonstaMonsta]

You can run regular green coolant in the Av - BUT - before you do, chemically flush the coolant system to get every last vestige of Dexcool out. If you don't you will likely end up with a nasty brown sludge which will cause all kinds of problems. Personally I wouldn't run anything except Dexcool or Dexcool-compatible coolant.

I know there are horror stories about Dexcool but those are kinda like the "don't switch to synthetic oil" stories; there were issues with gaskets way back when but the technology quickly caught up with those issues. I ran Dexcool in our 92 Grand Caravan from the initial flush until we sold it in 2004 with absolutely no issues.

I ended up doing just that MyBigToy.  Lwt the Avy Cool down then unscrewed the plastic winged screw from the drivers side on the radiator and watched it empty...  Took the hoses off the reservoir tank and washed the tank out thoroughly.   Placed the res. tank back in connected the hoses to it and let tap water flow through the system until it ran clear.   Then I had a bottle of chemical coolant flush added to the tank let the veichle idle for 5-10 minutes with the chemical flush in there to get rid of any last traces of the green additive...  Finallly drained out all the chemical flush  /tap water mix and flushed the system with tap water one more time.   

Added about 10 litres of this Mobil 1 coolant I found.... The Handbook says the system is 16.5 or so litres so I added the coolant until it poured "pink "out from the drainage hole on the drivers side of the radiator. 

Since I could'nt find a large variety of coolants to choose from and this brand seems to be the safest and most reliable I'm pretty positive about the coolant now.  Just kinda thrown off at the fact the it didnt take all 4 4 litre jugs that I got. 

[Main One]

I'm curious - what temperature extremes do you see over there?

[MonstaMonsta]

I'm curious - what temperature extremes do you see over there?

I was actually kinda hoping you would stumble upon this, Main One....

Coldest I've seen it is around 40 - 50 degrees farenheit, During the peak times in the summer it will reach around 100 farenheit sometimes over...  It's especially bad because of crowded city streets. 

It doesnt stay cold very long, rains in Cairo about 5-10 times MAX. a year

[MonstaMonsta]

BTW Hows that Tranny coming Main One?  I should read through the rest of your thread and update!  Hope all is well.

  my own thread...   

[Main One]

I was actually kinda hoping you would stumble upon this, Main One....

Coldest I've seen it is around 40 - 50 degrees farenheit, During the peak times in the summer it will reach around 100 farenheit sometimes over...  It's especially bad because of crowded city streets. 

It doesnt stay cold very long, rains in Cairo about 5-10 times MAX. a year

Therefore it doesn't look like you need any anti-freeze characteristics in your coolant, like we do here in the states.  My truck has seen seen ambient temps (farenheit) from about 15 below to about 105.  Our antifreeze here comes with directions on how much to dilute with water depending upon how much antifreeze protection you want, although they have recently started marketing antifreeze that you don't have to mix with water.  That said, we here probably don't know what is really "the best" for your situation.  Water itself straight has good coolant properties, although you can buy additives to give your coolant, straight water or otherwise, better cooling characteristics, such as Water Wetter (I forget whether that is a Redline or other brand additive).  For your situation, you would be looking for a product that has some lubrication qualities (for the water pump) as well as anti-corrosion characteristics.  Our coolant change intervals used to be based largely on how long the anti-freeze characteristics held up, although I'm not sure if that is the determining factor these days.

[Main One]

BTW Hows that Tranny coming Main One?  I should read through the rest of your thread and update!  Hope all is well.

  my own thread...

Got the 5 pinion planetaries that GM puts into the 4l65 late last week.  One was supposedly used, but I couldn't tell that either wasn't a used part, other than neither was in any kind of OEM packaging.

The guy who sold them to me has offered, in the interest of saving me from having to invest in some specialty tools that aren't cheap, a couple of preassembled subassemblies.  As he put it, with these, half of the rebuild work would already be done.  I told him that my plan had been to be on the lookout for parts at good prices over the next few months, and so I am interested in taking him up on that, but not pulling the trigger just yet.  (Wanting to get the temperatures consistently above the coldest in your part of the world, LOL!)  I figure with a few used but in excellent shape otherwise quite expensive hard parts, and not having to spend a few hundred on specialty tools, I can put together a tranny capable of handling well over 600 rwhp for under $2k.  Will try to take pictures and post progress when I start with the actual rebuild.  For now, my replacement tranny is doing quite well, knock on wood.

[MyBigToy]

Therefore it doesn't look like you need any anti-freeze characteristics in your coolant, like we do here in the states.  My truck has seen seen ambient temps (farenheit) from about 15 below to about 105.  Our antifreeze here comes with directions on how much to dilute with water depending upon how much antifreeze protection you want, although they have recently started marketing antifreeze that you don't have to mix with water.  That said, we here probably don't know what is really "the best" for your situation.  Water itself straight has good coolant properties, although you can buy additives to give your coolant, straight water or otherwise, better cooling characteristics, such as Water Wetter (I forget whether that is a Redline or other brand additive).  For your situation, you would be looking for a product that has some lubrication qualities (for the water pump) as well as anti-corrosion characteristics.  Our coolant change intervals used to be based largely on how long the anti-freeze characteristics held up, although I'm not sure if that is the determining factor these days.

Don't forget that antifreeze provides boil-over protection also, as well as providing lubricant qualities for the water pump, etc. Of course the first can that was pictured is also capable of providing the lubricant qualities.

[Main One]

Don't forget that antifreeze provides boil-over protection also, as well as providing lubricant qualities for the water pump, etc. Of course the first can that was pictured is also capable of providing the lubricant qualities.

I think the boil-over protection is over-hyped by the anti-freeze companies.  If you look on the label of an additive like Water Wetter, it indicates it works best with just water in regards to how cool it will keep the engine.