Which coolant do i use ????

[FlaAveo5]

Sorry if this is posted already. I looked and didnt see the answer I need. Ok..I want to get my coolant flushed/changed on my 2006 Aveo HB. Yes it still only has 34K miles on it, and most of the coolant was replaced, but not all of it, let alone a flush done last year, when that plastic part that hooks the upper hose to the engine broke and blew coolant all over the engine! I had the new redesigned one put in, made of metal finally, but I didnt get a coolant flush/change, they just filled up whatever was lost.

NOW I am trying to get it changed, but it turns out my 2006 has the red 'DEXCOOL' coolant in it. I think thats how it is spelled. I called Chevy and they told me THAT 'DEXCOOL' is what is in the car now, and if I ask 10 people I will get 10 different answers. So thats whats in it now.

I've seen videos on YouTube of GM engines from the late 90's, torn down to replace head gaskets and things like that, and the coolant openings are all gunked up with a red sludge. They all ran on DEXCOOL, and they call it 'REDKILL' or something like that. And sure enough 50% say to get rid of it, 50% say if you maintain your car, it runs forever. And it is a long life coolant, but most new coolants are long life coolants.

Ok, my problem/question is...should I get it flushed out as clean as possible and switch to a 'Prestone Green' type coolant? OR stay with 'DEXCOOL'? I could swear that I read on here, or someplace online, that this 'DEXCOOL' is a horrible coolant. That it doesnt even protect the coolant system at all, it gunks up, and clogs up in the system, and causes rust. Is this right?

Should I insist on switching to a 'Prestone' type coolant? My manual says to use the 'ethylene glycol' coolant, Chevy SAYS that is in DEXCOOL...so that confuses me more. See why I am so confused? What do I do? What is true and what should I put in my system? When I called Chevy, and told them the miles, they said that I probably dont need a flush/change, and to come up and they would test it. But if most of it is still the original 9.5 year old coolant, I KNOW it has to be changed, to get new protective chemicals in it, and protect that water pump!

So...can someone, anyone tell me what is true, what to do, and what NOT to do. I am VERY confused. To much information, but not enough information that I can trust. So I am asking in here, you guys know the answers. IF I had the money for that expensive 'waterless coolant' that is out there, I would put that in my car. BUT that is out. So it has to be one of the regular ones. Opinions please.

Going to have this done Monday by my mechanics, I want it done right, into the heater core etc... I dont know if I will get it right. This way if something blows up after THEY change it, I have a chance at blaming them.

**** Boy the more I dig on the internet ,the more confusing it gets. Even the lawyers that are doing class action lawsuits against GM because of this coolant, and some 'well known mechanic', who says it isnt the coolant, it is the lack of maintenance, and because people mix different coolants at the same time, or use tap water with the DEXCOOL, and that will cause rust/corrosion rapidly, these things are what also cause the sludge to build up.

They both say to keep using what was put in your car when it was made. Period. Then they talk about the lawsuit and its all about the head gasket being eaten away by the coolant, and my head gasket was replaced YEARS ago, like before my new car warranty was gone! And these newer gaskets are suppose to be made of some different material so it doesnt get 'eaten' by the coolant, and the other reason this coolant causes trouble, is when the coolant is allowed to get VERY low, it causes the sludge problem. so...see why I am going in circles?

[06T200]

On both of our 06's I flushed out ALL of the dexcool, and refilled them with the typical 50/50 water and green glycol based coolant.

I did this for a couple reasons, 1 - It was easy, 2 - I have had nothing but problems in the past with dexcool in my GM rigs, including needing head gaskets (95 Beretta, 92 Corsica) and new water pumps (99 GMC Sonoma, twice! and an 03 Malibu), on the second water pump on my GMC I got wise and used normal green coolant as I ran out of dexcool, and I had read nasty rumors about the red stuff around 2004. Sure enough that second pump ran for years with ethylene glycol before I wound up selling the truck. I have never looked back, and I have about 3 gallons of the dexcool crap in my shop as people give me the stuff for free as they don't want it. I refuse to use it at all, and never plan to. Run dexcool as long as you need for warranty purposes, then get it out of the engine and stick to the green stuff (ethylene glycol), it apparently is better on bearings and gaskets from my experience. Just my 02.

[FlaAveo5]

i appreciate it very much. As I said, and told Chevy., my manual said to use the 'Ethylene Glycol' coolant, it didnt even say to use DEXCOOL, and this rep. at Chevy said DEXCOOL is made of Ethylene Gycol with other chemicals of course,...see my confusion?

[06T200]

Flav, from my faded memory, the only difference is the green color is non-organic acids (petro based?), and the red/orange stuff uses what they call OAT "organic acid technology", it is these OAT's that eat bearings, engine blocks, and gaskets in short order. Most car makers have reformulated the additives to restore corrosion protection. But those are all very confusing, and most likely the usual marketing bull crap we see with all chemicals these days. I like to keep it simple.

[FlaAveo5]

Well except for the replies from '06T200', I got no advise from here, and the internet was even more confusing, ...but I wanted to post what happened today with my coolant flush/change. Maybe this would help others in the same place.

Ok, I got my cars cooling system flushed and the coolant changed. I brought up the fact that Chevy said I have DexCool in my Aveo, he already knew this, so I told him that everyone online is 50/50 about it being called 'DexKill', or the best thing since sliced bread. He didnt have much of an opinion. He said that since they service ALL makes of cars, they carry only 1 type of coolant, 'Global coolant'. They cant carry 20 types of coolant, it isnt efficient for a business to do that.

Chevy told me if I change over to another type of coolant, to use 'Global'. And he said it is perfect for ever car, except maybe VW's, they have a special coolant to use. He never had any problems with any other cars/customers using this Global, ...and as I was sitting there a old guy in I think it was a 2014 Audi Wagon, pulled in for a coolant change!, and he said that Audi told him that he HAD to use only Audi special coolant. And my mechanic told him the same thing.

Well it only took about 90 mins. He told me that they triple flushed the system, and I specifically asked to make sure the heater core was done, it should be anyway, but I asked to make sure. And to scrub out my reservoir tank, it was a rusty looking mess and so gross, I couldnt tell the coolant color! And also to make sure as much of the DexCool was gone. No mixing of different types.

So after it was done, he told me I got like 3 flushes done. Including a full water flush, a full coolant flush, (which they were going to leave in) ,but that was still full of DexCool and gunk, they drained it out again and flushed it again, and filled it with Global. He showed me that the reservoir tank was REMOVED and scrubbed out, and the coolant is now a yellow color. He only charged me for 1 gallon of coolant, they used up like 3 gallons. And it holds almost 2 gallons, (hell I spend so much there, I guess it was a X-Mas discount ) he said IF I EVER need to add any fluid to the system, and there is no leak of course, only add distilled water, not more Global or any other coolant. I asked about that, to be sure I dont screw it up.

So that was my coolant flush/change experience today. Hopefully it will put fresh lubricant chemicals and anti-rust chemicals in it and it will make the water pump last longer, until I can get it and the timing belt changed. I still figure that after nearly 10 years all the protective chemicals must be long gone by now, even with the large amount of coolant or the coolant change they did last year when the upper hose burst, (because of that part GM didnt design right on the engine block where the upper hose connects to the engine (and it blew out and left me stranded!)

So....thats the story. I have Global in it. Time will tell if it is going to fall apart from new coolant, or go another 20K and save me before I can afford the timing belt/water pump change. Hope this helps someone, if they have a question about changing their coolant. It took 3 full flushes to clean it out, so it was gunking up somewhere in the system. *** Before they started he called Chevy I think, and asked IF they needed to add that 'anti rust/ water pump protectant stuff' that I was asking you all about a few months ago, and he was told that no EXTRA anything was needed, if it was being flushed and changed over completely the new coolant has plenty of it in it already. BUT he called someplace and double checked. I was sitting there as he did it, I just forgot to ask who it was. Chevy or a radiator specialist. I know I ramble. Sorry, but I TRY to be thorough. Good luck to anyone else, and feel free to ask me anything about it.

[06T200]

Just to add a bit of clarity to the 'global' coolant, according to a blurb on the Peak brand website, 'global' coolant is an OAT flavor, not sure if this is the same as the orange stuff that eats bearings and gaskets, so buyer beware.

Source: PEAK Auto - Antifreeze & Coolant | PEAKauto.com

"PEAK GLOBAL® LIFETIME® 50/50 Antifreeze & Coolant features a patented, advanced organic acid technology that provides guaranteed lifetime protection for as long as you own your vehicle. Patented inhibitors provide maximum protection against damaging rust and corrosion in all automobiles and light trucks worldwide - regardless of make, model, year or original antifreeze color."

So if the pump starts leaking or a head gasket goes, I guess one could petition the brand to see if they might stand behind their fluffy "guaranteed lifetime protection" or exactly what their definition is of such statement?

[FlaAveo5]

Just to add a bit of clarity to the 'global' coolant, according to a blurb on the Peak brand website, 'global' coolant is an OAT flavor, not sure if this is the same as the orange stuff that eats bearings and gaskets, so buyer beware.

Source: PEAK Auto - Antifreeze & Coolant | PEAKauto.com

"PEAK GLOBAL® LIFETIME® 50/50 Antifreeze & Coolant features a patented, advanced organic acid technology that provides guaranteed lifetime protection for as long as you own your vehicle. Patented inhibitors provide maximum protection against damaging rust and corrosion in all automobiles and light trucks worldwide - regardless of make, model, year or original antifreeze color."

So if the pump starts leaking or a head gasket goes, I guess one could petition the brand to see if they might stand behind their fluffy "guaranteed lifetime protection" or exactly what their definition is of such statement?

Well this is a yellow coolant, dont think it is made by Peak, it is a 'long life coolant' with a 5 year/60-100K mile warranty between needed changes.