what coolant is everyone using??

alexsdkid · Post by **alexsdkid** » Tue Feb 05, 2013 6:22 am

i just bought a 2002 neon se, used to drive a 95 neon,

well i did the basic maintenance and noticed the coolant the previous owner was using was orange, looked in the trunk and found a gallon of GM- DEX-COOl . thinking it was the wrong coolant i flushed the system and replaced it with regular 50/50 prestone.

now it seems to run hotter then it did before i replaced it with reg coolant

does not over heat just noticed the valve cover and hoses hotter then before

thoughts??

what is the correct coolant to use?

sidepipe87 · Post by **sidepipe87** » Tue Feb 05, 2013 8:00 am

Chrysler HOAT long life coolant. It's pinkish orange

Post by **occasional demons** » Tue Feb 05, 2013 8:01 am

Regular coolant.

What you have is fine. Possibly the previous mix was too strong, and was not transferring heat as well. 100% water is more efficient at transferring heat from the metal to the liquid. As long as the temp gauge is at the same level, I wouldn't worry too much about it.

Adding Water Wetter to my 50/50 mix didn't really make a difference in operating temps, but the heater worked a lot better. (It worked fine before that, but after it would require less heat on the knob) The same concept for a proper mix, vs a mix that is heavy on the glycol side. Ethylene Glycol does not have the best thermal transfer.

But obviously running without it, or weak mixtures will cause worse issues.

Danteneon · Post by **Danteneon** » Tue Feb 05, 2013 8:23 am

Subaru Super Coolant. Because it is blue.

I will be switching over to EngineIce after the engine build because racecar.

alexsdkid · Post by **alexsdkid** » Tue Feb 05, 2013 10:28 am

ok the temp gauge stays the same so i"m not gonna worry about it

nerox · Post by **nerox** » Tue Feb 05, 2013 3:05 pm

BASF G05

DetergentCandy · Post by **DetergentCandy** » Tue Feb 05, 2013 4:16 pm

Last time I asked about using anything other than the gold Zerex stuff, I got yelled at O:

Themaggots · Post by **Themaggots** » Tue Feb 05, 2013 6:38 pm

HOAT Coolant. DexCool is going to destroy your coolant components.

esteinmaier · Post by **esteinmaier** » Tue Feb 05, 2013 10:05 pm

I just use the green stuff, but it's never in there very long so I'm of very little help.

Post by **occasional demons** » Tue Feb 05, 2013 10:45 pm

Have used the green stuff since 2004 without issue.

I would rather change it every few years anyways. Having seen some of the 5 year stuff after 5 years, it can get pretty nasty looking, even if it is "still good".

All that sediment is still there, accumulating.

freelancer1988 · Post by **freelancer1988** » Wed Feb 06, 2013 12:59 am

If you had dex-cool(or similar)... I hope you flushed the cooling system 100% before swapping it out. It will cause a chemical reaction that will possibly clog your heater core and gum up the rest of your cooling system. I speak from experience from fixing cars that had it mixed. If you have a brown residue under your coolant cap... or in the filler neck... then flush that bitch before it gets worse. Use radiator flush and get two things of it if it is like that.

Not trying to scare ya, but I would also replace your thermostat if it has more than 100k miles as preventative maintenance. Especially if it has been mixed.

Post by **racer12306** » Thu Feb 07, 2013 12:59 pm

I just changed out the OEM stuff last year with Zyrex G-05. Old stuff still looked good after 8 years and 94000 miles. I was quite surprised.

Post by **jonnymopar** » Thu Feb 07, 2013 6:28 pm

I did my timing belt and water pump at approximately 110k. The stock coolant looked good enough to put back in! I put new OEM coolant in and life is good at 155k miles.