Aluminum Radiator and Water Pump - Zinc Anode?

kramttocs wrote

Looks like Champion doesn't recommend dexcool.

https://shop.championcooling.com/articles/What-Coolant-Color-Do-I-Use

We get asked quite often what coolant we recommend for our radiators, and while we don't necessarily recommend one brand over another, we do have a type of coolant that we discourage using. We have found that the 'red' coolants, such as Dex-Cool and Toyota's Long-Life coolant, can clog our radiators, as well as promote leaks. We recommend the traditional 'green/yellow' coolant from most name-brand manufacturers, and to mix that coolant with distilled water at a 50/50 ratio.

Well then your only option would be the global gold then cause with excessive amounts of aluminum you dont want the conventional green and the fact that the radiator company recommends it is very troubling.

We have installed many champion radiators at work and we always use Dexcool in them and we've never had a clogging or a leak, the only way you will have a clogging is if you pour Dexcool in your system that has conventional green in it.  The conventional green and Dexcool wont mix and will turn to sludge.

Its why you will have to flush the system out and get every last bit of conventional green coolant out.  If you have ran conventional green then the global will be your better bet as it will mix with dexcool or conventional green with no adverse effect.

Machspeed wrote

kramttocs wrote

Since I am in the process of doing a few flushes I figured it was a good time to re-research some of this

Most of what I found was on forums but a lot of the Mustang and Corvette owners with aluminum radiators are using and recommending the green. Take it for what it's worth.

Dewitt had this to say:

The key to maximizing the life of an aluminum radiator is not so much the coolant brand as it is the water type. All coolants sold today will protect the aluminum radiators adequately however distilled water must be part of the package.

I ordered the cap with anode today but without time passing, won't be much to report on regarding it.

When I had half my engine apart this past Summer due to a coolant leak at the intake manifold, I did a lot of surfing regarding coolants. What you have posted Scott was the consensus of everything I read including the Dexcool.

Honestly you dont want distilled water, it will actually cause more issues from what I have seen first hand as well as from the research Ive done.  You are better off using purified drinking water it doesnt remove all the beneficial parts of the water like distilling does which causes issues in cooling systems in cars.

Gary Lewis wrote

This 2008 article entitled GM settles lawsuits over engine coolant problems says:

The lawsuits, first filed in April 2003, alleged that Dex-Cool degraded manifold gaskets and other engine components and sometimes formed a rusty sludge that clogged cooling systems and caused vehicles to overheat.

The article says that GM agreed to pay up to $150,000,000 but said "GM has denied any wrongdoing and said the settlement was aimed at avoiding further costs and saving time".

But apparently Dex-Cool continues to be sold?  This article from 2017 shows there were still class action law suits going on and people were trying to get a national one going against GM.  

Dexcool gets a bad wrap because people think any coolant can be added to top it off and then they complain because of sludge.  The rust complaint is because people arent changing their coolant like they should.  Antifreeze is only good for 5 years roughly before you need to change the antifreeze.

That is why Dexcool is still sold and is still used in brand new GM vehicles today.  There is nothing wrong with the Dexcool itself, its the owners that are not doing what they should be doing that results in problems.

We installed a LT1 out of a 96 impala in a '67 C10 pickup at work some 8 years ago he brought it back in for a fuel leak last week, we put dexcool in it for its aluminum content of the system including the aluminum radiator.  I checked the coolant level as part of my look over and the coolant still looked fresh with no rust color and no clogging of the radiator.

We also used dexcool in the 5.0 coyote install I did in the '82 F150 at work and that coolant is not posing a problem either.

The biggest issue with Dexcool is you can not add conventional green, it will sludge up.  You can add the global gold with no problem as it is compatible with conventional green and dexcool.

Personally, I'll do what my radiator manufacturer said and not use Dex-Cool.  And if I add water I'll do as they say and use distilled water.  I say that because they should know best what their radiators need.

Here's what I'm running:

Gary Lewis wrote

Personally, I'll do what my radiator manufacturer said and not use Dex-Cool.  And if I add water I'll do as they say and use distilled water.  I say that because they should know best what their radiators need.

Here's what I'm running:

And does your radiator manufacturer state to change your coolant at a regular interval?  If not then they are not being honest with you.

Antifreeze is only lasts so long before the inhibitors start to stop protecting your system from corrosion and you also start losing freeze/boil protection as well.  Its why with big tractor trucks they sell additive packets you can dump in your cooling system to revitalize the protection of the coolant as it would be way too expensive to do a complete coolant change on those systems.

I personally dont go by what the radiator manufacturer states, I had my radiator rebuilt by a local radiator shop they sent the core out to have a new core made and you know what they told me to run?  They told me to run a 0 pound radiator cap that it will void the warranty if I run a pressure cap on the radiator.

Why would it void the warranty?  the pressure cap is one half of the equation when it comes to boil over protection.  Raising the pressure raises the boil point of the system then the antifreeze raises it even more so.  I bought a concourse reproduction radiator cap for my Fairlane and put it on the radiator and that was some 6 years ago and I still have no issues.  These so called "recommendations" are only given to cover their rear so they can say well you voided the warranty we cant honor it.

Me personally I will be running global.  I am going to flush what I can of the conventional green out but will use global which will mix with no problems.  With how I change my coolant every 5 years I should have any remnants of conventional green coolant out of the system fairly quickly.

Also there is nothing wrong with the coolant you are running.  I just personally wouldnt run conventional green if you add aluminum heads, intake, and a radiator.  You can see how conventional green coolant eats up the aluminum timing cover where the coolant passes through.

I am glad this discussion came up. Will be looking at gold in the near future

Shell says "ShellZone^® Multi-Vehicle Extended Life Antifreeze/Coolant 50/50 is a premium quality, pre-diluted antifreeze/coolant that has been tested to be compatible with all automotive and light duty truck antifreeze/coolant products available in the market today. It does not contain any amine, borate, nitrite or phosphate. When used in a flush and refill service of the cooling system, the product will provide 5 years, or 150,000 miles of service (which ever occurs first). ShellZone^® Multi-Vehicle Extended Life Antifreeze/Coolant not only guards against freezing and boil-over, it also provides critical protection against corrosion forming on system components, including aluminium."  (Yes, it says "aluminium".  )

And the technical data sheet says it is yellow.

Gary Lewis wrote

Shell says "ShellZone^® Multi-Vehicle Extended Life Antifreeze/Coolant 50/50 is a premium quality, pre-diluted antifreeze/coolant that has been tested to be compatible with all automotive and light duty truck antifreeze/coolant products available in the market today. It does not contain any amine, borate, nitrite or phosphate. When used in a flush and refill service of the cooling system, the product will provide 5 years, or 150,000 miles of service (which ever occurs first). ShellZone^® Multi-Vehicle Extended Life Antifreeze/Coolant not only guards against freezing and boil-over, it also provides critical protection against corrosion forming on system components, including aluminium."  (Yes, it says "aluminium".  )

And the technical data sheet says it is yellow.

Yes any coolant that is multi-vehicle or compatible with any coolant is Global Gold or yellow as some companies call it.

That is what I will be using, I had to switch from prestone to peak because prestone discontinued making conventional green and only makes their conventional in a gold form.  Gold is really the better coolant I feel as it is more of a modern take on coolant and getting away from the old obsolete green coolant that hasnt been used in new cars for over 35 years.

Got this in yesterday. Fits as expected. Only complaint is being picky but the sticker is poor and I don't expect it to last very long. Still, for the price and not plugging up the drain, it's a worthwhile purchase to me.

I saw reviews about the sticker being less than ideal.  There are some anode caps on Amazon as well that look almost identical - maybe they are all just rebrands of the same cap?

https://www.amazon.com/Northern-Z17700-Sacrificial-Anode-Rad/dp/B005ASS0NQ/ref=sr_1_33?crid=10NMDG9MTLVS2&dchild=1&keywords=zinc+anode+radiator+cap&qid=1612563883&sprefix=zinc+anode+cap%2Caps%2C222&sr=8-33

I'd say that's a safe bet. Haven't put mine under pressure yet to know about any leaks.

kramttocs wrote

I'd say that's a safe bet. Haven't put mine under pressure yet to know about any leaks.

You have a pressure tester right?

I got one from a shop that was closing down as the owners were retiring, they were throwing a bunch of stuff away and I have no adapters with mine but without the adapters you can still do all pre 1989 vehicles as the radiator caps were a standardized size.

Im thinking of buying a new one how ever cause they are great for finding leaks and if your cap is rated for 15 PSI for example and you pump it up to say 20 PSI if there is no leaks then you know you are safe.  Ideally the way you are supposed to use them is pump up to the pressure rating on the cap.  I personally always go 5 PSI higher than the cap which helps makes small slow leaks a little more pronounced.

I do and will have to give it a go once I finish flushing all the Thermocure out

Has anyone tried the Prestone Command nitrite free ELC? It comes in a with and without "Cor-guard":
https://prestonecommand.com/

I use the nitrited red in my tractor, and noticed some of the other stuff on the shelf the other day. Thought I might give it a go...