Safety kleen Khameleon Antifreeze

[johnachak]

Anyone used this? I did a search and I haven't had much luck.
The Firestone service advisor recommended flushing out the Dex-Cool and replacing it with this. He cited many failures with Dex-Cool. Any ideas?
The service is due and is reasonable, $89.00.

OOPS, 2007 Chevy Cobalt, I never go more than 4 years, no matter what coolant is in there.

 

[tommygunn]

I've heard a couple failures of Dex Cool just from reading this site

But bottom line, I can't see the reasoning for having a "specific" antifreeze if you change it regularly anyhow, at least every 2-3 years.

But no, never have heard of Safety Kleen Khameleon Antifreeze.....I do know Safety Kleen is one of those "recyclers" who typically pick up old/used antifreeze and/or oil from mechanic shops, to be re-processed/re-refined, to spring the life back to it....


I'd ask them what they constitute as a "flush" though - many shops will "sell" you a flush by all they do is drain the old coolant/antifreeze, and put in new stuff........no use of any solvents, or even a "plain" run with straight distilled water to help get the other possible junk out of the system.....

 

[sciphi]

New-formula Dex-Cool is supposed to have majorly reduced the failures. As long as the coolant is flushed out thoroughly, I'd have no problems running it.

Although for $89 I'd bet it's just a radiator drain/fill with the new stuff.

 

[Hallmark]

I Googled Safety Kleen Coolants and found mucho links...no lack of info on that product.

 

[johnachak]

Originally Posted By: Hallmark
I Googled Safety Kleen Coolants and found mucho links...no lack of info on that product.


I meant on this site...

 

[The_Eric]

Dex shouldn't be problematic in either of the two GM vehicles in your sig. Unless mileage is a factor, you've got a touch of time left on the Cobalt before it's due. Now would actually be a good time for a drain and fill.

 

[Silver_civic]

In my 4 years at my work we have used nothing but the safety kleen Khameleon anti freeze in all of our fleet vehicles without incident or any problems at all.

 

[SteveSRT8]

Finally someone with some experience and not just knocking Dex Cool. Thanks, Silver Civic!

I'm always interested in anything that simplifies my life. I keep 3 different kinds of coolant around, and I'm getting old and forgetful!

 

[KenO]

You couldn't pay me to own DexCool in ANYTHING. I've seen far too many failures (eaten-away water pump impellers for one), and I'm willing to bet a huge chunk of money that DexCool is the root cause of the intake manifold gasket failures. If I owned a car with DexCool I'd flush it out immediately and replace with a traditional Ethelyne Glycol anti-freeze like Peak LL or G-05.

 

[Silver_civic]

Good morning SteveSrt8, and thank you for the compliment. Yes gentlemen, at my work which is a fleet where we have VW, Volvo, GM, FORD, FIAT, CHRYSLER, HONDA, NISSAN, a few Mercedes, etc we have used the Khameleon anti freeze. No problems either. My friend who is older and been a mechanic for over 34 yrs has always owned gm vehicles says he has never had a problem when using the dex cool also. He told me that its used in GM's because he researched and found that the green anti freeze would etch aluminum and possibly eat into it. When I did a cylinder head job on a 09' cobalt a while ago, that vehicle got a flush of its anti freeze and Safety Kleen Khameleon put into it with a new thermostat and clean out of the overflow bottle. No problems afterwards I should mention.

 

[SteveSRT8]

as a GM fleet owner who routinely runs the vehicles to VERY high mileage in a VERY abusive duty cycle we also have never experienced any adverse reactions from Dex Cool.

It's one of those things, we're just lucky I guess.

 

[Silver_civic]

Sounds to me like there are a few to many haters and band wagoners. I have researched and some of the problems I saw and heard about with DEX COOL were where air got into the cooling system in the first place.


adam v

 

[38sho]

Dexcool is decent stuff.....

Ken0 for every one or two or even 15 problems you've seen with cars with coolant system issues and dexcool was in them... there are tens of millions of cars out there with dexcool in them and no problems..... don't blame the coolant, blame the owners or the mechanic who takes care of the car.....

also if you see cooling systems with sludge all in them all the time like your seem to imply.... surely you've seen the same stuff on MORE cars that didn't have dexcool in them.....

think GM are the only cars that ever had a cooling system sludge up?

 

[The_Eric]

Originally Posted By: KenO
You couldn't pay me to own DexCool in ANYTHING. I've seen far too many failures (eaten-away water pump impellers for one), and I'm willing to bet a huge chunk of money that DexCool is the root cause of the intake manifold gasket failures. If I owned a car with DexCool I'd flush it out immediately and replace with a traditional Ethelyne Glycol anti-freeze like Peak LL or G-05.


DexCool doesn't eat water pump impellers. Cavitation does. What causes cavitation? Poor impeller design, flow restrictions, insufficient cooling system pressure (bad rad cap) and low coolant levels are a few to start with. Coincidentally low coolant levels and bad rad caps are a very bad thing to have in a DexCool system and will cause the sludge so many crow and caw about.

As for the IMG failures that have plagued GM, it happens in the old green systems too. I've replaced just as many, if not more IMGs in green filled systems as DexCool filled systems. Heck, even my wife's car needed them replaced and it's always taken care of. However, I will say that I'm pretty sure that there is a certain incompatibility with the 2EHA in Dex and some of the gasket frames.


Originally Posted By: Silver_civic
Good morning SteveSrt8, and thank you for the compliment. Yes gentlemen, at my work which is a fleet where we have VW, Volvo, GM, FORD, FIAT, CHRYSLER, HONDA, NISSAN, a few Mercedes, etc we have used the Khameleon anti freeze. No problems either. My friend who is older and been a mechanic for over 34 yrs has always owned gm vehicles says he has never had a problem when using the dex cool also. He told me that its used in GM's because he researched and found that the green anti freeze would etch aluminum and possibly eat into it. When I did a cylinder head job on a 09' cobalt a while ago, that vehicle got a flush of its anti freeze and Safety Kleen Khameleon put into it with a new thermostat and clean out of the overflow bottle. No problems afterwards I should mention.


This I believe. I've been into a few cars that were filled with green and around the port openings (at IMG), there was heavy pitting along with this white/tan gunk. Now mind you, this was in a very poorly maintained car and it was likely the factory fill, making it 15+ years old, but I think that's partly the reasoning behind GM's decision to switch to a long life coolant.

 

[bullwinkle]

We had a bunch of 5.7 GMC & Chevy vans in the late '90s and early '00s, probably half of them were losing antifreeze on a consistent basis by the time we sold them at 5 yrs./around 150-200K, and we did lose a motor on one out of warranty around 60K for no apparent reason (thrown rod, maintained regularly). I'm convinced that GM just got too cheap when the Vortec motors came out-the plastic gaskets would have failed with any AF.

 

[johnachak]

Thank you all for the replies. I appreciate the time and info. FYI. Since the car is still under 5yr, 100,000 warranty and Safety Kleen doesn't say it maintains the GM warranty. I'll go with Dex-cool till the warranty is done. Then I'll have no problem trying the Khameleon. Thanks again.

 

[Silver_civic]

Look at it this way, at my work, the GM man told me and the other 2 mechanics Safety Kleen Khameleon anti freeze was perfectly fine, and I am sticking with his word on this one. Dont think the guy is a liar.


Adam

 

[wapacz]

well from the msds its just a hoat, so it would be in the same grouping as g05 and there are plenty people around here that have run that in gm vehicles with no problems.