I'm planning to do a coolant flush in a 2006 Dodge Grand Caravan. It calls for an HOAT coolant. From what I can find the OEM Chrysler cooland and Zerex G-05 are the only fully compatible options with the Ford OEM coolant being "very similar." Is anyone aware of any other options? Also any thoughts on the use of the original green? I've heard arguments from both sides. Is it even safe to use the original green in a system that requires HOAT coolant? The manufacturer gives very strong warnings against mixing the HOAT coolant with any other type of coolant.
2006 Grand Caravan, What coolant to use for flush
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Chryler's of your era use G-05, they simply dye it orange.
Ford's OEM coolant for the same era is G-05. Zerex has a G-05.
It's all the same stuff, nothing outside of G-05.
I would NOT use anything but G-05 because using a different antifreeze may or may not be compatible with the different metals in the engine, even though you are using it as a flush, you won't be able to get all of the "green" out.
What I'd do is get several gallons of distilled water.
drain out the chrysler antifreeze and fill up with distilled water, let it run & drain out via the draincock on the radiator (it should have one?!). If you're gonna run a flushing addtive, go for it too.
when you're satisfied and all the soap is out from the flush, drain out the distilled and pour in more distilled, let it all run through & out.
let that water drain out, then with the empty gallon containers, make your magical 50/50 potion of G-05 and distilled water.
However, what I personally do is dope up the g-05 a bit more because I know there's still water in the block I can't get out.
so I do like a 60/40 mixture just to offset.
Now you just fill up and you don't have to worry about having to much/little of water/antifreeze.
Ford's OEM coolant for the same era is G-05. Zerex has a G-05.
It's all the same stuff, nothing outside of G-05.
I would NOT use anything but G-05 because using a different antifreeze may or may not be compatible with the different metals in the engine, even though you are using it as a flush, you won't be able to get all of the "green" out.
What I'd do is get several gallons of distilled water.
drain out the chrysler antifreeze and fill up with distilled water, let it run & drain out via the draincock on the radiator (it should have one?!). If you're gonna run a flushing addtive, go for it too.
when you're satisfied and all the soap is out from the flush, drain out the distilled and pour in more distilled, let it all run through & out.
let that water drain out, then with the empty gallon containers, make your magical 50/50 potion of G-05 and distilled water.
However, what I personally do is dope up the g-05 a bit more because I know there's still water in the block I can't get out.
so I do like a 60/40 mixture just to offset.
Now you just fill up and you don't have to worry about having to much/little of water/antifreeze.
Last winter I used G-05 in my wifes 2006 (Sig, 60K miles) ) purchased from Amazon
Curious if you have changed your Water Pump yet, these have a tendency to fail relatively early. My wife's was weeping slightly and given the cost of the coolant I replaced it (and because I'm a Bitoger had to go one step further and do the belt, tensioner and idler pulley)
Curious if you have changed your Water Pump yet, these have a tendency to fail relatively early. My wife's was weeping slightly and given the cost of the coolant I replaced it (and because I'm a Bitoger had to go one step further and do the belt, tensioner and idler pulley)
Originally Posted By: EricF
then with the empty gallon containers, make your magical 50/50 potion of G-05 and distilled water. However, what I personally do is dope up the g-05 a bit more because I know there's still water in the block I can't get out.
so I do like a 60/40 mixture just to offset.
Now you just fill up and you don't have to worry about having to much/little of water/antifreeze.
Not necessary to go through all that rigamarole.
Simply look up the cooling system capacity in the owners manual, divide by half, add that amount of coolant to the drained system and top off as needed with water.
then with the empty gallon containers, make your magical 50/50 potion of G-05 and distilled water. However, what I personally do is dope up the g-05 a bit more because I know there's still water in the block I can't get out.
so I do like a 60/40 mixture just to offset.
Now you just fill up and you don't have to worry about having to much/little of water/antifreeze.
Not necessary to go through all that rigamarole.
Simply look up the cooling system capacity in the owners manual, divide by half, add that amount of coolant to the drained system and top off as needed with water.
Originally Posted By: Rock_Hudstone
Simply look up the cooling system capacity in the owners manual, divide by half, add that amount of coolant to the drained system and top off as needed with water.
Yeah that's the way I've done it in the past. Drain as much water out as possible then add 1/2 system capacity of straight coolant and top off with water. Then drive around a bit to mix it up.
Simply look up the cooling system capacity in the owners manual, divide by half, add that amount of coolant to the drained system and top off as needed with water.
Yeah that's the way I've done it in the past. Drain as much water out as possible then add 1/2 system capacity of straight coolant and top off with water. Then drive around a bit to mix it up.
Originally Posted By: EricF
I would NOT use anything but G-05...
Yeah that's pretty much the way I was leaning. Now I've just have to find a place in town that carries it. NAPA used to be the only place so I was checking their web site today and it didn't look like the local store has it anymore. I'm hoping the site was just wrong. I think my only other option I have is the dealership.
I would NOT use anything but G-05...
Yeah that's pretty much the way I was leaning. Now I've just have to find a place in town that carries it. NAPA used to be the only place so I was checking their web site today and it didn't look like the local store has it anymore. I'm hoping the site was just wrong. I think my only other option I have is the dealership.
Availability of G-05 varies by region. Up here, Car Quest carries it as well as a number of the smaller chains (Auto Value, etc.).
Good luck!
Good luck!
Hello, That's actually funny. SO MANY cars use G-05 you'd think it would be available everywhere. As it is, most any place will get it "from the warehouse" for you. Might take a day or two.
Want to hear a conundrum? G-05 is the same as Volvo blue coolant. My V70's coolant is due for a change and had the thought that a prospective buyer might feel more comfortable seeing familiar dark blue in the reservoir. However, I've already bought the G-05. Kira
Want to hear a conundrum? G-05 is the same as Volvo blue coolant. My V70's coolant is due for a change and had the thought that a prospective buyer might feel more comfortable seeing familiar dark blue in the reservoir. However, I've already bought the G-05. Kira
Why are you flushing it? Do you have an issue? I know of no waterpump issues with the 3.3/3.8 engines. My 2000 GC 3.3 has original waterpump with 153K miles. I changed AF at 50K. Used both Mopar and Napa G05. Not much difference in price.
I bought 4 gal of distilled water and 2 gal of AF. Drained rad, filled with distilled. ran for 1/2 hour, (quick trip to the super mart). drained again and filled with straight AF for 1/2 the system capacity. Topped up with distilled. Made a 50/50 mix with leftover AF for top ups.
On 2nd. thought, I did lose waterpumps on 2 94 GC's, (my beaters), at about 209K, so maybe checking wp is a good idea.
Wayne
I bought 4 gal of distilled water and 2 gal of AF. Drained rad, filled with distilled. ran for 1/2 hour, (quick trip to the super mart). drained again and filled with straight AF for 1/2 the system capacity. Topped up with distilled. Made a 50/50 mix with leftover AF for top ups.
On 2nd. thought, I did lose waterpumps on 2 94 GC's, (my beaters), at about 209K, so maybe checking wp is a good idea.
Wayne
These chryslers have extremely long lived water pumps. I've never had another brand last like that. I've read that 150k is typical.
Back OT--- I drained and flushed our GC 3.8 with a long life universal of some sort 2 years ago. it's a sort of fluorescent green in color. haven't noticed any problems. ?? I figured it was ok if completely flushed, and LL. Not silicate-based...
Back OT--- I drained and flushed our GC 3.8 with a long life universal of some sort 2 years ago. it's a sort of fluorescent green in color. haven't noticed any problems. ?? I figured it was ok if completely flushed, and LL. Not silicate-based...
Well it looks like the NAPA does have the G-05. Not sure what was going on the last time I checked it. Must have been a website malfunction. It's a few dollars cheaper than from the dealership so I'll probably go with that.
I was under it tonight for an oil change and was looking everything over. The drain plugs on the block look a little rusty so I'm a little concerned about getting them open. It seems like everyone is suggesting a process of drain, run distilled water, drain, refill with 50/50 cooland/distilled water. I'm wondering if in the event that I'm unable to get the block drains open if it will cause any problem if I just flush it out with a water hose, drain what I can, fill with distilled water, run it, drain and refill. Seems like I've read some things about chemical in hard water possibly causing problems for these systems so I'm a little hesitant to do that, but wondering if it will work as a last resort.
I was under it tonight for an oil change and was looking everything over. The drain plugs on the block look a little rusty so I'm a little concerned about getting them open. It seems like everyone is suggesting a process of drain, run distilled water, drain, refill with 50/50 cooland/distilled water. I'm wondering if in the event that I'm unable to get the block drains open if it will cause any problem if I just flush it out with a water hose, drain what I can, fill with distilled water, run it, drain and refill. Seems like I've read some things about chemical in hard water possibly causing problems for these systems so I'm a little hesitant to do that, but wondering if it will work as a last resort.
Forget about the block drains, not much liquid left in the block. The heater cores are the place with lots of water, including the rear one. If you have universal in it now, you might want to do the drain/flush cycle 3 times, just depends on how much color you can see after the 2nd. drain. After 2 cycles, it should be pretty much clean. Speaking of green af, I have no idea what the early minis used for af. I have 2 89's 2 94's and a 95 parts donor, all high mileage and all had green af in when I bought them. I just used the all-in-one af and changed it when I thought about it. YMMV
Wayne
Wayne
Originally Posted By: Oldmoparguy1
Forget about the block drains, not much liquid left in the block. The heater cores are the place with lots of water, including the rear one. If you have universal in it now, you might want to do the drain/flush cycle 3 times
Good point makes sense that the heater cores would be the main source of undrainable coolant. Fortunately, the previous owner did all his servicing at the dealership so I'm pretty sure the orange coolant it has in it now is the original Mopar coolant. Thus, I'm not too worried about incompatibility between existing coolant and the G-05 I plan to refill with.
Forget about the block drains, not much liquid left in the block. The heater cores are the place with lots of water, including the rear one. If you have universal in it now, you might want to do the drain/flush cycle 3 times
Good point makes sense that the heater cores would be the main source of undrainable coolant. Fortunately, the previous owner did all his servicing at the dealership so I'm pretty sure the orange coolant it has in it now is the original Mopar coolant. Thus, I'm not too worried about incompatibility between existing coolant and the G-05 I plan to refill with.
Originally Posted By: DanielinTheLions
I was under it tonight for an oil change and was looking everything over. The drain plugs on the block look a little rusty
I did a coolant flush on my 2000 GC recently. I was tempted to remove the block drain plug but thought better of it. Instead, I popped off the coolant bypass hose and back flushed the system from there with a garden hose, worked great.
However, the o-ring on the radiator drain plug split in two, fortunately I had a spare o-ring on hand in the correct size.
Refilled with Peak Green coolant and no regrets.
I was under it tonight for an oil change and was looking everything over. The drain plugs on the block look a little rusty
I did a coolant flush on my 2000 GC recently. I was tempted to remove the block drain plug but thought better of it. Instead, I popped off the coolant bypass hose and back flushed the system from there with a garden hose, worked great.
However, the o-ring on the radiator drain plug split in two, fortunately I had a spare o-ring on hand in the correct size.
Refilled with Peak Green coolant and no regrets.
Yeah I put a socket on the block drain plug, wouldn't budge so I decided it wasn't worth to risk. Just ran distilled through it twice and called it good.
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