Dexcool vs. Dexclone

[pbm]

I am a believer in totally flushing a cooling system if changing from one type coolant to another....ie: Dexcool to HOAT.
I don't think this is necessary when going from Dexcool to an AMAM Dexclone because their chemistries are very similar.
What is BITOG's opinion on this?

 

[ripcord]

My opinion would change based on how hard it is to change the heater core.

 

[pbm]

My opinion would change based on how hard it is to change the heater core.

I assume this means that you think they are different enough to possibly cause issues?

 

[ripcord]

I just mean that if a particular car requires you to disassemble the whole interior of the car to replace the heater core, then I'm going to be more particular about maintaining the cooling system. I've junked a car before because of a leaking heater core after a $3K repair estimate. I don't know for sure if having some Dexcool and Prestone All Makes All Models mixed together reduces the corrosion protection, but if it was a nice car that I wanted to keep a long time, then I probably would spend a little extra effort on flushing.

 

[pbm]

I gotcha Ripcord...makes sense...

 

[Snagglefoot]

I think totally flushing your coolant system is a good idea anytime you change coolant, whether you are changing the type or not. I don’t mean a garden hose flush , but drain the rad, fill with water, run, drain the rad, fill with water, run, drain the rad, then add concentrated coolant. The residual water in the block ( with a small amount of residual coolant) and the concentrated coolant in the rad and coolant tank combine and I end up with about 50% coolant doing it that way with the vehicles I have. I’ve done this every five years on a 20 year old car and still have the original rad and heater core.

Regarding Dexcool, certainly gong to Prestone Dexcool is no problem and I understand that Prestone’s universal coolant would be no problem.

 

[Jake_J]

I just mean that if a particular car requires you to disassemble the whole interior of the car to replace the heater core, then I'm going to be more particular about maintaining the cooling system. I've junked a car before because of a leaking heater core after a $3K repair estimate. I don't know for sure if having some Dexcool and Prestone All Makes All Models mixed together reduces the corrosion protection, but if it was a nice car that I wanted to keep a long time, then I probably would spend a little extra effort on flushing.

Nearly every modern and even semi modern car and truck made in the last 25 years requires that you remove the dash to replace the heater core. There might be some exceptions but it's the way cars and trucks are now built, if you're driving a 67 F-150 it's not the case. Even my very old 82 300D requires taking out the dash to replace the heater core. There's really no actual real difference between Dexcool and and Dexclone, some Dexclones are just Dexcool without the name and licensing fees to GM. Peak Cool is a good example. The AMAM Dexclones are just Dexcool dyed a different color, there's no way you could damage a heater core by mixing Dexcool and a Dexclone. It's like saying mixing Coca Cola and Pepsi is dangerous, they're both similarly flavoured carbonated sugar water.