G-05 in a 2000 Saturn

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I have a 2000 saturn sl1 with 165k miles. The coolant in it now is the generic green and it's been in there for at least 4 years. I'm going to do a flush and refill. The recommended coolant is dexcool, but I was going to use Zerex G-05 instead. Are there any problems with doing this?

Also, has dexcool cleaned up its act since the sludge issues 10-15 years ago?
 
There are years of opinions concerning Dexcool if you Google it. The only issue I would be worried about is the green coolant you've been using most likely had silicates and so will G-05. Did GM design the water pump shaft seal to be reliable with silicate containing coolants or just Dexcool which is silicate free?
 
Originally Posted By: ZraHamilton
Also, has dexcool cleaned up its act since the sludge issues 10-15 years ago?

Sealing material incompatibility with Dex-Cool was never a Saturn S-Series problem. Neglectful owners could cause a few issues, primarily -

1. Mix OAT (Dex-Cool) with conventional green, causing "sludge".
2. Let OAT (Dex-Cool) run low in iron engines, causing internal rust. Your engine is all aluminium, so not applicable.

Do not listen to anyone who tells you there's an issue with this coolant formulation in these cars; I own a '01 SW2.

Could you run G-05? Sure. I don't know why you would though.
 
If the engine specs Dex-cool, then why not use a simple Dex-clone such as Prestone AMAM, or even WalMart's brand of Dex-clone. Cheap, easy to come by, and essentially what your car specs.

Don't get me wrong, G-05 is great stuff, but why use it if the less-expensive and more commonly-available AMAM products are closer chemically to what your engine 'wants'?
 
G05 works great in most any car, just get all the old stuff out first with lots of water. I converted my 2002 Century to G05 when i bought it from the previous owner and it was pretty nasty before, but now its pristine as i recently did the water pump on it. G05 is a great coolant.
 
Originally Posted By: ZraHamilton
I have a 2000 saturn sl1 with 165k miles. The coolant in it now is the generic green and it's been in there for at least 4 years. I'm going to do a flush and refill. The recommended coolant is dexcool, but I was going to use Zerex G-05 instead. Are there any problems with doing this?

Also, has dexcool cleaned up its act since the sludge issues 10-15 years ago?

Why not stick to Dex-Cool or Prestone/SuperTech/house brand all makes all models/universal coolant? A Saturn's engine was pretty modern by GM standards alongside the Northstar V8 of the 1990s.

Dex-Sludge affected GM's all-iron engines that also had "open" cooling systems and in the case of the 1996-2000 truck/van engines and the 3.1/3.4/3.8L car engines the intake manifold gaskets softened up upon exposure to Dex-Cool as the main corrosion inhibitors are known plasticizers - GM used a nylon gasket with silicone sealing beads that was updated to fluoropolymer molded onto a stainless steel carrier.
 
get full strength dexcool @ wally's cheap + 88 cent gallons of distilled water, flush with distilled water NOT tap water!!
 
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