Long Life Anti-Freeze

[Arnold]

Was just chatting..picking the brains at a very busy 5 bay local garage I deal with. Long life anti-freeze is lasting about 2 years before the silica in it starts coming out. They do not see problems at the 2 year point..but AFTER that..the silica is loose in the system. Lots of problems and lots of $ at about the 4 year point. If the mnfr. has called for it to be changed during warranty..and it has not been done=no warranty help there. Aftermarket warranty companies are starting to want to see that it has been done. They find it in lots of vehicles when doing anything with the cooling system. Sensors get it in them..particularly diesel engines..egr coolers..tubes get plugged up..

[kb426]

Orange or green?

[Arnold]

Orange or green?

  Sorry KB ..I was not really paying attention to the really specific problems associated with the bazillion types and colors of anti-freeze available now as he was talking. He was talking about "long life". I am not being rude or a smart *..I do remember hearing about newer anti-freeze going bad and causing sensor related problems years ago. I personally do not know a lot about anti-freeze..other than the last time I did any digging about it online pretty much all I could find was article after article about how anti-freeze cannot go bad. I remember when all I did was change bad 350 Chev. engines for a living..no other engines. At some point I had a real run of engine after engine..bad anti freeze related damage. The business I took cores to was not going to pay me for the full cores as several of the blocks were ruined by head gasket leaks..that turned bad anti-freeze into some sort of torch that ate into the block bore right below the deck
 That conversation was just another..that had morphed from manufacturers  recommendations  about ridiculously long intervals for maintenance. At that second they had just changed the plugs in my better half's vehicle (within mnfr's specs.). Because of a "random misfire" code. Read: Plugs are pretty much burned off  In the middle of that conversation was another customer talking about Mobil 1 25,000k oil change interval. He had a 5.4 Ford that he changed the oil every 4-5k. At 1.6 million the frame in the truck cracked..so he got another truck  

  My world..oil gets changed at proper intervals,ditto for anti-freeze,etc.,
  Spark plugs? I have NEVER driven my better half's vehicle..

[Crosley.In.AZ]

I use silicate free antifreeze.  Phosphate free too as I recall.

When I bought my 2006 Silverado Chevy new  in 2005... it was less than 1 year , I removed the Dexcool antifreeze. Flushed the system with distilled water.  Use Prestone long life , change it every 2 - 3 yrs.  I change the brake fluid every 2 yrs too.

When I was in the general repair field.  My experience was few people followed any schedule for maintenance of a vehicle. Maybe  Oil changes.

My Silverado just turned over 88k miles this morning.

[Ohio Blue Tip]

O.K. I have a 2014 GMC 5.3 truck that I bought new, so should I be changing coolant ?  What type would be the best?  This truck needs to last a lot more years.

[Arnold]

O.K. I have a 2014 GMC 5.3 truck that I bought new, so should I be changing coolant ?  What type would be the best?  This truck needs to last a lot more years.

 If it was my truck I would just pull off the lower rad hose,refill it with whatever was put in there new. is in there. This can do no harm.I am not a fan of flushing stuff..anything really unless it simply has to be done. My .02.

[UGLY OLDS]

I too favor "Drain & Fill" over flushing ....We saw way,way too many problems caused by "flushing"....Unless there is a dedicated problem, ( Orange Muck, overheating,etc.), flushing usually does more harm than good .....
The same goes for automatic transmissions ....( Don't Shoot, Tony  :!:     ) ....

Drain as much of the old coolant/fluid as possible & re-fill with new coolant/fluid of the same type ......

Bob..

[58 Yeoman]

Ouch! I can't remember the last time I changed antifreeze. I sold the 05 Ranger with 130xxx miles with the original and it was still green and looked good. Also have a '12 Ford Escape...guess I should think about it, huh?

[enjenjo]

I only change antifreeze when it gets cloudy, or gets contaminated. When I test it, every fall, in addition to checking the temperature protection, I check the PH, and add inhibitor.  If the PH is too far off, I drain and refill it.

As long as the drained antifreeze has good temperature protection, I save it to put in the lawn roller, or a mouse trap.

[Carnut]

Unoh, should I mention that my 02 PT Cruiser still has the original factory anti freeze in it?

[40 Chev Coupe]

Might be a stupid question, but how do you dispose of the old anti freeze?

[58 Yeoman]

Might be a stupid question, but how do you dispose of the old anti freeze?

Use it in your 5 gallon mouse traps. Can you leave it in the sun, and it will evaporate? I don't have any recycle centers here for AF.

[Harry]

Might be a stupid question, but how do you dispose of the old anti freeze?

I don't know about the rest of Canada, but out here in BC, we are more environment friendly.

https://www.rcbc.ca/resources/faqs/automotive2

[enjenjo]

Might be a stupid question, but how do you dispose of the old anti freeze?

Use it in your 5 gallon mouse traps. Can you leave it in the sun, and it will evaporate? I don't have any recycle centers here for AF.

I just built a couple of them.

[58 Yeoman]

My two 5 gallon traps have been empty all year. They must have moved out.

Let's all send our used antifreeze to Harry, and let him dispose of it.