Coolant
Thread Starter
Teching In
Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 8
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From: Virginia
Coolant I own a 98 Camaro SS. The car has 14 thousand original miles, and I’m looking to replace the coolant. The owner manual says 5 years or 150,000 miles. What I’m curious of is how much coolant to add? The owner manual says to add a certain coolant (can’t remember off the top of my head) at a mixture of 50/50 (50% water). My question is if the owner manual tells me to add 2 gallons (example), is that 1 gallon coolant and 1 gallon water or 2 gallons coolant and 2 gallons water?
Thanks
Thanks
Deranged Rat Fink
iTrader: (3)
Joined: Jun 2004
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From: Right here at my laptop, DUH!
You want to use DEXCOOL (orange ) coolant, if you use the green , you will end up with nasty brown mush. You can buy a premix version where you just add it and go , no mixing required.
That number is fairly arbitrary though. It could take more/less depending on how much is left in the system. Need to make sure after you drain/flush that you add as much as possible to the radiator, then keep the cap open and added once the thermostat has opened up and coolant from the radiator is pushed into the system to ensure no air bubbles.
TECH Fanatic
Joined: Apr 2005
Posts: 1,231
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From: Just This Side of Damnation
Coolant amounts are 12.3qt for automatics and 12.5qt for manuals. All quantities assume a mix, generally 50/50.
Dexcool is an adequate coolant but suffers with any contamination from air or non-distilled water. That's what makes it brown and gunky.
The 5/50,000 mile thing is wishful thinking. I wouldn't try to hold it to that as you may suffer in your stubbornness. 3/30k or even 2/20k isn't a bad bet.
If you decide to change to the green stuff, know that modern coolants are made for aluminum engines and are "compatible with any color coolant." They are easy to find and easy to change over. The plus is they don't have the same brown & gunky problem. I haven't heard much about green/gunky problems. However, it's a fair thing to say they should be changed at 2/20k or 3/30k as well.
Dexcool is an adequate coolant but suffers with any contamination from air or non-distilled water. That's what makes it brown and gunky.
The 5/50,000 mile thing is wishful thinking. I wouldn't try to hold it to that as you may suffer in your stubbornness. 3/30k or even 2/20k isn't a bad bet.
If you decide to change to the green stuff, know that modern coolants are made for aluminum engines and are "compatible with any color coolant." They are easy to find and easy to change over. The plus is they don't have the same brown & gunky problem. I haven't heard much about green/gunky problems. However, it's a fair thing to say they should be changed at 2/20k or 3/30k as well.
after working for GM for quite a while, I'd flush the dex-cool out and replace it with a good brand of green stuff. I never liked dex-cool and suffered many problems with it over the years. Never again!!
