Green/pink coolant
TECH Fanatic
Joined: Jul 2011
Posts: 1,074
Likes: 2
As long as you use a coolant that states it is good for all makes all models etc. I personally don't use dexcool or any long life coolant, I have seen nothing but corrosion and crap from it. Most of the time at least for GM's pink to orange color coolant is dexcool extended life coolant, green is just regular coolant.
Im doing mine this weekend... I think I had a bad PS cooler or something cause I have the oily **** all in my coolant. I bought the prestone coolant system cleaner, not the flush. I put it in Monday and I have to drive 6 hours then flush the system with water, then replace with Green Prestone.... I have read NOT to mix them because one has silicone in it and the other has some other **** that doesnt like silicone. Together they make some crazy jelly-like **** but Ive also read people do it with no consequence.... My advice is to flush and clean the system, run it for a week with water ONLY then drain and refill with 50/50 mix of the green ****....
Thread Starter
TECH Resident
Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 966
Likes: 0
From: Redondo Beach, CA
Im doing mine this weekend... I think I had a bad PS cooler or something cause I have the oily **** all in my coolant. I bought the prestone coolant system cleaner, not the flush. I put it in Monday and I have to drive 6 hours then flush the system with water, then replace with Green Prestone.... I have read NOT to mix them because one has silicone in it and the other has some other **** that doesnt like silicone. Together they make some crazy jelly-like **** but Ive also read people do it with no consequence.... My advice is to flush and clean the system, run it for a week with water ONLY then drain and refill with 50/50 mix of the green ****....
BTW, is there a specific method for bleeding the cooling system?
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All the coolants now are long life, you would be VERY hard pressed to find anything that isn't long life/extended life low silca coolant.
OEM's drive so much of the demand and they all have been using long life stuff since the 90's, you aren't going to find the old "regular" green 1 year stuff anymore.
Dexcool has NO problems as long as you never have allowed it to get hot and turn acidic. Once it does that it has to be flushed out. Dexcool isn't bad like people think, if it is treated badly and left in, that is when problems arise. Or left in too long.
OEM's drive so much of the demand and they all have been using long life stuff since the 90's, you aren't going to find the old "regular" green 1 year stuff anymore.
Dexcool has NO problems as long as you never have allowed it to get hot and turn acidic. Once it does that it has to be flushed out. Dexcool isn't bad like people think, if it is treated badly and left in, that is when problems arise. Or left in too long.
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On The Tree
Joined: Aug 2011
Posts: 118
Likes: 0
From: Raleigh, NC
If you want to see something cool, take a kitchen pot (not your wife's good one!) and then fill half with pink and half with green and heat up on the stove to about 270-280 and watch what happens!
(ps you cant eat the jello it makes!
)
(ps you cant eat the jello it makes!
) 
Flush the sumbitch real real good....then use what you want.
If you think you had power steering fluid leak into the cooling system....do all of this, especially the degreaser part. If you don't...NO WAY will you get it all out of the block and heater core. And depending how long that PS fluid has been in the cooling system.....some rubber hoses have been damaged on the inside, that **** eats them away. It ate through the seals on the inside of my plastic radiator tank that seals off the trannjy cooler line ports, I had to remove it, plug those holes, remove my factory tranny cooler and put the tank back on.
Pull the overflow tank and degreaser the hell out of it too....that stuff sticks to the bottom like sludge.
************************************************** ************
Best/easiest way to flush and get every drop of old coolant out.
****My power steering fluid leaked into my block, so it was bad, but this flush process works for normal maintenance flushes too. You might just want to skip the degreaser stages.****
-Cold engine.
-Remove radiator fill cap.
-Remove the t-stat from the housing. ((Buy a new t-stat housing gasket, they're like $3.00)) Leave the housing attached to the rubber radiator hose, just remove the 2 housing bolts and pull it away from the water pump to get to the t-stat. (2-3 minute job).
-Put t-stat housing back on. (1 minute) Just put one bolt in, no need to put them both in, there’s no pressure in the system during the flush.
-Take the entire radiator drain valve (petcock) "off" and let it drain, don't just open the valve itself. It'll drain faster with it off and that’s what you want. ((Buy a new petcock valve before starting this flush process, sometimes they break when you remove them all the way just because they're cheap plastic and they get briddle over time, they're like $2.00))
-Take a hose and stick it in the radiator fill cap, running medium to high.
-Start the engine when the radiator looks like its full again.
-Turn heat on full blast
-Let it run for about 15-20 minutes or until the water is running out the drain CLEAR.
-((If you want to, you can wait till it runs clear, "close" the drain valve, add some degreaser (I use ½ gallon of Formula 88 to clean mine) and let it run for 15 minutes, then let it sit for 15 minutes, then run it for 5 minutes, then drain it all again. Then open the drain and put the hose in for about 5 more minutes and run it all out till its CLEAR. The degreaser will help break up the crap thats stuck DEEP in the BLOCK that sits and swirls and doesn't like to come out.)) ***NO…degreaser will not hurt anything.***
-When it runs clear your entire system is clean.
-Remove the overflow reservoir from the car and clean it out real good. (I had to use gasoline to clean mine out because the sludge and grime was so thick inside. The gas broke it all down and then it flushed right out. I filled it about 1/3 up with gasoline and shook the hell out of it real vigorously, the black stuff kept coming out. I did that like 4 separate times with gasoline till no more chunks of black crap came out. Make sure the lines that go to the reservoir are also cleaned out. Or just buy a new piece of 3/8” heater hose and replace that line, 3 feet will do, then cut to fit. My sludge came from my power steering fluid leaking into my coolant system.)
-Put the t-stat back in.
-Put the overflow reservoir back in.
-Put the drain valve back in. Use the new one, what the hell.
-Put half a jug of Dexcool in the radiator. (Or if you live in very cold places, 1 to 1 ½ jugs of Dexcool)
-Fill the rest with water.
***You do not need to use distilled water, clean hose water is just fine, just make sure your city water is clean and not total crap quality.
**Bleeding the system of air:
Take the radiator cap off when its COLD, top it off, start it up and let it idle, and let it warm up till the t-stat opens. I rapidly squeeze the upper and lower radiator hose like 20 times each while its warming up to help move any air bubbles through the system and by the t-stat on the engine side. When the t-stat opens you’ll see the level drop as you squeeze the hoses, its sucking the coolant through the system. You will also see the coolant start to flow in the radiator fill neck, once it starts to flow the level should drop down a lot, IMMEDIATELY top it off with coolant/water. Then the flow will stop when the t-stat closes. Wait one more time for the t-stat to open again and start to flow, if it drops down again top it off again. Do it a 3rd time if you want to make sure. When the level does NOT drop down when the t-stat opens and coolant is flowing....you're system is free of air bubbles. I always squeeze the upper hose during the whole process to keep any air bubbles moving through. Always works like a charm. Just keep checking your temp gauge until the t-stat opens for the first time to make sure it’s not sitting there overheating from a trapped bubble. May take 10-15 minutes for the t-stat to open the first time.
If you do start to get hot while sitting there and the t-stat will not open…..you have an air bubble on the engine side of the t-stat. Shut the engine off and rapidly squeeze the upper and lower radiator hoses again. Then start the engine again and see if the t-stat will open. Sometimes you just have to work those hoses to move the air through. Even after it seems topped off after a couple cycles…check it the next time you have a cold engine…top off if needed.
.
If you think you had power steering fluid leak into the cooling system....do all of this, especially the degreaser part. If you don't...NO WAY will you get it all out of the block and heater core. And depending how long that PS fluid has been in the cooling system.....some rubber hoses have been damaged on the inside, that **** eats them away. It ate through the seals on the inside of my plastic radiator tank that seals off the trannjy cooler line ports, I had to remove it, plug those holes, remove my factory tranny cooler and put the tank back on.
Pull the overflow tank and degreaser the hell out of it too....that stuff sticks to the bottom like sludge.
************************************************** ************
Best/easiest way to flush and get every drop of old coolant out.
****My power steering fluid leaked into my block, so it was bad, but this flush process works for normal maintenance flushes too. You might just want to skip the degreaser stages.****
-Cold engine.
-Remove radiator fill cap.
-Remove the t-stat from the housing. ((Buy a new t-stat housing gasket, they're like $3.00)) Leave the housing attached to the rubber radiator hose, just remove the 2 housing bolts and pull it away from the water pump to get to the t-stat. (2-3 minute job).
-Put t-stat housing back on. (1 minute) Just put one bolt in, no need to put them both in, there’s no pressure in the system during the flush.
-Take the entire radiator drain valve (petcock) "off" and let it drain, don't just open the valve itself. It'll drain faster with it off and that’s what you want. ((Buy a new petcock valve before starting this flush process, sometimes they break when you remove them all the way just because they're cheap plastic and they get briddle over time, they're like $2.00))
-Take a hose and stick it in the radiator fill cap, running medium to high.
-Start the engine when the radiator looks like its full again.
-Turn heat on full blast
-Let it run for about 15-20 minutes or until the water is running out the drain CLEAR.
-((If you want to, you can wait till it runs clear, "close" the drain valve, add some degreaser (I use ½ gallon of Formula 88 to clean mine) and let it run for 15 minutes, then let it sit for 15 minutes, then run it for 5 minutes, then drain it all again. Then open the drain and put the hose in for about 5 more minutes and run it all out till its CLEAR. The degreaser will help break up the crap thats stuck DEEP in the BLOCK that sits and swirls and doesn't like to come out.)) ***NO…degreaser will not hurt anything.***
-When it runs clear your entire system is clean.
-Remove the overflow reservoir from the car and clean it out real good. (I had to use gasoline to clean mine out because the sludge and grime was so thick inside. The gas broke it all down and then it flushed right out. I filled it about 1/3 up with gasoline and shook the hell out of it real vigorously, the black stuff kept coming out. I did that like 4 separate times with gasoline till no more chunks of black crap came out. Make sure the lines that go to the reservoir are also cleaned out. Or just buy a new piece of 3/8” heater hose and replace that line, 3 feet will do, then cut to fit. My sludge came from my power steering fluid leaking into my coolant system.)
-Put the t-stat back in.
-Put the overflow reservoir back in.
-Put the drain valve back in. Use the new one, what the hell.
-Put half a jug of Dexcool in the radiator. (Or if you live in very cold places, 1 to 1 ½ jugs of Dexcool)
-Fill the rest with water.
***You do not need to use distilled water, clean hose water is just fine, just make sure your city water is clean and not total crap quality.
**Bleeding the system of air:
Take the radiator cap off when its COLD, top it off, start it up and let it idle, and let it warm up till the t-stat opens. I rapidly squeeze the upper and lower radiator hose like 20 times each while its warming up to help move any air bubbles through the system and by the t-stat on the engine side. When the t-stat opens you’ll see the level drop as you squeeze the hoses, its sucking the coolant through the system. You will also see the coolant start to flow in the radiator fill neck, once it starts to flow the level should drop down a lot, IMMEDIATELY top it off with coolant/water. Then the flow will stop when the t-stat closes. Wait one more time for the t-stat to open again and start to flow, if it drops down again top it off again. Do it a 3rd time if you want to make sure. When the level does NOT drop down when the t-stat opens and coolant is flowing....you're system is free of air bubbles. I always squeeze the upper hose during the whole process to keep any air bubbles moving through. Always works like a charm. Just keep checking your temp gauge until the t-stat opens for the first time to make sure it’s not sitting there overheating from a trapped bubble. May take 10-15 minutes for the t-stat to open the first time.
If you do start to get hot while sitting there and the t-stat will not open…..you have an air bubble on the engine side of the t-stat. Shut the engine off and rapidly squeeze the upper and lower radiator hoses again. Then start the engine again and see if the t-stat will open. Sometimes you just have to work those hoses to move the air through. Even after it seems topped off after a couple cycles…check it the next time you have a cold engine…top off if needed.
.
Thread Starter
TECH Resident
Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 966
Likes: 0
From: Redondo Beach, CA
Flush the sumbitch real real good....then use what you want.
If you think you had power steering fluid leak into the cooling system....do all of this, especially the degreaser part. If you don't...NO WAY will you get it all out of the block and heater core. And depending how long that PS fluid has been in the cooling system.....some rubber hoses have been damaged on the inside, that **** eats them away. It ate through the seals on the inside of my plastic radiator tank that seals off the trannjy cooler line ports, I had to remove it, plug those holes, remove my factory tranny cooler and put the tank back on.
Pull the overflow tank and degreaser the hell out of it too....that stuff sticks to the bottom like sludge.
************************************************** ************
Best/easiest way to flush and get every drop of old coolant out.
****My power steering fluid leaked into my block, so it was bad, but this flush process works for normal maintenance flushes too. You might just want to skip the degreaser stages.****
-Cold engine.
-Remove radiator fill cap.
-Remove the t-stat from the housing. ((Buy a new t-stat housing gasket, they're like $3.00)) Leave the housing attached to the rubber radiator hose, just remove the 2 housing bolts and pull it away from the water pump to get to the t-stat. (2-3 minute job).
-Put t-stat housing back on. (1 minute) Just put one bolt in, no need to put them both in, there’s no pressure in the system during the flush.
-Take the entire radiator drain valve (petcock) "off" and let it drain, don't just open the valve itself. It'll drain faster with it off and that’s what you want. ((Buy a new petcock valve before starting this flush process, sometimes they break when you remove them all the way just because they're cheap plastic and they get briddle over time, they're like $2.00))
-Take a hose and stick it in the radiator fill cap, running medium to high.
-Start the engine when the radiator looks like its full again.
-Turn heat on full blast
-Let it run for about 15-20 minutes or until the water is running out the drain CLEAR.
-((If you want to, you can wait till it runs clear, "close" the drain valve, add some degreaser (I use ½ gallon of Formula 88 to clean mine) and let it run for 15 minutes, then let it sit for 15 minutes, then run it for 5 minutes, then drain it all again. Then open the drain and put the hose in for about 5 more minutes and run it all out till its CLEAR. The degreaser will help break up the crap thats stuck DEEP in the BLOCK that sits and swirls and doesn't like to come out.)) ***NO…degreaser will not hurt anything.***
-When it runs clear your entire system is clean.
-Remove the overflow reservoir from the car and clean it out real good. (I had to use gasoline to clean mine out because the sludge and grime was so thick inside. The gas broke it all down and then it flushed right out. I filled it about 1/3 up with gasoline and shook the hell out of it real vigorously, the black stuff kept coming out. I did that like 4 separate times with gasoline till no more chunks of black crap came out. Make sure the lines that go to the reservoir are also cleaned out. Or just buy a new piece of 3/8” heater hose and replace that line, 3 feet will do, then cut to fit. My sludge came from my power steering fluid leaking into my coolant system.)
-Put the t-stat back in.
-Put the overflow reservoir back in.
-Put the drain valve back in. Use the new one, what the hell.
-Put half a jug of Dexcool in the radiator. (Or if you live in very cold places, 1 to 1 ½ jugs of Dexcool)
-Fill the rest with water.
***You do not need to use distilled water, clean hose water is just fine, just make sure your city water is clean and not total crap quality.
**Bleeding the system of air:
Take the radiator cap off when its COLD, top it off, start it up and let it idle, and let it warm up till the t-stat opens. I rapidly squeeze the upper and lower radiator hose like 20 times each while its warming up to help move any air bubbles through the system and by the t-stat on the engine side. When the t-stat opens you’ll see the level drop as you squeeze the hoses, its sucking the coolant through the system. You will also see the coolant start to flow in the radiator fill neck, once it starts to flow the level should drop down a lot, IMMEDIATELY top it off with coolant/water. Then the flow will stop when the t-stat closes. Wait one more time for the t-stat to open again and start to flow, if it drops down again top it off again. Do it a 3rd time if you want to make sure. When the level does NOT drop down when the t-stat opens and coolant is flowing....you're system is free of air bubbles. I always squeeze the upper hose during the whole process to keep any air bubbles moving through. Always works like a charm. Just keep checking your temp gauge until the t-stat opens for the first time to make sure it’s not sitting there overheating from a trapped bubble. May take 10-15 minutes for the t-stat to open the first time.
If you do start to get hot while sitting there and the t-stat will not open…..you have an air bubble on the engine side of the t-stat. Shut the engine off and rapidly squeeze the upper and lower radiator hoses again. Then start the engine again and see if the t-stat will open. Sometimes you just have to work those hoses to move the air through. Even after it seems topped off after a couple cycles…check it the next time you have a cold engine…top off if needed.
.
If you think you had power steering fluid leak into the cooling system....do all of this, especially the degreaser part. If you don't...NO WAY will you get it all out of the block and heater core. And depending how long that PS fluid has been in the cooling system.....some rubber hoses have been damaged on the inside, that **** eats them away. It ate through the seals on the inside of my plastic radiator tank that seals off the trannjy cooler line ports, I had to remove it, plug those holes, remove my factory tranny cooler and put the tank back on.
Pull the overflow tank and degreaser the hell out of it too....that stuff sticks to the bottom like sludge.
************************************************** ************
Best/easiest way to flush and get every drop of old coolant out.
****My power steering fluid leaked into my block, so it was bad, but this flush process works for normal maintenance flushes too. You might just want to skip the degreaser stages.****
-Cold engine.
-Remove radiator fill cap.
-Remove the t-stat from the housing. ((Buy a new t-stat housing gasket, they're like $3.00)) Leave the housing attached to the rubber radiator hose, just remove the 2 housing bolts and pull it away from the water pump to get to the t-stat. (2-3 minute job).
-Put t-stat housing back on. (1 minute) Just put one bolt in, no need to put them both in, there’s no pressure in the system during the flush.
-Take the entire radiator drain valve (petcock) "off" and let it drain, don't just open the valve itself. It'll drain faster with it off and that’s what you want. ((Buy a new petcock valve before starting this flush process, sometimes they break when you remove them all the way just because they're cheap plastic and they get briddle over time, they're like $2.00))
-Take a hose and stick it in the radiator fill cap, running medium to high.
-Start the engine when the radiator looks like its full again.
-Turn heat on full blast
-Let it run for about 15-20 minutes or until the water is running out the drain CLEAR.
-((If you want to, you can wait till it runs clear, "close" the drain valve, add some degreaser (I use ½ gallon of Formula 88 to clean mine) and let it run for 15 minutes, then let it sit for 15 minutes, then run it for 5 minutes, then drain it all again. Then open the drain and put the hose in for about 5 more minutes and run it all out till its CLEAR. The degreaser will help break up the crap thats stuck DEEP in the BLOCK that sits and swirls and doesn't like to come out.)) ***NO…degreaser will not hurt anything.***
-When it runs clear your entire system is clean.
-Remove the overflow reservoir from the car and clean it out real good. (I had to use gasoline to clean mine out because the sludge and grime was so thick inside. The gas broke it all down and then it flushed right out. I filled it about 1/3 up with gasoline and shook the hell out of it real vigorously, the black stuff kept coming out. I did that like 4 separate times with gasoline till no more chunks of black crap came out. Make sure the lines that go to the reservoir are also cleaned out. Or just buy a new piece of 3/8” heater hose and replace that line, 3 feet will do, then cut to fit. My sludge came from my power steering fluid leaking into my coolant system.)
-Put the t-stat back in.
-Put the overflow reservoir back in.
-Put the drain valve back in. Use the new one, what the hell.
-Put half a jug of Dexcool in the radiator. (Or if you live in very cold places, 1 to 1 ½ jugs of Dexcool)
-Fill the rest with water.
***You do not need to use distilled water, clean hose water is just fine, just make sure your city water is clean and not total crap quality.
**Bleeding the system of air:
Take the radiator cap off when its COLD, top it off, start it up and let it idle, and let it warm up till the t-stat opens. I rapidly squeeze the upper and lower radiator hose like 20 times each while its warming up to help move any air bubbles through the system and by the t-stat on the engine side. When the t-stat opens you’ll see the level drop as you squeeze the hoses, its sucking the coolant through the system. You will also see the coolant start to flow in the radiator fill neck, once it starts to flow the level should drop down a lot, IMMEDIATELY top it off with coolant/water. Then the flow will stop when the t-stat closes. Wait one more time for the t-stat to open again and start to flow, if it drops down again top it off again. Do it a 3rd time if you want to make sure. When the level does NOT drop down when the t-stat opens and coolant is flowing....you're system is free of air bubbles. I always squeeze the upper hose during the whole process to keep any air bubbles moving through. Always works like a charm. Just keep checking your temp gauge until the t-stat opens for the first time to make sure it’s not sitting there overheating from a trapped bubble. May take 10-15 minutes for the t-stat to open the first time.
If you do start to get hot while sitting there and the t-stat will not open…..you have an air bubble on the engine side of the t-stat. Shut the engine off and rapidly squeeze the upper and lower radiator hoses again. Then start the engine again and see if the t-stat will open. Sometimes you just have to work those hoses to move the air through. Even after it seems topped off after a couple cycles…check it the next time you have a cold engine…top off if needed.
.
Great info bro! Thanks! Curious, how does PS fluid leak in to the cooling system?
It can only happen if you have a factory power steering cooler - it'll be in the upper radiator hose if you have one. That particular cooler is a liquid-to-liquid cooler that uses the engine coolant to cool/warm the PS fluid. They have been known to leak (and thus cause cross-contamination of both systems), and it seems to be getting worse with all of the posts I've seen recently on the topic.
Thread Starter
TECH Resident
Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 966
Likes: 0
From: Redondo Beach, CA
It can only happen if you have a factory power steering cooler - it'll be in the upper radiator hose if you have one. That particular cooler is a liquid-to-liquid cooler that uses the engine coolant to cool/warm the PS fluid. They have been known to leak (and thus cause cross-contamination of both systems), and it seems to be getting worse with all of the posts I've seen recently on the topic.
Ahh! That explains why my PS fluid is pink!
CHACHINGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG
Looks like i've got some work this weekend
So - looks like I need to flush my cooling system and PS system.
How do I fix this cross contamination problem??? Replace the upper radiator hose? or??
Last edited by nik1703; Dec 2, 2011 at 05:24 PM.
Bypass the cooler - you can buy a replacement hose from your local auto parts store that will eliminate the cooler. You just have to tell them you need an upper radiator hose for a non-PS cooler optioned car. My local Auto Zone had to order one in, but it only took a couple of days.
The power steering line is on the low pressure return side, so just take the line that runs from the rack to the cooler off and stick it on the reservoir instead.
The power steering line is on the low pressure return side, so just take the line that runs from the rack to the cooler off and stick it on the reservoir instead.
