Antifreeze substitute

[Richard N.]

My '66 L36 has lost a little antifreeze. The 66 manual say to use GM 1899-M It's green. Is there a safe substitute. The antifreeze I have in my garage for one of my newer cars is Preston ethylene glycol kind of orange/yellow. Is it safe to mix??
Thanks,
Rick

[David M.]

Re: Antifreeze substitute

Use the standard green premixed old school coolant. Premixed is better as the water is properly filtered to remove minerals and its already at 50/50.
By the way your cooling system should be thoroughly flushed every 5...10 years max.

Never mix coolant types, pink, orange, gold, blue, organic et al. Never use tap water.
The additive package/rust inhibitor/lubrication gets depleted over time and is critical for longevity of the system.

Get the PH strips and dip the tank to see where the PH is. If its going acidic change it. The additives in all coolants eventually break down. Most people ignore coolant like brake fluid until there is a failure.

[Duke W.]

Re: Antifreeze substitute

Corvettes need antifreeze with a corrosion inhibitor package that protects solder. Many modern types especially OAT types like Dexcool may not provide best solder protection because modern cars don't have soldered cooling syste components. HOAT types like Zerex G-05 do and I've recommended it for years.

There is a proliferation of antifreeze types. Most are ethylene glycol based, and the difference is in the corrosion inhibitor package technology, but packaging does not always make clear what technology the product is.

I always buy full strength and mix 50-60 percent with distilled water. That ensures that you don't introduce any undesirable chemicals into the cooling system.

You might be able to find more on the Prestone Web site and I recall that the Valvoline Web site has some good information on all the different antifreeze types. I think Prestone was originally a Dow Chemical brand, but it was sold years ago and I don't know who the current manufacturer is.

Duke

[Larry M.]

Re: Antifreeze substitute

Corvettes need antifreeze with a corrosion inhibitor package that protects solder. Many modern types especially OAT types like Dexcool may not provide best solder protection because modern cars don't have soldered cooling syste components. HOAT types like Zerex G-05 do and I've recommended it for years.

There is a proliferation of antifreeze types. Most are ethylene glycol based, and the difference is in the corrosion inhibitor package technology, but packaging does not always make clear what technology the product is.

I always buy full strength and mix 50-60 percent with distilled water. That ensures that you don't introduce any undesirable chemicals into the cooling system.

You might be able to find more on the Prestone Web site and I recall that the Valvoline Web site has some good information on all the different antifreeze types. I think Prestone was originally a Dow Chemical brand, but it was sold years ago and I don't know who the current manufacturer is.

Duke

Prestone was always a UNION CARBIDE brand, until it was sold to First Brands (some ex-Carbide employees). Dow purchased Union Carbide around year 2000, years after the Prestone Brand had been sold.

I worked and retired from Union Carbide and made the antifreeze for years.

OP should get Zerex G-05 and simply top off what he has.............although a good engine flush and refill with G-05 is best (as you recommended). Agree that anything "green" is not nearly as good as G-05.

Larry

[Joe L.]

Re: Antifreeze substitute

Corvettes need antifreeze with a corrosion inhibitor package that protects solder. Many modern types especially OAT types like Dexcool may not provide best solder protection because modern cars don't have soldered cooling syste components. HOAT types like Zerex G-05 do and I've recommended it for years.

There is a proliferation of antifreeze types. Most are ethylene glycol based, and the difference is in the corrosion inhibitor package technology, but packaging does not always make clear what technology the product is.

I always buy full strength and mix 50-60 percent with distilled water. That ensures that you don't introduce any undesirable chemicals into the cooling system.

You might be able to find more on the Prestone Web site and I recall that the Valvoline Web site has some good information on all the different antifreeze types. I think Prestone was originally a Dow Chemical brand, but it was sold years ago and I don't know who the current manufacturer is.

Duke

Duke------


...and Zerex G-05 also meets GM standard 1899-M.

[Richard N.]

Re: Antifreeze substitute

David,

Thank you for the tip about the strips. I did get the strips and found I was ok. I did find the green premixed at Menards for only about $8.00 to top off with.
Regards,
Rick N

[Paul Y.]

Re: Antifreeze substitute

Corvettes need antifreeze with a corrosion inhibitor package that protects solder. Many modern types especially OAT types like Dexcool may not provide best solder protection because modern cars don't have soldered cooling syste components. HOAT types like Zerex G-05 do and I've recommended it for years.

There is a proliferation of antifreeze types. Most are ethylene glycol based, and the difference is in the corrosion inhibitor package technology, but packaging does not always make clear what technology the product is.

I always buy full strength and mix 50-60 percent with distilled water. That ensures that you don't introduce any undesirable chemicals into the cooling system.

You might be able to find more on the Prestone Web site and I recall that the Valvoline Web site has some good information on all the different antifreeze types. I think Prestone was originally a Dow Chemical brand, but it was sold years ago and I don't know who the current manufacturer is.

Duke

I have followed Duke's advice regarding G-05 and have had stellar results with all of my vintage cooling systems. Thank you Duke.

[Frank D.]

Re: Antifreeze substitute

Yes G-05 and I use pre-mixed; Tom DeWitt the number one make of reproduction radiators recommends this: