[DML] DML: 5 Year Coolant, Take II

[Mike Substelny <msubstel@xxxx>]

There were a couple of messages over the weekend about coolant,
including this question from Murray:

> Recently I saw info from someone re some new
> coolant supposedly good for 5 years! Does
> anyone know for sure about this?

I am the one who posted that message. I had read about the new coolant
at a local autoparts store, but due to a few vague phrases on the label
I suspected it might be snake oil. So I called Prestone and spoke to a
technician who assured me that the new coolant will indeed last five
years in my DeLorean without doing any damage.

> I changed other liquids at that time (two years ago)
> I did not change the coolant... [SNIP] I am very
> aware that it is good to change coolant on cars every
> year or so, howevever this coolant is a fairly bright
> blue color.

Yes, it is important to change your coolant in any car, especially one
with an aluminum engine. This has to do with preventing corrosive
deterioration, NOT with keeping the engine cool. As they explained to
me, coolant reacts chemically with the aluminum and gradually changes
its acidity. Over time this will damage your engine, radiator, heater
core, and just about everything else in your cooling system.

After a year or two, old coolant will still keep your engine cool but it
will begin to slowly ruin your aluminum.

For about $1 per gallon more, the new formula coolant is more stable and
will last much longer than the old green coolants.

To get the new coolant to last so long, it is vitally important to
remove every drop of the old stuff. You must perform a flush of the
whole system. This is the reason Prestone's new coolant is colored
orange, to prevent us consumers from accidentally mixing it with the old
green stuff. I have heard that other brands have colored their new
formula coolants in red. However, I do not know about that blue stuff
that Murray found in his car. Perhaps it is just a different brand of
the new formula?

- Mike Substelny


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