I have a 2000 Chevrolet Malibu and recently did a complete flush and fill because I had to replace my upper and lower hoses and thermostat. 1 1/2 years ago my mechanic had me switch to green antifreeze saying how bad dexcool is. I sent my wife to get supplies for this new flush and fill wanting green 50/50 and she was told to get Peak Green 50/50 for Asian Vehicles. I have called around and get mixed info some say it is the same as green others say no. Is it safe and better for my GM vehicle and whole cooling system, hoses, radiator, water pump and engine I am looking for some honest opinions and advice. Should I flush it out AGAIN or will it be alright and safe?

 

Peak green antifreeze for Asian vehicles uses organic acid technology (OAT) corrosion inhibitors, so no it's not the same as the cheap green types of antifreeze. Dexcool is garbage, so I wouldn't use it at all. Ethylene glycol is the cheap green A/F. You could even use hybrid organic acid technology (HOAT) antifreeze if you wished to do so.

 

Is it safe and/or better considering it has extra rust and corrosion protection for my 2000 Malibu? I just did a complete flush and fill and want it to be safe or better. I also want to know if it will hurt my hoses, radiator, engine, water pump and whole cooling system. Thank you so very much sir for your quick response.

 

Yes, its better then the old ethylene glycol antifreeze was, but more expensive. However, if you change out the old ethylene glycol every three years, it really not bad at all and easy to find anywhere cheap and in a 50/50 mix so you need not add any water to the system. The additives in the ethylene glycol coolant wear down in three years, so you have to replace it. It's the Orange "Dex-Cool" that I wouldn't use at all, no matter what brand.

It reminds me of when, back in the 1970's, Zerex had an antifreeze that had a leak-stopping additive in it, which plugged up lots of radiators and damaged overheated motors, particularly a motor with an aluminum-alloy block, which were new in the US at the time. Even though it's long gone, some people my age still won't touch Zerex brand engine coolant, but there's nothing wrong with their types of antifreeze these days, other then the orange "Dex-Cool", which is manufactured by lots of companies.

Also always use distilled water if it's not a 50/50 pre-mix. Most tap water here in the USA, has too much calcium, or what we call "hard water" and it builds up in the cooling system, making heat transfer more difficult over time. I do recommend a product called "water-wetter" which makes coolant more effective by reducing surface tension and allowing engine coolant heat to transfer to the radiator for more horsepower and lower operating temperatures. Redline and Purple Royal make the best water wetter additives, IMO.

They even make an engine coolant product that does not use water at all, but you have to flush all the coolant/water out of your system before you use it. However it's extremely expensive and if your hose or something else busted, you'd have to replace it with that same product, and it's not carried in many auto parts stores.

 

Thank you so much sir again for the expedited response. We are going to look at water wetter how do we add it to out existing coolant. We do not have a radiator cap just a reservoir. How much is it and where can you purchase it? Also, just to go over it one more time. Do you in your opinion think that this Peak Asian Green 50/50 antifreeze that is in our car and has been for roughly a month and a half is safe #1 don’t want to blow a hose water pump or melt radiator and/or do damage to engine or heater core? #2 can we keep it in our car and in your opinion be safe and reliable for travel in town and out of town with a safe cooling system? We also installed a failsafe thermostat. Should we be looking for any signs that is could damaging any part of cooling system or are we good to go. #3 we check out under our hood all the time even when out ever since replacing radiator, water pump, cooling fan, hoses, belt, reservoir tank and more...to make sure we don’t have leaks or bad hoses due to being scarred from 2019 arctic blast winter were we had to replace everything it seems and from this summer when our very old coolant hose blew from time and wear. We notice that our hoses, car engine, hood prop, and hood latch fill a lot hotter to the touch, but we don’t know if it did that last summer with the cheap green cause we did not check it. Is it normal for the hoses to get extremely hot to the touch especially upper hose which also seems more pressurized and the engine to be more hotter as well. Could this also be because it’s summer and much hotter? Our temperature gage shows really good even goes a notch below half way even when engine is very hot and has running a long time and won’t climb above one notch above half without both fans kicking on low to cool it down. We also have A/C praise God in a 21 year old car. Our fans run on high very well. Our mechanic who now half butt does stuff who did not used to would not check our relays and fuses when one fan would not kick on high. Both fans kicked on low until he finally replaced the fuse that caused the problem after I road his butt to do so. We replaced this blown fuse a few months ago and all had been good with fans and A/C.

 

I think I'd find a better technician. You can find Redline or Royal Purple "Water Wetter" at most auto part stores or barring that just order some online if you have Amazon. It's' only about $10 dollars or so. Lots of the racing crowd use it, along with no antifreeze, as plain distilled water actually cools down a racing motor the best, but for a common vehicle that operates in cold temperatures, you need anti-freeze which also has additives to keep corrosion from occurring, so it's not the same as a racing motor at all, which are too often torn down and rebuilt after a race as they are operating at extremely high RPM's and that can wear a racing engine down very quickly.