In the 'Major Service' thread, Disco Mike points out that Dexcool should not be used, whereas most the nice folks I've talked to on the Forum have agreed that Dexcool is the coolant to use.

I use the Prestone Dexcool OAT Prediluted stuff. Am I missing something here?

 

I am of the Dexcool is bad camp also.

It's not very tolerant of air in the system, and (at least anecdotally) seems to shorten gasket life over time compared to green/yellow coolant.

 

Interesting! I have to change some hoses anyway so I'll return the coolant and use the green/yellow coolant.

 

do a google image search on dexcool, scary stuff

 

You should also make sure you flush the entire system, motor included before changing. Mixing the 2 types creates a paste.

Run distilled water through the system a few times draining in between.

 

Wow ! That is alarming... And what's crazy to me is that Doug from from Atlantic British clearly recommends the Dexcool OAT coolant in an academy video on what coolant to use. Check it out!

 

it great if it never sees air, unfortunately that is very unlikely with a LR.

 

You may want to see if your lug wrench will still fit the nuts/covers holding the drive wheels and spare. Mine wouldn't go on most without some pretty good taps and then very difficult to remove from the nut. Not something you'd want to deal with on a roadside.

......

 

Now that you mention it, number9 , I've tried removing the front wheels but I can't due to the lugs being ridiculously tight. The lug wrench fits on there fine. But Damn those wheel lugs!

 

Here is a very informative link with information on DEX-COOL.

Dex Cool

The bottom line is DEXCOOL is not a lifetime coolant and is susceptible to electrolysis (which most people attribute to air exposure in the system). If you change it regularly and/or monitor the coolant for signs of electrolysis, you will be fine, even if you insist on using DEXCOOL. Very interesting read.

My takeaway is pretty much any coolant will be fine as long as there is no chemical incompatibility and you change it every 2 years or so.