Can only find the New UNIVERSAL Anti-Freeze, is it safe?

I just went shopping today for 2 gallons of anti-freeze to fill up my XJ. No where could I find good old fashioned Green Ethylene Glycol Anti-Freeze. What everyone had instead, packaged the same way, stocked in the same spot, was;

Extended Life Anti-Freeze, All Makes, All Models, Mixes with any Color Anti-Freeze, 5 Year or 150,000 Miles

In Past years I had heard all sorts of horror stories about different new anti-freezes and the disasters that could follow if you used the wrong type antifreeze in a car designed for another type or mixing the different types. The whole DexCool crap, and now Chrysler/Ford's G-05. I pretty much decided to live by the rule of replacing the anti-freeze with exactly what the car came with and what was recommended.

Except, I can't find good old fashioned regular, normal life, Ethylene Glycol. It appears that everyone has gone to an extended life version as a new standard replacement. It does appear to be Ethylene Glycol Based, because the label list the primary ingredients the same as regular anti-freeze, except added to the new stuff is:

Sodium 2-Ethyl Hexanoate and Sodium Neodecanoate

Anyone heard anything about a New Extended Life Anti-Freeze replacing old regular anti-freeze? Or anything about this new stuff itself, has there been any problems? Has anyone had any problems with this stuff?

If I can't find any info indicating otherwise, I'll probably use it, but most likely not leave it in the vehicle longer than 2 or 3 years at most. Even if it says extended life, I don't trust coolant in a 12 year vehicle lasting that long.

Just found my own answer:

http://www.gohtsn.com/article_321.shtml

REPORT OF NARB PANEL 134
June 22, 2006

Appeal of NAD (the National Advertising Division of the Council of Better Business Bureaus) Final Decision Regarding Advertising by Honeywell Consumer Products Group

Background
This case arose from a challenge filed by The Valvoline Company ("Valvoline") concerning advertising by Honeywell Consumer Products Group ("Honeywell") for its Prestone Extended Life Antifreeze/Coolant ("Prestone").

NAD found that the challenged advertising was appropriately limited to cars and light duty trucks.

However, NAD found that Honeywell's claim that Prestone can be used in vehicles of "all makes, all models" was not substantiated. NAD further found that Honeywell's claim that Prestone is compatible with any antifreeze/coolant was not substantiated. Honeywell appealed both of these findings....

....Honeywell's advertisements and product labeling claim that Prestone extended life antifreeze/coolant can be used in vehicles of "all makes, all models."

The panel determined that one reasonable consumer takeaway from the "all makes, all models" claim is that Prestone meets any required specifications established by vehicle manufacturers.

Prestone utilizes Organic Acid Technology (OAT). Ford and DaimlerChrysler vehicles of recent vintage have antifreeze/coolant that utilizes Hybrid Organic Acid Technology (HOAT), and Ford and DaimlerChrysler specifications call for HOAT antifreeze/coolants in their vehicles. Ford and DaimlerChrysler account for a significant number of vehicle sales in the United States, and their specifications requiring HOAT antifreeze/coolants, as well as their warnings to consumers about possible damage if OAT antifreeze/coolants are used, are enough to establish that the "meets manufacturer specifications" message has not been substantiated....

....[1] There are three technologies currently used for antifreeze/coolants: Inorganic Additive Technology (IAT), Organic Acid Technology (OAT), and Hybrid Organic Acid Technology (HOAT). While there are some exceptions, antifreeze/coolants with IAT are generally green in color; antifreeze/coolants with OAT are generally orange in color; and antifreeze/coolants with HOAT are generally yellow in color.

Click to expand...

http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G1-137863101.html

Honeywell's Prestone product line includes a GM-approved Dex-Cool, equivalent to factory fill. Literature accompanying "Prestone Dex-Cool Extended Life 5/150" antifreeze/coolant also recommends it for use in other domestic makes, as well as several European and Asian brands.

For several years, Prestone offered this coolant alongside their traditional, yellow antifreeze, which has been phased out. The traditional fluid has been replaced by "Prestone All-Makes All-Models Extended Life" coolant.

According to Peter Woyciesjes, Prestone's group leader for coolant research and development, the all-makes all-models coolant meets the performance specs set out by GM in terms of freeze and boil-over protection as well as erosion and corrosion inhibition and interaction with cooling system materials.

Woyciesjes and R&D Director Richard Courtney say Prestone's OAT-based all-makes all-models coolant also meets performance requirements of the Ford/Chrysler G-05 fluid. "We haven't changed our stance," says Woyciesjes. "We design antifreezes that can go into any vehicle. The only change has been that we've gone away from the old, yellow bottle to the new, extended life-type coolant."....

Valvoline's Zerex brand offers several types of automotive antifreeze. They include a conventional green coolant; Zerex ExtremeLife, a Dex-Cool-approved coolant; and Zerex G-05--approved for the Ford/Chrysler hybrid specifications. Are all three necessary? Zerex Director Dave Turcotte says, "You can really cover the waterfront today with two, maybe three products." Which two or three? Turcotte picks the Dex-Cool and G-05--and the traditional formula, if desired, for older cars.

Zerex lists automotive brands that approve their products--or that Valvoline recommends the products for--on the front of their jugs. To update from green to a newer coolant in an older vehicle, Turcotte's pick is the G-05. "It's backwards-compatible; it could replace green," he says....

Click to expand...

Check out the pdf chart at http://www.valvoline.com/zerex/automaker.asp
for what type Valvoline recomends.

73's KG4BET

Well, the chart is pretty general, especially the Domestic Manufacturers, that phased in new Anti-Freeze types over several different models over several years. They didn't just switch over to a new anti-freeze in every model at one specific date, like the chart would lead you to believe. Its best to check your Owners Manual and See what is specifically recommended for your Vehicle. (Of course that would NEVER EVER be wrong, uh, GL-5 for AX-15/AX-5 transmissions?) BUT, YES, the chart does show when each manufacturer started to phase over to new anti-freeze, individual models will vary by a couple of years.

From the best I can tell, it looks like all the manufacturers (except Xerex/Valvoline) have just made a derivative of DEX-Cool and dyed it green and is offering it as a long-life replacement for the old GREEN silicate anti-Freeze.

As well, I've seen advice if your going to retro-fit one of the 2 NEW long-life anti-freezes to a car NEVER designed for it, you should use the G-05 that Chrysler/Ford uses, that it is more compatible in protection then Dex-Cool.

I'm going to continue to search for the Zerex Original Green Anti-Freeze, I may have to go to NAPA and pay their premium for it.

What I've learned is the differences.
IAT Inorganic Additive Technology (they swap the words "Additive" and "Acid" in all the acronyms, I guess the additives are acids in some form) is the Old Green Anti-Freeze, used by everone up till the mid-90's to 2000, it uses silicates and phosphates to lay down a protective coat on all the parts to prevent corrosion/erosion. The additives get used pretty quickly maintaining this coat, thats why you have to replace it every 2 years.

OAT Organic Acid Technology is the Dex-Cool, that is Orange or Pink, used by GM, it doesn't use lay down any protective layer, instead it uses chemicals that preserve the natural protective layer the corroding parts form. Since the additives aren't used to lay down a protective coat, they don't get used up as fast as the old Anti-Freeze, thus the longer life. The 2-Ethyl Hexanoate that is part of the additives, has created some compatibility problems with gaskets and seals, as well as mixing with other anti-freezes, I "think" this is what created the horror stories you hear about Dex-Cool.

HOAT Hybrid Organic Acid Technology is the G-05, that is Yellow (Chrysler dyes their factory fill orange, but it looks red/pink in some light), it has different additives than OAT, NO 2-Ethyl Hexanoate (the lack of that chemical may be why so many people are more enthusiastic about the G-05 over Dex-Cool), and a little bit of silicates (I guess it does lay down a little bit of a protective layer, to protect aluminum and solder in extreme situations), but NO phosphates. I even seen rumors GM will be switching to this type. Zerex even recommends this over the Dex-Cool if your putting it in an older car designed for IAT Anti-Freeze.

I get mine at the local shop rite, labled Texaco on a black jug or I go to national or AA and get prestone in the yellow jug or I get a couple of gallons from the dealer in the mopar jug. To me the others, especially the 50/50 premix are a rip off. I also pick up my Distilled water from the same shopright...

Unfortunately, Most of the Green Anti-Freeze is now some version of Dex-Cool. Prestone's Green anti-freeze has the chemicals that Dex-Cool has in it. Peak, doesn't have 2-Ethyl Hexanoate, but it does have sodium benzonate, would that make it G-05?

I made ther rounds of all the auto-stores at lunch today, no one has Zerex Conventional Green, NAPA has their own generic that appears to be conventional green, and AutoZone has Texaco in the black jug, that also appears to be conventional green, but the requirement to use Deionized water worries me. I always use distilled water, but never seen a jug of conventional anti-freeze require the use of deionized water.

I buy my green from the International Truck dealership. It's the good old fashion green coolant.

Boy, after reading this hoorah you're going thru I see I had better READ the jugs before I pay for them....WTF is it with these companies, they take something simple and easy and turn it into a friggin PIA evolution... There are too many marketing people in this world, some need to get real jobs...

The only problem I have ever had with a cooling system was when I put "Long-Life" Green Anti-Freeze in a small car I had in the mid-90's. I'm wondering if it was the Dex-Cool dyed green then, like they are marketing today as Conventional Green Anti-Freeze. Or it could have been the headgasket leak, who knows, its probably the chicken or the egg, did the anti-freeze mess up the system and cause the HG leak, or did the HG leak start on its own and mess up the cooling system?

Sorry, same reply

YES, That why it's called UNIVERSAL. I have mix it with everthing, no problem. But it must be the UNIVERSAL stuff.

Bringing this thread back from the dead. I did a coolant flush and a new CSF 3 core radiator this weekend and used some Walmart Supertech "universal extended life" anti-freeze. It's yellowish in color. Should I continue to run this or get some old fashioned green stuff??

TIA,

Sean

Universal means that, exactly.

I run it in my Jeep, and use it to add to my wife's 2003 van filled with factory pink A/F. No problems the last three years, and I don't worry about having incompatible 'freezes for someone to inappropriately mix.

I really wonder why we even have the toxic green stuff at all now. It's not like freon, the new stuff works fine.