By mattb1 on Sunday, July 01, 2001 - 08:57 am: Edit

Somebody mentioned that the correct coolant for my Disco 98' is red or orange. I checked it and it is the regular green color. Should I be concerned?

By Greg on Sunday, July 01, 2001 - 09:04 am: Edit

I,ve got a 97 and it is green. But I'm in Tulsa and the temp. might be different where you are.

By Paul L on Sunday, July 01, 2001 - 09:07 am: Edit

They're just different brands. I had the orange in mine (I think it was the fancy Prestone kind). Anyways, I drained it to install the water pump (and just to change it out) and put the green stuff in......

By Axel Haakonsen (Axel) on Sunday, July 01, 2001 - 04:56 pm: Edit

Paul is correct, different brands have different color. Mine has green coolant in it now, but I have a couple of gallons of the orange Prestone Nascar stuff waiting to go in as soon as we get some better weather around here...

By Mike B. on Sunday, July 01, 2001 - 05:49 pm: Edit

I have always heard that the Disco is very picky about which coolant to use. I know the owners manual is very descriptive about the requirements for antifreeze. I've looked at all of the major brands and I could not find a single one that met all of the requirements. So, I have stayed with the LR genuine product. I remember talking to the dealership about the antifreeze and it seems they said that internal corrosion is a real problem for this engine. It's one of those slow problems that gets you with time.

Thanks,
Mike B.

By Bill Bettridge (Billb) on Monday, July 02, 2001 - 04:30 am: Edit

Green is traditional ethylene glycol - orange is GM Dexcool (long life, etc) and all the copy cats. I think most all manufacturers have now switched to Dexcool. The Dexcool, while having longer change intervals, is also supposed to be easier on alloy blocks/heads and aluminum radiators.

You can switch - but only if you do so completely - they are not compatible together!

By jcw on Monday, July 02, 2001 - 05:04 am: Edit

>

Actually, they are compatible. Read the info on the orange stuff label...compatible with all other kinds. BUT you don't get the extra life of the coolant (150k, 5 yr) if mixed..just the normal life span. Should be changed max every 2 years in any case, in my opinion. And you don't get the extended life if you've EVER had the green stuff in! Only for new installs. However, you do get the extended seal/bearing life supposedly attributed to the orange stuff being silicate free, when completely replacing the green with the orange.

There have been a number of reports of goo or jelly forming with the orange stuff. Some test results I found from car company engineers said the problem seemed to be when mixing the coolant with non-distilled water...which can contain everything from minerals (hard water) to sulfur to iron to organic pesticides etc. So I'm going to be sure to ONLY use distilled water (.79/gal at Wal-Mart) when mixing with the orange stuff. I've had orange Prestone in my '94 Disco for about 2 years, no problems. Haven't replace green stuff in my '95 Disco yet. Have had mix of orange and green in my '92 Suburban for several months..no problems so far. But I intend to flush it out & replace with one or the other.

John

By Bill Bettridge (Billb) on Monday, July 02, 2001 - 10:26 am: Edit

I say again - the traditional green ethylene glycol and the orange Dexcool (phosphate free) should not be mixed - even the AC Delco website adverstising Dexcool states that.

By Axel Haakonsen (Axel) on Monday, July 02, 2001 - 10:30 am: Edit

In my case I am not planning to mix it, I am going to flush the entire system, then replace with Dexcool/distilled water.

By jcw on Tuesday, July 03, 2001 - 06:09 am: Edit

Well, I've used the Prestone orange. For whatever reason, they apparently don't see the need to cover their asses ... Says it meets all the Dexcool requirements ... see the web site:
http://www.prestone.com/home/lowdex.html
[click on Products, then Extended Life Antifreeze or whatever]
which also says it can be added to all antifreezes...see quote below

"In addition, Prestone Extended Life 5/150 Antifreeze/Coolant meets all compatibility requirements for GM DEX-COOL® Extended Life Antifreeze/Coolant, which is recommended for most 1996 and later General Motors vehicles. Prestone Extended Life 5/150 Antifreeze/Coolant can be added to all antifreezes including DEX-COOL."

By T Carr on Tuesday, July 03, 2001 - 06:17 am: Edit

I use Mercedes-Benz antifreeze...specifically for aluminium blocks. Tan color.

By Bill Bettridge (Billb) on Tuesday, July 03, 2001 - 06:41 am: Edit

Axel - I plan on doing the same soon also - almost at 60K now. Will change all hoses and heater lines at once - what fun. (gee - perhaps a coolant change day is in the offing?)

Bill

By Wes Legaspi (Wes) on Tuesday, July 03, 2001 - 08:28 am: Edit

Anyone have a write up on how to flush coolant and change hoses?