GM Dexcool okay as G12 substitute?

SootFoot

Veteran Member
Joined
Aug 18, 2005
Location
Midwest USA
TDI
Sold
Autozone cross references GM Dexcool compatible product by Peak brand antifreeze when punching in antifreeze coolant for the '05 Beetle TDI.

Would it be okay to use a Dexcool compatible antifreeze to top up the G12 antifreeze in the coolant reservoir?

Short of that, where is the best price place to get actual VW G12? Dealer wants around $25 per US gallon.
 

dieseldorf

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Oct 11, 2000
Location
MA
TDI
ex- 1996 wagon, ex-2000 Jetta
you may be able to order from IMPEX for a lower final cost.
 

scurvy

Good Ol' Boy
Joined
Feb 21, 2006
Location
Chicago IL USA
TDI
2006 Golf
SootFoot said:
Would it be okay to use a Dexcool compatible antifreeze to top up the G12 antifreeze in the coolant reservoir?

Short of that, where is the best price place to get actual VW G12? Dealer wants around $25 per US gallon.
1. No. Only G12/G12+ and distilled water should go into your cooling system if you like your engine. Dexcool is often referred to as "Dexkill" for a reason. If you just need to top it up a bit, use some distilled water.

2. Check in the regional forums to see if anybody near you has a partial container of it. Most of us get a gallon and it sits around forever since we only need a pint or so at the time unless doing a flush/refill.

scurvy
 

redmondjp

Veteran Member
Joined
Jul 1, 2004
Location
Redmond, WA
TDI
'96 Passat Sedan
dieseldorf said:
you may be able to order from IMPEX for a lower final cost.
But watch that shipping cost! I ordered 4 gallons from them along with a few other small items, and the shipping cost alone was $40 (UPS ground). That's all the way across the country, so YMMV.

If you're nice to your dealer's parts guy and ask politely, he'll probably knock a few bucks off the cost for you--they did this for me when I went in to get some G11 at my local dealer.
 

dieseldorf

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Oct 11, 2000
Location
MA
TDI
ex- 1996 wagon, ex-2000 Jetta
You can get the Pentosin product from a few of our preferred vendors. I think it's a 1.5L size.
 

McBrew

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Oct 30, 2002
Location
Annapolis, MD
TDI
2003 Golf GLS TDI, 5 speed, Silver/Grey
If you're nice to your dealer's parts guy and ask politely, he'll probably knock a few bucks off the cost for you--they did this for me when I went in to get some G11 at my local dealer.
Mention that you are a member of TDI Club. The dealerships around here give us a 10% discount at the parts counter.
 

kirkl

Active member
Joined
Oct 28, 2004
Location
Eugene, OR
TDI
2001 Jetta
I would never use DexCool again in my life. And, if I bought a vehicle with it, I would flush it out and replace it as soon as I could. The stuff is horrible and there have been a ton of problems with it. Horror stories all over the Internet...as well as my own.

SootFoot said:
Autozone cross references GM Dexcool compatible product by Peak brand antifreeze when punching in antifreeze coolant for the '05 Beetle TDI.

Would it be okay to use a Dexcool compatible antifreeze to top up the G12 antifreeze in the coolant reservoir?

Short of that, where is the best price place to get actual VW G12? Dealer wants around $25 per US gallon.
 

SootFoot

Veteran Member
Joined
Aug 18, 2005
Location
Midwest USA
TDI
Sold
My Corvette once had the orange dexcool, but has long since been flushed and has used green stuff ever since.
 

compu_85

Gadget Guy
Joined
Sep 29, 2003
Location
La Conner, WA
TDI
... None :S
Same with our GrandPrix. But I have to wonder if the reason it had problems was someone at IffyLube (where dad liked to take it) topped up the low coolant one day.

-Jason
 

PDJetta

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Nov 6, 2003
Location
Northern Virginia
TDI
'04 Jetta GLS TDI Pumpe Duce Platinum Grey w/ Leather
The wife's Buick's cooling system is all sludged up and its intake manifold gaskets may be leaking a little. I just may put the green stuff in after flushing it. This great TDI list clued me in to the cause - Dexcool- . Before that I was totally baffled as to what was causing the sludging.

--Nate
 

SootFoot

Veteran Member
Joined
Aug 18, 2005
Location
Midwest USA
TDI
Sold
Careful, though, to do a thorough flush out of the orange dexcool-- if the dexcool mixes with green coolant you will really get some gooey stuff.
 

whitedog

Veteran Member
Joined
Jul 12, 2004
Location
Bend, Oregon
TDI
2004 Jetta that I fill by myself
Thanks for this post. It reminded of a nightmare I had last night where I was accidentally putting green stuff in my Jetta.:eek:

I woke up in a cold sweat.
 

jnam03

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 13, 2005
Location
Clarkson, KY U.S.
TDI
2001 Beetle GLS Auto
I was also curious about the option of replacing the G12 coolant with something a little more affordable; so, I visited the Prestone website and performed a little research. Prestone indicates that many European car makers recommend phosphate and silicate free coolant, such as G12, due to the mineral content of European water, which has been known to result in heavy corrosion when mixed with this type of coolant. Prestone states that this has not been an issue in the states because our water supplies do not contain this particual combination of minerals; and, as such, recommends their universal coolant (which looks oddly like standard ethylene glycol - AKA the green stuff). My thought is that a proper flush of the cooling system, followed by a switch to standard ethylene glycol coolant might yield acceptable results. Honestly, the engine components (i.e. heads, blocks, hoses, seals, etc) are generally of common material and construction whether foreign or domestic, and the U.S. automakers, like Ford and Chrysler have been using this stuff for years without problems. This being said, I'm still not sure that I'm ready to put my money where my mouth is without further research. I guess we'll find out next month when I replace my leaky radiator and perform the TB/water pump replacement.
 
Last edited:

l1o9s7t6

Veteran Member
Joined
Apr 11, 2005
Location
Alaska
TDI
jetta, sedan 2002 blue
jnam03 said:
I was also curious about the option of replacing the G12 coolant with something a little more affordable; so, I visited the Prestone website and performed a little research. Prestone indicates that many European car makers recommend phosphate and silicate free coolant, such as G12, due to the mineral content of European water, which has been known to result in heavy corrosion when mixed with this type of coolant. Prestone states that this has not been an issue in the states because our water supplies do not contain this particual combination of minerals; and, as such, recommends their universal coolant (which looks oddly like standard ethylene glycol - AKA the green stuff). My thought is that a proper flush of the cooling system, followed by a switch to standard ethylene glycol coolant might yield acceptable results. Honestly, the engine components (i.e. heads, blocks, hoses, seals, etc) are generally of common material and construction whether foreign or domestic, and the U.S. automakers, like Ford and Chrysler have been using this stuff for years without problems. This being said, I'm still not sure that I'm ready to put my money where my mouth is without further research. I guess we'll find out next month when I replace my leaky radiator and perform the TB/water pump replacement.
FYI...It you choose to change to ethylene glycol coolant you will need to either monitor your coolants PH or just add additive at preset mileage's. IF you have never heard of this being done, it is normally cuz most people don't do it. The out come is cavitation and it will destroy your engine(it does take time)

Large engine manufactures put additive in their coolant and it is replenished with coolant filter changes(it is inside the filter) Others like ford sell it in a bottle and it needs to be added.
 

whitedog

Veteran Member
Joined
Jul 12, 2004
Location
Bend, Oregon
TDI
2004 Jetta that I fill by myself
Zero

scurvy said:
You woke up in a coolant sweat? Gross! You should really watch what you eat. :D
maybe it was sweet coolant? Nah. Todays coolant comes with "Bitrex. The bitterest stuff on Earth..." ...Next to a jilted lover.

Oh someone mentioned adding coolant additive to high HP engines to control cavitation...

Just pulled apart a Deere engine after 13,000 hours it had ZERO cavitation. This engine has no way to replenish the additives and regularly scheduled coolant changes are just a dream.

Yet it had ZERO cavitation. I have seen other engines in this Horsepower range develop holes in the liners at lower hours.

It's my thinking that the additives are better today and don't require replenishing, but that's just a guess.

BTW, I showed a lower main bearing from this 13,000 hour engine to some folks and they all thought it was a new bearing. It showed ZERO wear.

Of course a wrist pin bearing was rattlin' around in the rod and there was ZERO cross hatching in the top half inch of the cylinder, but the main bearings showed ZERO wear.
 

dzl_nator

Veteran Member
Joined
Jun 11, 2006
Location
Springfield, MO
TDI
96 Passat TDI
My experience with DEXCool has not been good either. The coolant has a high content of calcium carbonate, I think. Everywhere it seeps it builds up. And where it builds up it also seems to corrode the aluminum fittings. However, my worse problem is that it has either plugged my heater core or done other things, such as break down the plastic swirlers inside; so that my heater output is much dimenished. I have never found any corrosion inside an engine from using it, and it has not caused any other problem. However, since I have had the two cars with heater core problems, I now use only G11 and G12 as model appropriate.
 

Powder Hound

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Oct 25, 1999
Location
Under a Bridge, Crestview, FL, USA
TDI
'00 Golf 4dr White 5sp, '02 Jettachero 5sp, Wife's '03 NB Platinum Gray auto(!)
News flash: The main ingredient in G12 is ethylene glycol.

I've used Dexcool to top off my car with no ill effects whatsoever. No, really, the radiator still holds coolant, the waterpump still works, the heater core still heats, and the engine hasn't fallen apart.

Furthermore, one of the coolant heating glow plugs leaked G12 before I ever did anything and it formed the same deposits that you all are blaming on Dexcool. From whence are the deposits that clog EGRs that leaked coming from? On cars that have never seen Dexcool? Have you heard of coolant being tested and the use of Dexcool being used as an excuse to deny warranties? Do you think VWoA would not do this if they thought they could get away with it?

You can also find stories all over the place of VWs fouling up. Tons of them on this website. So you think Dexcool is bad? Ha!

Talk about straining at gnats and swallowing camels!
 
Top