Dex-cool vs Green Coolant
 

Dear Colleagues: I am planing to change the coolant in my KLX, however here where I live, there are not too much options.

In that way the two options I have in this moment are a green local coolant and Havoline Dex-cool, however the local is a black box and I have not too much information about if it is silicate free or if it is aluminium friendly. The Dex-cool back in the 2006 was accused of damaging GM cooling sytems. In that way not sure wich one to use.

Did any of you guys have used Dex-cool (the orange thing) in your bikes??.

Any recommendation?.

Thank you guys!!.

Well as a 20+ year auto mechanic I would recommend anything except Dexcool. I have changed many radiators due to dexcool turning into a dirt like substance that you can not flush out. Of course there cars cooling systems have been neglected but I have never seen any other brand turn to mud.

I use engine ice in my bikes. I have had no issues.

Stick with the green. There was green antifreeze from Kawasaki so why would you want to change. I've never seen Dexcool used in a motorcycle from the manufacturer.

Dexcool is EVIL! Stick with the old school coolant.

Dexcool turns to a weird gel looking substance over a long period of time when air is introduced. I noticed that on cars with leaky cooling systems, then again, like stated earlier those are also neglected vehicles. Non the less stick with what the manufacture wants. Also, I don't care for the coolants that "mix with all types".

The safest thing to do is stick with the old tried-and-true, classic Prestone-style coolant that is ethylene glycol with corrosion inhibitors...frankly I don't know of any off hand that don't have corrosion inhibitors these days. Ethylene glycol by itself eventually turns to an acid which causes corrosion, but that's pretty effectively addressed with the proper additives.

Antifreeze debates can achieve near-oil-thread-status, but honestly most of the hoopla is over trying achieve non-toxic blends and extreme change intervals. Dispose of and store antifreeze properly, and you don't have to worry much about toxicity. Change your automotive antifreeze more than 5-year intervals, and you don't have to worry about corrosion to any reasonable degree.

Yes, there are some exotic blends that won't boil and do other magical things that are fine for extreme racing conditions where the vehicle is constantly serviced. For motorcycles like ours that in many cases sit unused for weeks at a time, good ol' ethylene glycol is hard to beat. Mixing with distilled water increases the corrosion resistance. I use Walmart ethylene glycol in all my vehicles. Keep it simple.

And, it's not like the KLX needs any enhanced cooling. Having two radiators with their capacity to cool, the KLX250 rarely overheats. In fact, I hardly ever even hear my fan kick on.

Thank you guys, very valuable advices. Based on your inputs definitely I have returned the Havoline Dex-cool to the store and decided to go with a traditional Coolant.

On the other hand last weekend I decided to use the Green one available here in my country (the one I have called the black box in my initial post, the brand is Simoniz) so I drained the old coolant, put it in a container for disposal and flushed the system with distilled water. But as soon as I opened the container of the new coolant I realized the plastic cap seal was crystalized real bad and small pieces of that plastic dropped inside the container, additionally the paper cap seal was sticky and falling in pieces too. I think that local coolant was a bad quality one, so decided to put the old coolant back in the bike for a while and ordered a gallon of a well-known American coolant called Peak (silicate free and aluminum friendly). I am still waiting since it takes 10 days to arrive, it is a long time to wait but I will have peace of mind with something more reliable than that mysterious local cocktail of plastic eater chemical. Hope to finalize the process by the next week.

Note: Something strange I saw was a lot of Aluminum flakes in the old coolant, so before to put the old coolant back I put it in to a mesh to filter it. I think those are residual materials from the radiator passages. In any case I went to a local motorcycle shop and after a long conversation with the guy in charge, he told me this is pretty normal in the first coolant change in many bikes. Have you had any issue like that before?.

Thank you guys for all your support!!.

Man...sounds like you did your homework. Yeah, those shiny flecks in the old coolant is quite normal. Peak antifreeze is good stuff. Good luck.