I know a guy that is was a mechanic and now runs a bunch of shops he said that it is better to use the green coolant because the red one that gm tells u to use is to acidic and overtime it eats thru things, is this right have any of you swaped coolant types?

This has been discussed a few times, and always provided some lively discussion as each "side" has it proponents with valid points.

The original dex-cool did apparently have some problems especially if it was left in too long. There was a change made to it which is supposed to keep that from happening. Also, several dex compatibles have shown up which reportedly do not have that problem.

When it comes to the "green" coolant - it depends on which one. If the old ethyline glycol is used, the system has to be totally flushed to get out all of the dex before using it. That will have to be changed more often, also.

The new G05 type coolants, which several companies now sell, including Prestone, has "all makes/all models" on the label and is also green. The system should still be flushed for good cooling system maintenance, but it is compatible with dex. This is what I use in my vehicles.

Any good coolant, with proper maintenance should work fine.

X2

Archon makes all the right comments, IMO. If you are really torn use the products that are compatible with both. I'm currently using that and it works fine.

yea i was going to do a flush with the coolant change the car i just got was an oldladys car and sat alot so i was going to change it to the green cause thats what this guy said

The problem with DEX is that it does become acidic if the recommended change interval (5 yrs) is not followed. Dex is fine as long as it is flushed and changed every five years and if no one pours in uncompatible green coolant. If Dex is mixed with the older green ethylene glycol, a reddish brown sludge forms that can block coolant passages and cause problems.

Here'* my opinion on this. In 1999-2004, I worked for a major extended warranty company, I was a claims manager. We started getting claims on 1996 and up GM vehicles with cooling system problems. They'd come in overheating, or completely blown up. Usually low miles too. The entire cooling system was a thick, mud. At first, we didn't know what to make of this. The more and more it came out, it started to become the norm rather than the exception. Initially, we thought that it was because the Dexcool was mixed with green somewhere along the line. As we started to study the failures, we realized that some of the low milage cars wouldn't have needed coolant to be added, and we thought it was unlikely then that the mixing of green and dex caused the problem. We'd have shops swear that they performed all the maintenance on the vehicle, and never added coolant or water. Then, a few employees started having the problem. These were guys who bought the vehicle brand new, and swore they never added water or coolant. Our findings was simply that dex must just suck, and cause these problems on it'* own. We spent countless thousands upon thousands of dollars on these claims. In the end, GM ended up paying us for most of the claims due to litigation.

Don't buy into that "doesn't need to be serviced for 100,000-150,000 mile BS. Look at a vehicle with 100,000 miles on the original Dex, and it isn't a pretty sight. Personally, I just flush out all the dex, and go with the green stuff.