Hi All,

I have a question. I have a 2000 Buick Century and my water pump is starting to go.

One of the repair shops here that I have used for a long, long time without any issue can do the replacement but they when they do the replacement, they want do an antifreeze flush and fill and replace dexcool with a universal antifreeze.

And so I am wondering... has anyone ever used a universal antifreeze in their engine? I know mixing antifreeze is bad, bad, bad,... but if the shop does a thorough flush... and replaces the dexcool with a universal coolant will this work?

I'd appreciate any advice anyone has about this.

BTW... the repair shop can do this for just a under $300... the Buick dealership charges $600 for this job.

Duane

I've been using the Autozone 50/50 pre-mix in these engines for years without any issue. And so have many other people here.

Welcome to the Forums!
Replacing & flushing the Dexcool is a good idea. I would recommend that you use a high quality antifreeze like Prestone Extended Life though. If he is doing the job without a flush machine and using the water flush method, Prestone offers a full strength (not premixed) I would buy 3 jugs of the full strength to add after the water flush. The water flush will leave pure water in block & only the full strength will get you close to the -37 to -47 protection initially.

Getting rid of the dexcool is the first thing I do most times. It has to be the all models stuff though, I use prestone extended life. It can't be the green stuff. Walmart has it cheap a lot of times the same as the store brand at advance or autozone

Hi Guys,

Thanks for the replies... So the big thing is as long as everything is thoroughly flushed out before the new antifreeze is added... I shouldn't experience any problems?

Duane

If you use the all makes stuff, they can be mixed if you want. But I have had some issues with dex turning stuff brown, even on a car with less than 30k. For me the flush is to get rid of the dex and some people have said it is sealant they add to it or some other stuff, but regardless, the prestone is better and less messy

Make sure they bleed all the air of of the system after a full flush, and as the others said, you can use another Antifreeze without issues, I have heard of Prestone Extended Life, and Zerex G05 are good replacements.
To be honest IMO as long as you have the coolant serviced regularly, and there is never any air left in the system, then Dex Cool normally does not cause any problems, I have used it for 136k on my Park Ave, and the only thing anybody can say could have been caused by using it, is my Lower Intake Manifold Gaskets failing, but I personally think that is because of the heat, and that the frame of the gasket was made out of nylon 6,6.
My radiator fins look as good as new, and every time I service my coolant it looks nice and clean.
I won't elaborate anymore, because the Dex Cool argument has been had more than once, just do some google searches.