coolant change: dexcool or generic?

[joeb]

I had my motor out last year and put in the old coolant. this summer i replaced the radiator and added mostly water so i decided to refill today. opening the radiator drain lets out a good amount. taking off the upper radiator hose lets out some more. i decided to take off the thermostat housing and got another good amount from the coolant crossover housing. i added back about 2 gallons of fluid. yes i used sealant tabs too. i use prestone dexcool. its $13/gal at the store. i see they had prestone in the yellow bottle for $9. it says it can be mixed with any coolant. i prefer the dexcool labeled stuff.

[Texas Jim]

You did as I would have...... put Dexcool back in it.

[JohnnyG]

It sounds like your mixture might be out of wack though. Try to hit 50/50 if possible. One way to do this would be to mix up a quart exactly 50/50 using distilled water and Dexcool. Using this mixture and a reliable tester, determine where the reading of your engine coolant SHOULD hit. Compare the mixture in your engine to this "standard" mix. 50/50 is the ideal mixture for Dex and distilled water, though a little bit heavy won't hurt anything.

[joeb]

i had hate to admit it but i had the intake off several times this summer along with the radiator and lost all the coolant. i kept adding water and am sure i was pretty close to 100% water. the system is 12 quarts and i added back 6 quarts of dex and 2 quarts of water after draining 2 gallons of fluid. if the 12 quart capacity value is right for a 96 seville than i am good.