Antifreeze, pink and green

[davidwigler]

I just bought a gallon of DD PowerCool from Covington to top off my levels. The stuff in my engines is green and the DD is pink. Is it ok to mix the two types until the next change, or should I just top off with distilled water for now?

[saltshaker]

I just bought a gallon of DD PowerCool from Covington to top off my levels. The stuff in my engines is green and the DD is pink. Is it ok to mix the two types until the next change, or should I just top off with distilled water for now?

I wouldn't mix them if you are crtain what's in there. Some coolants aren't compatible and can turn to sludge when mixed.

[MikeP]

Agree - unless you know that the antifreeze in the engine meets the DD two stroke requirements, don't mix them. If you have never changed the AF, this would be a good opportunity to drain it, flush and refill with the right stuff.

[davidwigler]

Thanks! I'll top them off with distilled water and wait to change the AF out until Fall when I plan to replace all the hoses and install the block heaters and thermostats.

I was surprised the DD AF was less than $10 per gallon at Covington.

What do you recommend to use to flush the system?

[Angela]

David, I forgot...which engines do you have? If you have wet liners like my 8v92's have, you'll need to test your coolant with DD's test strips to make sure the additives that the wet liners need stay up to the proper levels. They fall out over time. If you don't know what somebody before you had put in there, then I'd drain, flush, fill, and test before too long. Down here, I mix my own coolant with the DD stuff and distilled water - it's purple. I don't need antifreeze here, but I bet you need the antifreeze component up there.

And for cleaners - there is an online cleaner made by Penray that you can pour in, run the boat, and then drain, flush and fill after the stated number of days. If it's real bad, you can use the Penray "twin-pack" which is the most foul smelling crap you'll ever bring on your boat, but it's good stuff.

[SeaEric]

GM guru Tom Hug just did a major cooling system renovation on my stbd engine. This included the addition of coolant recovery bottles on both engines. The new coolant stbd is pink, the existing coolant port is green. Tom topped off both recovery bottles with pink. Logic suggests that he thinks they will mix.

[SKYCHENEY]

GM guru Tom Hug just did a major cooling system renovation on my stbd engine. This included the addition of coolant recovery bottles on both engines. The new coolant stbd is pink, the existing coolant port is green. Tom topped off both recovery bottles with pink. Logic suggests that he thinks they will mix.

Some do mix and some do not. He probably used the "universal coolant" that WILL mix. I'm not sure that DD Powercool should be mixed with anything other than water.

The universal Peak coolant is pink, Powercool is purple. Best advice is to read the label.

[garyd]

I went on line and thought that DD recommended the green stuff. So I bought a gallon put ti in and then tested it with the strips only it showed nothing. I went back to DD and they said no you need the pink stuff.

So I flushed and put the pink stuff in only the color is still green. I have determined the only way to get a real good flush is to remove the T-stats. Then Flush and Refill. And since I'm going to remove the t-stats i might as well get new ones right so ....

6v92's

I got a hold of the top DD guy at FDD and he said the two stroke old detroit iron should only use the pink stuff.

[MikeP]

As far as flushing, DD used to supply a flush that you put in the engines and run them normally for several weeks, then drain and refill. I did that some years ago but I can't recall the name of the product but it seemed to work quite well. Since then I have just drained a couple of gallons of coolant every few seasons and added fresh DD antifreeze/distilled water. I have to admit that I never actually check the af with test strips. Bad on me.

[captddis]

Funny that all of our boats came from the factory with green AF and that it worked just fine for 30+ years, now you are going to ruin your engine if you don't use their red stuff......