Pink Coolant; Green Coolant? Holden told me "wrong coolant is in the vehicle."

[MyLumina]

My '02 Lumina has actually been a car with all the bells and whistles recently, sharing with me it's check engine warning and alarm. I took it to my Holden dealer to have this checked. They came back that the diagnostic showed up coolant temp sensor has and internal fault. They added that the, "vehicle will require flush and replacement of the switch to rectify the fault as wrong coolant is in vehicle."

My other half had put pink coolant in for some time now and keeps saying that, "everyone raves about the pink one, supposed to be the best to use." Holden told me the coolant has to be green, but wouldn't get more technical than that. I'm not finding too much about people using wrong coolants on the internet so wonder if anyone can advise? Thanks.

 

[wraith]

Pink/red is for alloy motors like the LS1 and alloytec. Green is designed for the older Ecotec iron motors.

 

[commodore665]

My '02 Lumina has actually been a car with all the bells and whistles recently, sharing with me it's check engine warning and alarm. I took it to my Holden dealer to have this checked. They came back that the diagnostic showed up coolant temp sensor has and internal fault. They added that the, "vehicle will require flush and replacement of the switch to rectify the fault as wrong coolant is in vehicle."

My other half had put pink coolant in for some time now and keeps saying that, "everyone raves about the pink one, supposed to be the best to use." Holden told me the coolant has to be green, but wouldn't get more technical than that. I'm not finding too much about people using wrong coolants on the internet so wonder if anyone can advise? Thanks.

for the ecotick , use the green coolant , it will need a complete flush and switch , hopefully nothing else ,

 

[gossie]

Get that pink stuff out NOW. It's wrong for that ecotec as others have told you. It's needs the green coolant.

If you mix the red into the green it's not good. I have read the coolant may turn to jelly.

With all due respect, tell your better half to READ and digest the books that came with that vehicle.

 

[Immortality]

Personally, I think it's all bollocks.

My old VN came with the red Dex-cool coolant in it. Fairly sure that was the recommended stuff as it's designed for vehicles will alloy systems including alloy radiators?

Personally, either one will do the job, just don't mix the 2 different coolants as I'm led to believe that can cause more issues.

Plenty off issues with Dex-Cool, do a search....... but to sum it up, US class action lawsuit because the stuff was eating gaskets etc.

 

[MyLumina]

Thanks guys I have had a look at the book (sadly didn't even think of that, probably because I wouldn't think of going to the manufacturer for coolant) The spec uses part numbers. Looks like it is Not ACDelco Dex Cool (Red), but ACDelco All Seasons (Green) that is recommended for my Ecotec V6. Randomly, to me anyway, "3 pellets must be added when the coolant is replaced." From what I can see online, seems Holden doesn't recommend these fibre seal tabs anymore. System flush and new switch and I should be hearing less bells. I have even found out that the alarms sometimes continue until the car is plugged back into a computer. I hope not, but we have some more work to be done shortly, so can live with it if that happens. Thanks for all your help.

 

[gossie]

Don't worry about the pellets unless the coolant is weeping out of somewhere.
The pellets put into it when it was made do the job.

Flush it well with the hose after taking off the hoses and turn the heater on the get rid of old stuff in that.
Replace hoses if old and soft.

On top of the engine in front is a screw to undo to let air out of the system when you fire it up..........Don't burn yourself.

Another good thing is to use distilled water instead of tap water when you thin out the green coolant per the instuctions, or if you have a tank at home use the rain water as it's purer and has no chemicals in it like the stuff we drink to kill the bugs in it.

 

[wortus]

Firstly you can use either red or green coolant in a VY V6. What you are never meant to do is mix the 2 together in the cooling system so that means before changing the colour it will need a complete clean and flush to remove all traces of coolant and the gunk that is produced if the 2 types have been mixed in the cooling system.
You should drain it first and use a radiator flushing product and clean tap water and then flush it out several times with clean tap water. Once this is done and your sure all the gunk is gone add 6 litres of concentrated coolant and top off with water. Make sure you get all the old coolant and crap out of the heater core and to do this I'd suggest removing all of the hoses and flushing with a hose.

As for the Holden pellets you only need them with genuine coolant because of it's composition. I'd suggest using Nulon Long Life Green coolant which if you read their product description does not require the pellets.

 

[commodore665]

Firstly you can use either red or green coolant in a VY V6. What you are never meant to do is mix the 2 together in the cooling system so that means before changing the colour it will need a complete clean and flush to remove all traces of coolant and the gunk that is produced if the 2 types have been mixed in the cooling system.
You should drain it first and use a radiator flushing product and clean tap water and then flush it out several times with clean tap water. Once this is done and your sure all the gunk is gone add 6 litres of concentrated coolant and top off with water. Make sure you get all the old coolant and crap out of the heater core and to do this I'd suggest removing all of the hoses and flushing with a hose.

As for the Holden pellets you only need them with genuine coolant because of it's composition. I'd suggest using Nulon Long Life Green coolant which if you read their product description does not require the pellets.

probably either one is fine as you say , but the fatal mistake people make is to mix the two together .

 

[Eevo]

never mix, use garden hose to flush out everything.