Whats the best year round mix to install which......

wont heatsoak like dexcool will (FWIU)
wont freeze
performs better

I have heard distilled water and some sort of alcohol.

What is recommended?

 

Gm recommends 50/50 dexcool water miz some use a bottle of water wetter or purple ice and distilled water instead but if you want facty 50/50 dexcool water mix

 

I use an 80/20 mix. It protects from freezing down to 18*F. I also only drive mine in the spring, summer, & fall though.

If you want a little better mixture than the recommended 50/50 mix, and still have good year round freeze protection .... try a 65/35 mix. I believe it protects to -10*F. I'll have to check my chart at home.

 

What's all this about?

CHANGE THE COOLANT EVERY TWO YEARS!! ESPECIALLY IF IT DEX-COOL!! DEX-COOL IS THE WORST OFFENDER. DEX-COOL DOES NOT LAST 5 YEARS OR 1000,000 MILES
Dex-cool Contamination

Then I found this counter argument:

MACS 2001: GM and Texaco “Bare All” about DEX-COOLŽ

1. Keep the cooling system filled. In fact, fill the reservoir bottle to “Hot” level when the system is cold. Problems arise when a system’s coolant level is not maintained. (Fleet vehicles receiving regular maintenance, and with reservoirs kept slightly above normal, do not show signs of contamination. This even applies to the specific “problem” vehicles.)

2. The coolant problems found in this survey were caused by system contamination, and not due to the breakdown of DEX-COOL.

3. Check and keep the pressure cap clean and functioning. A contaminated and/or malfunctioning cap causes low coolant levels, which in turn causes overheating and a greater loss of coolant: the notorious vicious cycle. No matter what the vehicle, if the cooling system acts suspiciously, test the pressure cap.

4. On the ST vehicle models mentioned in the GM DEX-COOL video, you “must” replace all suspect radiator caps, especially those with a Drop-Center design, with a Stant Model 10230 or 11230 (Spring-Center type). (Just do it.)

5. Make sure that the coolant is at a 50-50 mix. Often, the flush water was not being removed from the engine block. Consequently, when a 50-50 mix is added to the system the resultant mixture could approach 30-70. Like any fluid that has been diluted beyond its recommended levels, the lowered level of inhibitors will not be able to protect the coolant system effectively. Low levels of inhibitors can cause pitting on aluminum surfaces and general corrosion of cooling system metals.

6. A safe method of achieving a true 50-50 mix is to first determine the actual capacity of the system (use the owner’s manual). Then add 50% of “that” amount of undiluted DEX-COOL (or any coolant), and top it off with water.

7. Mixing a “green” coolant with DEX-COOL reduces the batch’s change interval to 2 years or 30,000 miles, but will otherwise cause no damage to the engine. In order to change back to DEX-COOL however, the cooling system must first be thoroughly drained and flushed.

8. Bacteria cannot live in a hot, Ethylene Glycol environment and is therefore not a threat to DEX-COOL.

9. While there have been intake gasket failures on CK Series, V8 powered vehicles for various reasons, DEX-COOL has never been found as a cause.

10. Use a refractometer to check the condition of DEX-COOL. Its inhibitor package is strong enough that if the batch still provides proper freeze protection, it is probably still providing proper corrosion protection as well.

11. DEX-COOL can handle the minerals in hard water better than silicated conventional chemistry coolants. Drinkable water is suitable for top off.

 

Don't use Dexcool in your IC system. There's no point. It's a waste of money. I flushed mine and used 50/50 green coolant and have no problems whatsoever.

 

I would just buy pre-mixed Dexcool (50/50). Hell, Chicago sees -10°F all the time during the winter. Better safe than sorry.

 

agreed^^^^^