I'm hearing lots of horror stories about Dexcool (GM supposidly long life coolant) My folks own a 2000 Regal GS. I do all the service on it. I am changing coolant sunday along w/ the oil a part of scheduled maint.(my schedule). It serves them well (except for that crappie delco battery) and has been a great car. I would like to see it continue to do so. I know these things (I think): 1. Don't mix with traditional antifreeze.(makes sludge) 2. Towards five years of use people are noticing crystalization in cooling components. 3. Use of traditional antifreeze in dexcool cars voids new car waranty w/ GM cars. (I assume the same with extentended GMo No: ) 4. Don't use dexcool in cars with non plastic capped cores(ie.radiator,heater core) 5. It helps to change/flush this coolant often and use distilled potable water to mix for desired solution(i.e. 50/50 or 60/40 depending on climate) 6. It is silly to wait for 5 years/ 100,000 mile to change coolant.(well... ok... that is my opinion) 7. There are many tech bullitens on this(havn't seen them tho)and hear that manifold gasket failure is accelerated w/ Dexcool. Tell me what you KNOW. Thanks in advance.
Well....I KNOW I had to change my water pump at 82k miles!!!ou: So much for the 'extended life' to the water pump.:blast: Flush that junk out of there, put in the green stuff, and flush every 2 yrs. You'll be a much happier camper.:TU: Don't forget to bleed the air out of the thermostat housing...should be a small bleed valve there. **If you're stuck using that junk because of warranty issues, at least change the coolant every 2 yrs. (3 at the latest).
Deaslerships were told (when Dex-Cool first came out) that this includes containers and/or drainpans. Even if you drained Dex-Cool into a clean, dry drain pan that you had used for green, it would be contaminated. We were also told that the two were compatible, but if Dex-cool became contaminated with green then you were to service the system at regular green intrevals. o No: It helps, to some extent, to keep your resevoir overfilled. This prevents a "beechhead" condition that lets deposits collect in areas like the filler neck and cap. The 90' V6/8 engines seem to tolerate Dex-cool better than the 60' V6's (just my opinion), except for S/T vehicles. As far as service intrevals, I'm not keen on letting anything go for 100,000 miles. That would include transmissions with Dexron 3,3E, 4, 5, or 130,048. Again, just my opinion.
Oh, yeah If it has a supercharger, take the plug out of the snout and make sure the oil level is correct. I've seen more than one that was low. There's a correct oil to use in it, also.
I would get rid of the Dexcool we have seen more problems with gaskets and other cooling system problems with dexcool. I am a service manager at a buick dealership and gm wont admit to sh*t about this,they just cover there own ass. I always tell my customers to get rid of it because all gm and other manufacturers are doing is using it so they can advertise their cars have lower maintenace cost than some other cars!!!! Plus if you have trouble at 75000 miles with something do you think that they would warranty it then,not likely!!!!! dont get me wrong I am not anti new ideas ,but when you see some of this stuff day after day you know what works and what does not.
dex-cool my thoughts on dex-cool, no need for distilled water, regular tap water will do fine. traditional green anti-freeze should be flushed/changed every other year. the no.1 mistake do it yourselfers do when changing coolant is they just drain the radiator. to get everything out you need to get the block drain plugs out, open the radiator drain and run water through the cooling system for 10 or 15 minutes. of course drain, clean and refill the overflow tank.
Geez, when I had the radiator replaced in my 94 Explorer last January, I told them to use Dexcool instead of the green stuff. No problem "yet", but you guys aren't making me feel very good about it. ou: My whole reason for doing it was to be able to leave it for a longer time. I.E. less maintenance. Maybe this coming spring I should go back to green? o No:
I do not like Dexcool! I put it in my 92 Jimmy with 4.3 and the water pump went out soon. I changed water pump but reinstalled the red stuff. That WP lasted 1 year so I got rid of the dexcool. I tryed Texacos ELC (extended life coolant) in my truck and instantly had three leaks. I changed it back to the green stuff without even driving it down the road. In Popular Hot Rodding mag (12/03) page 99 Scott Parkhurst writes a horrer story of his own experience with Dexcool. I own a 99 Jimmy with it installed from the factory and I may be changing it out soon. One tip that I heard was to make sure the resivor tank is kept over full. I pulled a leaking intake off of a 3.1L Malibu and some of the dexcool looked like something you would pull out of a stopped up drain! Two clogs next to the intake coolant passages. I would suggest to get rid of it soon if warrenty is out. If you flush the red stuff out I would suggest filling the rad. back up and driving it a few miles. Do this several time as I had a hard time flushing it out.
Be forwarned though guys....... If you remove the Dexcool and replace with the Ethyl-Glycol coolant, there has already been a build up of the crystals from the Dexcool. The "green" coolant will dissolve the crystals and sometimes cause an almost immediate leak. I have done this several times and had a lot of water pumps and intake gaskets leak very shortly after changing over. I've got a 97 Jimmy sitting here now with an intake leaking because the owner wanted to switch to the "green" stuff. It only took 1 week to start seeping. This might be a good thing.....because you will have to replace a part a little sooner, that was probably going to fail fairly soon from the Dexcool anyways. Don't switch over unless you saved a little money first, for repairs.......especially if you have a 3.4 GM or newer 3800 V6. Mike
I switched my 94 chevy pickup with 350 to Dexcool at about 60,000 miles 3-years ago and haven't had a problem. The original water pump has been fine in the last 45,000 too. It's supposed to be easier on aluminum too (doesn't go acid like green does) As long as you don't have a soldered radiator or heater core, I say go for it. For all you environmentalists, dumping the green stuff every 2 years isn't too environmentally friendly. I don't think I'd plan to run Dexcool for 100,000 though, although mine is clean after 45,000. Dexcool is supposed to have a better heat transfer coefficient too. I switched before reading anything negative about it, and figured I might as well leave it alone at that point. So far I'm glad I did.
Pink stuff When I bought my 1995 C-1500 new in January 1996, it had the pink stuff. The "pink" had just come out and my Flint MI, August built truck had tags all over it declaring this new fluid I had never seen before. Since 01/96 I have never added/flushed/ or changed a part of the cooling system. I plan on keeping her pink.
You Know this for a fact? Same with the extended warranty(GM extended)? If this is true, that S*&T is gone! I know there are a lot of people out there who don't have problems w/ dexcool. Most of them on the regalgs board say it's fine. But i've never heard of these trouble with traditional coolant. There are so many stories about the dexcool. I guess I need to do some research on the warranty.that would give a clear cut answer. I 'm just looking down the road when there is no warranty and it is truly my responsibility. Thank you for the replies--- keep them coming. I want to hear it all.:TU:
Re: Oh, yeah Ya, it is the supercharged 3800. I have been working up a preventitive maintence log for the vehicle and came to that. what is that oil? available from GM over the counter? Though about doing a 6-month check on this. Any Ideas on a change interval?
another opinion......... I work at a dealership, and my personal honest opinion is, whatever it has in it, leave it alone. If you have a small leak at any time, and you run dexcool a little low in the radiator, that is when it seems to crystalize/ sludge on us. Ive seen all of em have their own little quirks over the years, and I believe it is more of an engine/gasket design flaw verses a coolant issue. The 350s are notorious for intake leaks as well with the green coolant. 3.1s and 3.4s have lower intake gasket leak issues with dexcool, but on the same hand the 5.3s and the 6.0s have minimal if no leaks over a reasonable amount of time. 3.8s with the plastic upper intake have leak issues, but again I feel its a design issue verses coolant. The supercharged version typically wont leak till the waterpump gives up. ALL of this is only my opinion based on what I see, and isnt meant to contradict anyones previous statements.
Re: Re: Oh, yeah Rob - Ask for a 4oz. bottle of supercharger oil. It takes 8oz. if you're totally changing the oil. Use a turkey baster to suck out the old oil.
Re: another opinion......... Thank you. I value your opinion. that is why I asked this audiance. You do bring a good point. Why here but not there? I'm taking it you do not see this with the aluminum supercharger intake? Interesting. This may lessen my urge to change to traditional coolant. Coolant will be flushed sunday. What It will be filled with is still up there. Keep 'em commin guys.
Re: Re: Re: Oh, yeah ou: That was my next squestion. I didn't think I saw a drain hole. The level should be even with the bottom of the hole? Thanks for the tip.
