Warning about DEXCOOL

[240Knightrider]

While searching about a coolant bypass for the throttle body I started reading about some using dexcool in the engines.

Please dont use this stuff. I have had personal experiene with dexcool. i had to completely redo my whole cooling system in my 1996 Blazer because of it. On top of that it blew my intake gaskets. Which is VERY difficult for the average mechanic to replace. At least 6 hours if you know what your doing.

Please research about dexcool before you start using it. Some swear by it, most dont.

[xyster]

what about dexcool caused you to redo your whole cooling system? what made your intake gaskets fail?

Not trying to be an ***, just trying to get some specific info.

[nchopp]

On top of that it blew my intake gaskets. Which is VERY difficult for the average mechanic to replace. At least 6 hours if you know what your doing.

Oh come on, I did the gaskets on my '78 Olds Cutlass in two hours flat. Then again, I've yet to find a car as easy to work on as that one...

[240Knightrider]

Corrosion. Over a certain time this Dexcool becomes "electrified" which is the leading cause of the problems a lot of GM vehicles have.

This is with normal radiator flushes.

some links..search google type dexcool

http://www.consumeraffairs.com....html

http://www.wcpo.com/wcpo/local....html

http://www.injuryboard.com/view.cfm/Topic=1095

http://autorepair.about.com/cs...c.htm

Oh come on, I did the gaskets on my '78 Olds Cutlass in two hours flat. Then again, I've yet to find a car as easy to work on as that one...

Call your nearest GM dealership and ask them the hours it takes for a Intake Gasket on a 1996 Chevy Blazer 4.3. Not trying to be rude but I think I know my truck better than you

[Silvia007]

I agree with knightrider....

My brother just got a chevy blazer and we couldn't even do the spark plugs. well, all but one. We just did the ball joints on that thing and that was the last thing I'm ever gonna touch on that thing... ouch!

[ricebike]

oh crap... imma gonna haveta flush it out & replace w/ Prestone this spring...

I thought it was just a general fluke in my sis' '97 cavalier that the water pump blew out @~30K miles (replaced for free under warranty) ever since then, it just wasn't right...

[Jesda]

You are not supposed to mix Nissan Orange or GM Dexcool with any kind of green coolant, or else it will sludge up. I suspect there's more to this than blaming Dexcool.

[zippitta]

Yea, I have never had any problems with dexcool and I am also a little confused as to how it caused you blow an intake gascket.

[Dattebayo]

Also a side note, dont mix the red coolant with the green/yellow coolant. In fact, dont use red coolant at all.

I think dexcool's usage in GM cars was actually a deal maker for their mechs. It definately causes more work...

[sanioll]

worried about the corrosion.

Do you have a $7 dollars?

Do you have the desire to put a stop to all of this?

Then go and buy a redline water wetter and dump it in to your coolant.

P.S. I did an experiemtn testing water wetter's anti corrosion capabilities, and will post the pictures on a new thread later on.

[hudy]

Corrosion. Over a certain time this Dexcool becomes "electrified" which is the leading cause of the problems a lot of GM vehicles have.

All coolant does this. Although the specific reason eludes me. Something to do with the acidity increasing as the coolant gets old. Don't believe me? Put a digital volt meter between your coolant and the negative batt terminal. If you change your coolant regularly it shouldn't be a problem.

I wouldn't blame the coolant on the intake manifold leak. That is a very common problem on GM v-6 engines.

[240Knightrider]

You are not supposed to mix Nissan Orange or GM Dexcool with any kind of green coolant, or else it will sludge up. I suspect there's more to this than blaming Dexcool.

Who said anything about mixing it....Some people switch over to it not mix it.

All coolant does this. Although the specific reason eludes me. Something to do with the acidity increasing as the coolant gets old. Don't believe me? Put a digital volt meter between your coolant and the negative batt terminal. If you change your coolant regularly it shouldn't be a problem.

I wouldn't blame the coolant on the intake manifold leak. That is a very common problem on GM v-6 engines.

All coolants may do this but from reasearch it appears Dexcool does it a lot faster, and defiantly faster than the "said" life span of Dexcool

Um, your last part defiantly proved my point. Very common on the GM v-6 engines, v-8 engines, 4cylinders....probably soon to be five cylinders have the same problem.

[240Knightrider]

I agree with knightrider....

My brother just got a chevy blazer and we couldn't even do the spark plugs. well, all but one. We just did the ball joints on that thing and that was the last thing I'm ever gonna touch on that thing... ouch!

Yeah spark plugs are not fun....I took a wrench and connected it to the end of the spark plug socket and just turned it. Which sucks because you only have enough room to turn it like 3 in at a time. Darn steering column

Yeah changing the ball joints on blazers are definately not fun.

[ricebike]

oh crap... imma gonna haveta flush it out & replace w/ Prestone this spring...

I thought it was just a general fluke in my sis' '97 cavalier that the water pump blew out @~30K miles (replaced for free under warranty) ever since then, it just wasn't right...

well, shiva me timbers...

Quote »Some of the rumors may have started due to GM approving different suppliers of the DexCool. Texaco was the original supplier, having developed the product with GM and Shell was also an approved source. Prestone is currently approved (their "long life", "universal" coolant is basically the DexCool formulation in a different color) as well as Valvoline is now approved to supply DexCool. But...it is still DexCool and will be DexCool..... [/quote]coming from a GM engineer http://theoildrop.server101.co...3;p=2

I had dexcool in my car's system since the radiator failure & there's no problems w/ it @ all to this day... was going to switch to Prestone "universal"yellow coolant anyways since it's almost due for my car's cooling system maintenance...

[574-240sx]

I don't trust the stuff. I have had to put in 2 heater cores in a S10 and I'm pretty sure it was because of this stuff. I use to use PG and distilled water when I got PG free from work. I use regular antifreeze now and may switch to water wetter after all the good I have heard from it.

[Meantime]

I've used it in my LS1 since it was new, and never had any issues. But then again, I wasn't dumb enough to believe it would last 150,000 miles/15 years without changing. I flushed and changed it myself at 30k. Coolant passages were clean, no signs of corrosion or sludge.

FWIW, GM is wrong for saying it lasts that long (they claimed the plugs were good to 100k too, yeah right!) because it doesn't. But is the coolant itself prone to failure? I don't believe so based on my own experience and testimony from other L-series owners. Keep in mind that Blazers/S10s have some of the worst overall reliability records out of GM's products, so it's hard to say if intrinsic flaws in the design, owner abuse/neglect, or a problem Dex-Cool caused all these issues. I'm inclined to think the first two had more to do with it than anything else.

[Jesda]

Who said anything about mixing it....Some people switch over to it not mix it.

Few know that. "Oh, it lasts 100k! I'll just drain and fill my radiator!"

In goes the mix, up chucks the sludge.

[gniknave]

Yeah I hear lots of horror stories about Blazers/S-10's overall reliability every day. Though I will say that much of it is related to the cooling system.

I actually use Dexcool in my Q. It was put in year ago so I'll probably be flushing and replacing it come spring or summer - if not sooner. I'm definitely not going to leave it in any longer.

[ricebike]

I've used it in my LS1 since it was new, and never had any issues. But then again, I wasn't dumb enough to believe it would last 150,000 miles/15 years without changing. I flushed and changed it myself at 30k. Coolant passages were clean, no signs of corrosion or sludge.

FWIW, GM is wrong for saying it lasts that long (they claimed the plugs were good to 100k too, yeah right!) because it doesn't. But is the coolant itself prone to failure? I don't believe so based on my own experience and testimony from other L-series owners. Keep in mind that Blazers/S10s have some of the worst overall reliability records out of GM's products, so it's hard to say if intrinsic flaws in the design, owner abuse/neglect, or a problem Dex-Cool caused all these issues. I'm inclined to think the first two had more to do with it than anything else.

Meantime! long time-no see...

I hope that was a typo on the years of what dexcool is supposed to be changed @... I recall every 5 years which what I did... (i had a thread a loooong time ago about being bathed in Orange HI-C coolant last change interval; emptied the whole system via engine block drain plug)

From what i've seen from other boards is that you have to make sure no introduction of air gets into the system or else & to make sure your coolant level in the overflow bottle doesn't get too low to introduce air. Of course, you're also using distilled water to maximize the life of the mixture; i flushed it 2x w/ distilled water after the tapwater-chemical flush mix...

Ev, don't go Prestone universal then if you don't like Dexcool... same stuff-different color.

I won't sweat it much from now on