yup, you're right. GM did use dexcool for a reason. GM uses dexcool because they invested a ton of money into its development, and since they make money every time you buy the stuff, they force you to put it in your cars and trucks so they make up all the money they threw away developing that crap - and it's been proven to be crap my ASE certified and master technicians.

for those that think GM uses dexcool because it's the best for our engines, you're sadly mistaken and you've fallen into the trap. again, the pontiac vibe/toyota matrix is the best example. they both use the same exact motors. GM makes you put in dexcool while toyota FORBIDS it in the EXACT SAME MOTOR. it's all about GM's money. this is why GM cars chew up water pumps more than others (ask mechanics who see them).

dexcool FTL.

 

i'm just telling you the facts: dexcool has inferior protection and is murder on gaskets. this has been proven. i trust ASE certified technicians and master mechanics who work and experience the stuff on a daily basis. if they freak out and tell you to get that crap out of your radiator as soon as possible, that's above and beyond more reputable than a guy who does coolant changes every 3 years in his driveway. i'm not trying to be offensive, but i'll take the ideas expressed in that article than the ideas of anyone on LS1tech. no offense to any of you guys (and you know i like you, RPM WS6 and i respect your opinion), but unless you're under warranty, there is no reason to use dexcool. statistically, it's just added risk.

 

read my post. dexcool is singlehandedly responsible for destroying my water pump at a measly 30,000 miles (5 years or less on the coolant).

 

Having read all the latest responses Dexcool does not seem to be looking so good. I don't like (as someone previously mentioned) how "touchy" it seems to be. Just in case any air were to enter my system I don't want something that will fail me quicker than a fat chick in dodgeball. Changed my mind, I will be switching to Green. I really don't think it could be any worse. It's been around how long??? I plan on changing every 2 years anyways. If Green really was as corrosive to Aluminum as some here seem to claim don't you think there would be more of a buzz on that issue. Every article I've read mentions nothing of this. Green is generic enough that there isn't just one company's bank account tied to the stuff to try and defend at all costs thus creating controversy much like this very thread has. It just IS and if it still hasn't caught as much flak as others than that says enough.

 

The only reaason for Dexcool is because GM knows that *most* people WON'T change their green coolant every two years, like they're supposed to, so they developed this stuff for extended life (and there are trade-offs - if you're going to change your coolant every two years, go green and save yourself some money).

 

The green stuff clogged my heater core and my heater wouldnt throw hot air. So i flushed it and put Dexcool and havent had a problam since. Any ways ur supposed to use dexcool on 96 and up f-bodys and the green stuff is for the 93-95.

 

Just bought green for my cam swap... hope I'm ok with it Otherwise I'll go grab some G-05 and see what that's about.

-J

 

No offense taken Choco, we'll just have to agree to disagree on this topic as we have in the past.

I actually trust my own experiances over anything else. If an ASE master certified tech tells me something that I've seen to be untrue over the last 10-12 years of my own personal experiance, then I'll ALWAYS go with what I know to be true from what I've seen personally under my own care. I've got friends that are ASE techs, and I can tell you that they base their opinions on what they see in the field just like any other profession. And what they see in the field are a bunch of uninformed or just uncaring people that actually beleive that you can leave this stuff in for so long. It's obvious that they're going to see a lot of failures, because the average car buyer doesn't even barely do the factory recommended maintenance, much less do better than factory maintenance.

Works like this.......

GM says it's good for 5/150, so people leave it in that long (or longer) and then go to their tech for service when they have cooling system issues on the 5th or 6th year. Then the tech says "yeah, they all have issues just like yours, this dex stuff is bad". On the other hand, these techs don't see cars like mine with all those dex related problems because mine gets changed every 2-3 years, so all they ever see is what happens when people listen to the factory service recommendation.

So what should the techs actually be telling people? They should be saying, "yeah, dex doesn't really last any longer than the old stuff. GM's recommendation sucks."

But they don't say that, because they won't often see just how much better a cooling system looks when the dex is changed more often. They rarely meet a customer like myself that is always changing fluids much more often than recommended and thus doesn't have any problems with my stock cooling systems. The people they meet/cars they see (and thus base their opinions on) are usually the type that get a Jiffy Lube oil change every so often and rarely receive any other sort of maintenance until something breaks.

I have 4 cars ('96-'04) sitting in my garage and driveway that are living proof of my experiance, the fact that when you change dex as often as you would with the green you won't have any premature issues related strictly to the coolant. What more proof do I need? Well, actually I don't need any more. That's why the words of ASE techs that I've never met don't mean much to me. If I had problems myself, or had no prior experiance at all with the topic than maybe I could agree, but in this case I cannot. I have to go with what I've seen based on my own service schedule.

Now, I'll agree that dexcool might have some compatibility issues with older gasket material when used in some of the engines that were designed prior to dex's introduction. I'm sure that in the mid-'90s many new cars came with old engine designs using gaskets that were "pre-dex" although they were given a dex factory fill and they didn't bother to update them. I don't think this is an issue with LS1s.

As for green vs dex on a 2 year change interval, I still prefer the dex. Reason being (as I've mentioned to you before), even with good maintenace pratices (meaning proper change interval for the green), it seems that the inside of my radiators just don't stay as clean over the years. With dex, I don't seem to get nearly as much of that ash-colored cement like film on the inside of the radiator tanks....actually little or none at all with the dex. Granted, I've never actually run green and dex in the same exact radiator, so maybe the material used to make newer radiators is more resistant? I really can't answer that, but I'll just stick with what's been working for me.

In the end, both dex and green can be/are harmful if left in for many years, so that's a draw as I see it. But will dex be the direct cause of premature cooling system failure on a new(er) GM engine design (LS1 or newer) if changed every 2-3 years? HIGHLY doubtful.

So here is what I think GM did wrong:

1) Gave (and is still giving) a poor factory recommendation for the coolant change interval with dexcool.

2) Put Dexcool into some older engine designs with older gasket composition that was not originally designed for use with dexcool (like the older 3.8L, and the 4.3L for example) and still gave the same flawed recommended change interval further compounding the issue.

 

What money? A gallon of dex costs me about $1 more than the green.

Not sure about you, but in my world, $1 isn't even something I would waste time thinking about.

 

Well said RPM.


GM's recommendation's are ridiculous at times. I think my manual says change the diff fluid at like 150k if you're not using it for towing. That's absurd and would consider it neglect to wait that long.

I think the dex will last longer compared to the green, maybe a year or 2 longer is probably realistic, not 3.

I notice the same thing as you do RPM, my cooling system looks MUCH cleaner than any other car I've owned which had green in it.

 

Dexcool all day

 

Dex cool contains lubricants for the water pump as well. I've heard or people swapping to green and waterpumps going out.