Was having my oil changed over to GC when I noticed the jerk mechanic checking the coolant strip & before I could get to him he had already poured some kind of cheap **** antifreeze mix down the hole. It was right after that I noticed gauge read a little hotter than normal. Its been about two weeks now and I just got around to checking it myself. Last time I checked it was clean & right on the mark. Now its fuggly & crusty brown **** all over the strip. Would the experts advise a power flush with chemicals & fresh dex-coolant, that cost $99.00 for the flush & coolant then an additional $39.95 for the chemicals? I swear, you have to watch these mechanics. They will add shitty brake fluid~rip the lid off to check the K&N~lean over the fenders with sharp tools in every pocket~climb into your car with grease-dirt-mud all over them. Its all very stressful . I tell you these f_ckin cars are almost as high maintance as a broad . Well, whatcha think yea or nay ?

 

That why I do all my own work.

I would just flush your own radiator. I do mine every year with no problems.

Good luck.
Bill

 

I agree........also.......I wouldn't use dex cool again unless your car is still under warranty. it likes to gunk up easily. I used to that for valvoline and almost every car with dex cool had gunk and crap all over the over flow and the radiator cap. As soon as my S10's warranty is up, i'm switichin over to regular coolant and other people I know already have.

 

Well when the aluminum heads and block start corroding with the regular green stuff, I'm sure they will be very glad they don't use DexCool anymore. The reason it's used is b/c it's less corrosive to our aluminum engines. The only way it gets crappy is if there is a leak (mixed with air) or if the green stuff is mixed with it. In a properly sealed system running pure DexCool there should be no gunk build up.

Get the flush. It costs money now, but it will cost more later if you just leave it as it is.

 

so soorrrrryy. ain't gotta be an *** about it. sorry I didn't know that. I apologize.

 

Not sure where I came off as an *** about it, but I apologize if it sounded like it. I just think it's stupid that some people change things on the car without researching why they are a certain way in the first place (in this instance DexCool). Some people need to research a bit more before they just flat out say "I'm gonna use something else because it's easier/cheaper".

 

drain and fill yours every year, that's what i do. drain, fill with water, let it run till hot, cool down, drain, fill with a 50/50 mix. if you do it every year, things don't really get dirty. i also add a bottle of water wetter.

 

Dex Cool is the best coolant to use on the aluminum LSx series engines..for the reasons listed above..it didn't sound like anyone was being a *** to me.. ..the history of how the LSx engine was engineered and developed is an amazing story..some very smart people brought this great engine platform into this world..it is great reading.. beleive it or not those guys at GM power train are very bright..

 

Just a caution on using water. Of course we all want to use purified water. Tap water contains many minerals that will eventually end up as crusty deposits inside your cooling system. The crust is very difficult to remove, even these power flushes, for the most part, are ineffective at removing mineral deposits.

If you're going to use water, use deionized water, distilled water, or at least reverse osmosis filtered water.

 

The comment "Well when the aluminum heads and block start corroding with the regular green stuff, I'm sure they will be very glad they don't use DexCool anymore." is where you came off as an ***, I apologize if that was not your intentions.

 

I think he was just stating the obvious. No worries . My car has gunk in the overflow also. Then again my water pump went out a few weeks ago and I had to replace it. Maybe it had something to do with it going bad.

 

FYI - Dex Cool is totally interchangable with the green stuff. Why? because they are the same base compound Ethlyene Glycol. The additive packages are different, and as a result, if you have more than 10% of the green-stuff you need to use the 2-year flush cycles, instead of the Dex-Cool 5-year cycle.

The point of Dex-Cool is to use a different additive package that resists corrosion (acidic pH) better than the green stuff does. Mixing the two will not gunk anything. If you boil out a system you will probably see soft orange-brown film-like chucks in the fluid, but it won't plate any componants like rust or hard water scale will. Very easy to remove it with a simple flush.

Dex-Cool got a bum-rap from internet mythology a few years back when combined with contamination issues on GMC pick ups. The solution for those was to use a spring-loaded vacume valve in the radiator cap instead of the gravity-controlled one the factory came with... and to fill the system to the HOT full level when cold (i.e. add an extra quart or so of coolant to keep it sealed properly). The issue was excessive contamination entering the cooling system... not the coolant itself.

As for the aluminum vs. iron block differences, nope that's not the reason at all. Dex-Cool was originally launched in iron blocks like the LT1 and Vortech engines, it's defintely not aluminum-block specific. ALL GM engines after 1996 had it.. expect for some very few exceptions (and I'm not sure why they were excluded, but it may have to do with the way the additive package causes film-chunks to circulate... maybe they have a really small coolant passage somewhere?)

It's just Ethylene Glycol coolant... with a great additive package to increase life span of the coolant.

More info: http://www.imcool.com/articles/antif...l-macs2001.htm

 

Interesting point... North America is known for having very soft water. In most parts of the world there is WAY more problems with hard water scale in the food service industry and any coolant system. It's very common for European cars to be filled with distilled water, while here it seems strange to do so.

DI or Distilled water is the way to go IMO... cheap insurance on preventing hard water scale in the rad. Use a hose to flush the engine and rad, but do a final draining and then fill with Dex-Cool and DI water before bleeding and sealing it all up.

 

Steve, IIRC one of them is ethylene glycol (green) and the other is propylene glycol (Dexacool).

And also, if I'm not mistaken, Dexacool claims a longer service life than the green stuff. Dexcool is less toxic, if not non-toxic. (Please don't drink it! I doubt it would be safe!). Interestingly, propylene glycol is also used as a personal lubricant (Yes, for sex!). So if by chance anyone spills some on their *******, put it to good use!

 

Nope. DexCool is Ethylene Gylcol.

That Sierra crap is the Propylene stuff.

All Ethylene Glycol is biodegradable. In the mid 90's the EPA listed 1 gallon as the required reporting amount for a spill, but changed it a year later to 1000 gallons. It's toxic to animal livers (mostly cats, dogs, etc...), but bacteria love the stuff and will break it down pretty quick. Just dilute the stuff 10:1 and it's supposedly fine as run-off water.

 

My bad. You are correct.

The MSDS for AC Delco Dexcool.

http://www.acdelco.com.au/Assets/Dex...-%20Safety.pdf

 

Hmmm. Suggestion: if you DONT KNOW... don't post an uninformed opinion in tech. Stay quiet, listen, learn.

 

Well, he DOES have a point, but, I dont think Arctic was being an *****, more like a whimsical antidote?? Anyhow, I do have a question for you arctic, and any others out there, since you brought it up. You say, and others, that when air gets in with Dexcool it coagulates but in a sealed system its fine. Hmm, what about when preassure builds and the Dex goes to the overflow bottle? It goes out to the air and then comes back in, so.....???

 

Hmm, Well from my experience that would only happen if your overflow container was empty.. When it overflows, it usually goes only one direction. If the container is 1/2 empty for instance, it is still sealed because it moves from one liquid pool to the next.. correct.. Recently, my car started overheating and I saw steam coming out of the left side of the hood.. I quickly pulled over and glanced down at the temp gauge and it was over the 260 F mark.. I shut the car off, checked the overflow bottle and it was still full.. I waited a few minutes, 3 tops and restarted the engine becuase I had to get to work.. The temp dropped dramatically within those few minutes..? Not sure what transpired but when I got to work, I checked the fluid levels.. The radiator was practically empty... So that right there tells me that the overflow bottle only flows in one direction because there is no vacuum to pull it back into the radiator - at least in my case.. "Warning: Other results may vary"...

 

WOW I never seen so much bad info in one thread....you guys wooood need a step ladder just to become morons.