Dex-cool bad?
Thread Starter
Banned
Joined: Dec 2004
Posts: 2,636
Likes: 2
Originally Posted by Cop Car
aww my car only made it 130K with the stock water pump and dex cool. its crap, it should have at least lasted a billiventy miles 
Hmm,what may be going on is this coolants ability to remain stable while dealing with electrolyses.If you are having problems with this coolant an option is to drain and refill with dex and distilled water.The distilled water has almost o-minerals to act with a state of electrolyses,also make sure your block to chasis ground is clean and tight.
Thread Starter
Banned
Joined: Dec 2004
Posts: 2,636
Likes: 2
Originally Posted by Cop Car
its about taking care of your car and using what its designed to be with. your 5.0 didnt come from the factory with dexcool. LS1s did. put dexcool back in your LS1
Seems like most people that complain about Dexcool either don't use distilled water or they have a leak somewhere that is exposing it to air. I have a phantom leak somewhere (at least I think I do because my overflow reservoir slowly creeps down over the span of a few months), but I guess that's what kinda concerns me...I don't know if Dexcool itself caused the leak by eating a gasket. Kinda like wondering how many licks it takes to get to the center of a tootsie rool tootsie pop...only Dexcool doesn't taste as good.
between having work and repairs done ive added and changed my coolant several times in my SS. while i havent noticed any cooling or overheating problems my dexcool sure looks shitty for it not being in there a long time.
id recommend frequent changes to avoid problems if youre going to use it.
id recommend frequent changes to avoid problems if youre going to use it.
Thread Starter
Banned
Joined: Dec 2004
Posts: 2,636
Likes: 2
Originally Posted by MeentSS02
Seems like most people that complain about Dexcool either don't use distilled water or they have a leak somewhere that is exposing it to air. I have a phantom leak somewhere (at least I think I do because my overflow reservoir slowly creeps down over the span of a few months), but I guess that's what kinda concerns me...I don't know if Dexcool itself caused the leak by eating a gasket. Kinda like wondering how many licks it takes to get to the center of a tootsie rool tootsie pop...only Dexcool doesn't taste as good.
My 5.0 had a 50/50 mix of distilled and Dex from day 1. It went through 2 pumps in 20K miles. I know most GM vehicles I hear about lose water pumps at around 70-100K miles.
LS1 Tech Stories
The Best V8 Stories One Small Block at Time
6 Common C5 Corvette Failures and What's Involved In Repairing Them
Pouria Savadkouei
Retro Modern Bandit Pontiac Trans AM Comes With Burt Reynolds' Autograph
Verdad Gallardo
Top 10 Greatest Cadillac V Series Performance Models Ever, Ranked
Pouria Savadkouei
Top 10 Most Powerful Chevy Trucks Ever Made!
Hennessey's New Supercharged Silverado ZR2 Has 700 HP
Verdad Gallardo
Coachbuilt N2A Anteros Is an LS2-Powered C6 Corvette In Italian Clothes
Verdad Gallardo
Awesome K5 Blazer Restomod Comes With C7 Corvette Power
Verdad Gallardo
10 Camaros You Should Never Buy
10 LS Engine Myths That Refuse to Die
Verdad Gallardo
Wow, there is a lot of really bad information in this thread. Go to the IMcool web site and read up on the findings that Texaco and GM presented a few years back on why Dexcool was messing up. It was an issue of letting the system get low (air introduction) by either a bad cap or leaks. Read the lawsuits, most people complaining never even opended the hood on their cars to check the level figuring they didn't have to. I have switched all my older cars to Dexcool and they have used it for several years, absolutely no problems. I have even gone so far as to use a borescope and look into the blocks and the radiators, they are so clean you can eat off of them.
Haha, wow. You guys kill me with all of this hearsay about Dexcool. Vettenuts is dead on in calling out all of the misinformation in this thread. Believe it or not, GM is not out to screw us.... at least on the Dexcool issue.
I guess the bottom line is that Dexcool isn't "idiot proof". If you don't mind checking your coolant level regularly (which most enthusiast do anyway) you should be find with the stuff. It sounds like the green stuff is more forgiving for those people who don't like to check it on a regular basis.
Originally Posted by Quick Double Nickel
I guess the bottom line is that Dexcool isn't "idiot proof". If you don't mind checking your coolant level regularly (which most enthusiast do anyway) you should be find with the stuff. It sounds like the green stuff is more forgiving for those people who don't like to check it on a regular basis.
What is interesting, if you look inside a block with "green stuff" it is coated, and in my opinion, it probably to some degree inhibits cooling especially on the hotspots near the combustion chambers.
Kind of a thread hijack, but where is my coolant mysteriously going? I have to add a little bit every few months (not much, but it is below the full cold line), and I have no visible leaks anywhere (under the car or in the engine bay)...
Does it just evaporate out somehow?
Does it just evaporate out somehow?
a lot of people also run into problems when switching coolants because they think they just drain the radiator dry and the whole system is empty.. no no.. there's still fluid in the block AND in the heater core..
have it flushed proffessionaly 1st to remove all the old coolant residue.. THEN add your new stuff.. whatever it is you are wanting to use.
have it flushed proffessionaly 1st to remove all the old coolant residue.. THEN add your new stuff.. whatever it is you are wanting to use.
I am a gm tech. Yes the problem is with air introduction into the system by leak or what not and many people do not check it. Especially in the vehicles I listed earlier in this thread these issues were major. However, I have seen some really nasty cooling systems come through and it is simply a problem we did not have 10,11 years ago before dexcool hit the market. Many of us keep an eye on our cars so it will not be a huge issue. However if you have a nasty system and do not rod out the radiator, and throughly flush the block you are accomplishing nothing. But if you do all should be well. I personally run the old green stuff in mine and have not had problems but I am into it so much there is no point in running extended change coolant. Whether you want to blame the coolant or the owner has yet to be determined. But I do know that the old green stuff did not have these problems until the antifreeze concentration got ultra low from people constatnly adding water to top off low systems.
Thread Starter
Banned
Joined: Dec 2004
Posts: 2,636
Likes: 2
I do know that Ford used an OAT's based coolant (similar to Dex) in the 99 couger and had so much trouble with the rubber seals being deteriorated in the water-pumps that they went back to a silicate/phosphate based coolant the next year. I also find it odd that my 5.0 ate TWO! water pumps in the 20K miles I drove it using Dex/distilled.
Originally Posted by dug
If dex-cool sucks, why is it used at all? I just assumed it was for the aluminum block.
Yeah, the green stuff is cheaper.
Yeah, the green stuff is cheaper.
id recommend frequent changes to avoid problems if youre going to use it.