ChocoTaco369

that's why you don't have a problem. most people don't flush their system every year. if you flush it every year regardless of what coolant you have, your system will likely be just fine. dexcool's life is rated some 2-3 times longer than the green coolant and it boasts a mileage span of 5 times that of the green coolant. this is ridiculous. GM markets dexcool as a long-life coolant, when the reality is, the intervals it's rated at are simply too high. anyone that runs dexcool for 5 years/150,000 miles is asking for it.

flushing dexcool every year will likely make it so your coolant system has no problems. however, if you're going to do this, you may as well put green coolant in it because the coolant flushes are 3 times as expensive with dexcool. all you're doing is flushing money down the drain.

now, if you don't flush your coolant regularly, this is where dexcool becomes a problem!

it's so ironic because if you flush your coolant every year or two, dexcool won't have any problems, but in that case, you may as well use green as it's cheaper. but if you wait several years to flush your coolant - the advantage of running dexcool - you may encounter a lot of problems from the old dexcool eating seals and gunking up! i mean, do you appreciate the irony here? flushing dexcool annually is throwing money down the drain, but using it for extended change intervals - the whole purpose of the creation of dexcool - is when people have problems! is anyone else appreciating this?!

NassyVette

iTrader: (22)

When it's a safety hazard there shouldn't be a time limit on recalling shitty parts. No other company stands behind it's cars as long as GM? Hah! Have you owned anything other than GM's? And did I say anything about dexcool screwing up anyones coolant system? I was simply stating what has happened with my car. And if I can pay 1 grand to fix GM's f*ck ups I can bitch about them all I want.

DrEvyl

iTrader: (5)

Looks Maple Red Metallic to me... This is what a purple Formula looks like:

eallanboggs

iTrader: (1)

Install a filter like the 18 wheelers have on their truck cooling systems to filter out the trash if it's that big of a problem.

ChocoTaco369

DrEvyl, i've never been a huge fan of any purple car but yours is absolutely sweet. the firehawk hood on that car looks amazing with that color

RPM WS6

iTrader: (3)

In my experiance, it makes no difference what coolant you use. Green or dex, the key to long cooling system component life is in regular coolant changes. I use Dexcool, and I do a full flush on my daily drivers every 2-3 years, and a drain/refill on my Camaro every spring (don't see a need to flush this one, since I'm adding a gallon of fresh coolant every 1000-1500 miles). Been working great for me, so I'll keep doing it.

FWIW, the inside of my radiators look a lot cleaner with regularly changed Dexcool than my older cars did with regularly changed green stuff, so even if you're gonna change it often I think Dex is the way to go. The extra $$ isn't really an issue to me.

HotWhipT/A

iTrader: (31)

I replaced my waterpump today! It was really messy! Brand new from O'reilly's for $150. I dunno the brand...Master something, but I heard its a good company. Came with new gaskets which were desperately needed. My stock gaskets were half gone or insanely brittle. I also put on new hoses, thermostat, and a low milage stock radiator. Hopefully this fixes my magically disapearing coolant. Yes thats right, it goes low, but no leaks.

I put Dex-cool back in. I dunno why some of you guys are bitching about it costing so much??? I bought 2 gallons of it and it was only $20!!! I didn't really pay attention, but I think it cost about the same as the green stuff. So, I don't know where your going off and saying its X3 more???

BLKWS.6

Meh, I have reached the conculsion the car will fall apart before the mandatory change occurs next time. Just got MY coolant changed and prolly can forget it other than checking once in a while now.

ChocoTaco369

i agree that the problem with dexcool mainly lies in its usage interval. it's simply rated too high. however, the point i'm trying to make is if you're going to change your coolant every 2 years anyway, you may as well run green as it's A LOT cheaper than dexcool and is known to be easier on seals and hoses than dexcool. IMO, changing dexcool every 2 years is throwing money down the drain. the purpose of dexcool is the longer change intervals, but they're known to damage seals, hoses and pump gaskets. in short:

- change dexcool every 2 years and throw money away
- use dexcool for its extended life properties and eat your gaskets up

but that's just my opinion, it's not fact by any means.

ChocoTaco369

it has to be going somewhere. not meaning to scare you, but you may want to get your oil analyzed from blackstone labs. it sounds like you may be getting coolant in your engine oil. that could cause a big problem in the long run. if you're losing coolant and it's not leaking, the only thing i can think of is it's seeping into your oil

HotWhipT/A

iTrader: (31)

Its a possibillity. I've already planned for that. My oil looks good. I pulled the valve covers too. Everything looks fine.

ChocoTaco369

"looks can be deceiving". i know it's corny, but it holds true.

anyways, i recommend you send out THIS BATCH of oil. reason why is the new water pump and radiator you just replaced may have fixed the problem. i suggest you send away the oil in there right now so you'll know for sure if the coolant has been going into your oil. chances are everything's fine but who knows that the block or combustion chamber looks like.

RPM WS6

iTrader: (3)

Again, in my experiance, the inside of my radiators look a lot cleaner with regularly changed Dexcool than my older cars did with regularly changed green stuff, so even if you're gonna change it often I think Dex is the way to go. The extra $$ isn't really an issue to me.

BLKWS.6

We just did my water pump and I will have to say. I doubt it has been done/drained before, but that thing was SPOTLESS! inside. I mean SPOTLESS! Not even a FILM inside the radiator or coolant passages that I could see. The fill-tank is another story though.

Cop Car

iTrader: (14)

so you mean its clean where it matters and dirty where it dont? sounds like dexcool does its job

HotWhipT/A

iTrader: (31)

Yea, I don't know if my coolant had ever been changed and its got 133k! It didn't look really bad and the block, WP and radiator looked really clean. Even the overflow tank was good besides a lil crap on the dip stick.

TORCHD 02 TA

iTrader: (39)

i did a coolant flush this past october, first time i have done it since owing it since 7/2005 everything was really clean except the dip stick on the over fill tank. filled it back up with dex cool

Now, when i did the coolant flush i think there might have been some air pockets. b/c i took my car to my perfed speed shop, and there might be a bad head gasket. ther radiator had about 20 oz in there, but the block was full. i think it was air pockets, and i think that the leak from the head is coincidental (sp) they drained the oil and it was crystal clean..

but i still trust dex cool

slt200mph

iTrader: (42)

When yuo are filling up with coolant and you do not want to have air pockets unhook the hose to your throttle body and when the antifrees starts coming out of it hook it up. You will have most of the air out of the engine at that time. Then run it for a while and keep topping it off as needed. It works for me..

TORCHD 02 TA

iTrader: (39)

hmm that is a good idea thanks

CAMJAG

iTrader: (34)

How about when you flush your system again you use water, dex cool, and the new mix with anything stuff??? Get the best of both worlds