View Poll Results: What coolant do you use in your LSx?
Voters: 405. You may not vote on this poll
Offical Dex-Cool vs. Green Thread
Yellow, mercedes coolant. Thick stuff.
96-98 gm trucks DO NOT like the brown sludge a.k.a. death cool
lol, I knew other people called it death cool. 
96-98 gm trucks DO NOT like the brown sludge a.k.a. death cool
Originally Posted by cantdrv65
LOL. Along with replacing the intake gasket....been there, done that switched to green(no more issues). In fact EVERY s-10 Ive seen that runs Deathcool eventually has that problem.
I used to use Dexcool... until that crap started coagulating and gunking up my whole coolant system... it was so bad I had to use the shop vac a few times to suck out what gunk I could at least out of the reservoir tank...
When I installed my new Be Cool Radiator #60028 I flushed the system out completely then used the Prestone Extended Performance Bright Green stuff... MUCH BETTER! No coagulation and seems to be safe for everything... I made sure and read the back of the container and it said it was safe for all engines, even aluminum...
When I installed my new Be Cool Radiator #60028 I flushed the system out completely then used the Prestone Extended Performance Bright Green stuff... MUCH BETTER! No coagulation and seems to be safe for everything... I made sure and read the back of the container and it said it was safe for all engines, even aluminum...
http://www.gates.com/downloads/downl...older=brochure
http://www.imcool.com/articles/antif...ant/index.html
at one time I had some access to NARSA info, and I have the article that initially came out concerning dexcool and the rash of coolant failures in GM vehicles. I think they were mostly s-10's. that problem if I remember was improperly filled systems where there was a large amount of air I think at the top of the radiator and it caused a breakdown of coolant. I think the anti-leak additive tablets that GM used when putting the car together also added to the problem.
There was a second problem concerning dexcool that I know of, where it did cause gasket failures. That was a result of one of the OAT's in it. The article above describes it, it's abbreviated 2-eha and is a plasticizer and it reacts with nylon and silicone, and there was a string of GM vehicles that came out using an intake gasket seal that was composed of these materials and then failed. The tsb came out with a new updated gasket that was compatible with dexcool as a result.
These 2 things I know for sure, and i've got the info from reliable sources, take it for what it's worth though. You can come to your own conclusions from it- that dexcool has bad OAT's in it and dexcool is entirely the problem, or there's millions of cooling systems using dexcool with absolutely no problems... which may mean there's more to understand about using dexcool and like with everything else it needs to be used properly.
http://www.imcool.com/articles/antif...ant/index.html
at one time I had some access to NARSA info, and I have the article that initially came out concerning dexcool and the rash of coolant failures in GM vehicles. I think they were mostly s-10's. that problem if I remember was improperly filled systems where there was a large amount of air I think at the top of the radiator and it caused a breakdown of coolant. I think the anti-leak additive tablets that GM used when putting the car together also added to the problem.
There was a second problem concerning dexcool that I know of, where it did cause gasket failures. That was a result of one of the OAT's in it. The article above describes it, it's abbreviated 2-eha and is a plasticizer and it reacts with nylon and silicone, and there was a string of GM vehicles that came out using an intake gasket seal that was composed of these materials and then failed. The tsb came out with a new updated gasket that was compatible with dexcool as a result.
These 2 things I know for sure, and i've got the info from reliable sources, take it for what it's worth though. You can come to your own conclusions from it- that dexcool has bad OAT's in it and dexcool is entirely the problem, or there's millions of cooling systems using dexcool with absolutely no problems... which may mean there's more to understand about using dexcool and like with everything else it needs to be used properly.
I still have yet to find a good reason to not use Dexcool. I'm installing a new radiator since I'm still building my car's foundation for bigger power down the road, and lo and behold, Dexcool is going in it.
And if you are that big of an idiot, you shouldn't be driving a performance car. Simple maintenance is all that is required. Was that your good reason? I didn't think it was good...
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TECH Fanatic
Joined: Feb 2004
Posts: 1,259
Likes: 0
From: Lexington, KY
This debate comes up about twice per year. It won't be resolved, so I vote all dexcool threads be locked immediately. Who really gives a ****? If the biggest concern with your hotrod is the coolant, you got it made!
By the way, you can't even find the "green stuff" around here anymore. It's all the "same makes same models" which is about the same as dexcool. So you can't get away from it even if you want to.
By the way, you can't even find the "green stuff" around here anymore. It's all the "same makes same models" which is about the same as dexcool. So you can't get away from it even if you want to.
I am so god damn tired of OFFICIAL this or that threads. Next someone will be pulling the trigger on a bottle of dex cool. Or dex cool for the win.
Ok, I'm done bitching.
i changed my coolent as soon as i got my car in june! the guy before me still had the factory dex cool, the coolent drained out with chunks of brown **** and the resoirvoir was so dirty and gunky ffrom the dex cool, inside my radiator i noticed little bits of parts that were corroided from the coolent! my radiator cap was so awful that i had to throw it away the car is a 99 and had 76,000 miles at the time! now i replaced it with 40/60 prestone green coolent with redline water wetter and the new thermostat and thermostat mod. the car now runs alot cooler and has not given me problems since! till this day i still get the gunk build up on my cap from the dex cool in the system! i hate the dex cool alot and i think it was an awful idea! no fluid should ever stay in the car for longer then 50,000 miles!! the green coolent has been used for years and is still the best
to all the dexcool fanboys..... consider yourself lucky yours is holding up
i however havn't had such luck, therefore to me dexcool is garbage
lets see here i have a 98 olds intrigue as a DD, bought it new, the dexcool was garbage by 60,000 miles, i flushed it and has good ole green for the last 90,000 miles
my old man had a 2000 GMC Sierra 5.3 and we ended up flushing that out around 50,000 miles due to problems with it
now he has a 2004 Sierra 5.3 and we didn't wait to notice problems with it since we were pretty fed up with it by then so its also been flushed and filled with green
one of my friends drove a 96 Blazer and that one was the worst of all
so to all the dexcool fanboys im happy for you that you have had good luck with it but i have not! And im certainly not the only one around here
i however havn't had such luck, therefore to me dexcool is garbage
lets see here i have a 98 olds intrigue as a DD, bought it new, the dexcool was garbage by 60,000 miles, i flushed it and has good ole green for the last 90,000 miles
my old man had a 2000 GMC Sierra 5.3 and we ended up flushing that out around 50,000 miles due to problems with it
now he has a 2004 Sierra 5.3 and we didn't wait to notice problems with it since we were pretty fed up with it by then so its also been flushed and filled with green
one of my friends drove a 96 Blazer and that one was the worst of all
so to all the dexcool fanboys im happy for you that you have had good luck with it but i have not! And im certainly not the only one around here
Do you think that the dex cool is harder on gaskets? On the vortec engine series I replaced quite a few intake gaskets. They just seem to break down. Is that because of the dex cool or the gaskets?
A friend of mine has a 96 Grand Prix w/ 3.1. I am putting intake gaskets on it again today because they have broke down and started leaking. The new fel pro gaskets are made from metal/rubber and look like they will last longer.
A friend of mine has a 96 Grand Prix w/ 3.1. I am putting intake gaskets on it again today because they have broke down and started leaking. The new fel pro gaskets are made from metal/rubber and look like they will last longer.
Banned
Joined: Mar 2007
Posts: 317
Likes: 0
This debate comes up about twice per year. It won't be resolved, so I vote all dexcool threads be locked immediately. Who really gives a ****? If the biggest concern with your hotrod is the coolant, you got it made!
By the way, you can't even find the "green stuff" around here anymore. It's all the "same makes same models" which is about the same as dexcool. So you can't get away from it even if you want to.
By the way, you can't even find the "green stuff" around here anymore. It's all the "same makes same models" which is about the same as dexcool. So you can't get away from it even if you want to.
I currently have dexcool in my T/A, and a mix of both dexcool and all makes/all models green coolant in my Grand Prix. The lower intake gaskets on the GP were pretty bad when I changed them, I can't say for sure whether or not its Dex-cools fault or not though, they are plastic and exposed to some extreme heat over time.
I think the safest bet is to just run the Prestone All makes/All models light green coolant for everything. I haven't heard of any problems with it, and if there is any old dexcool left in the system when you flush it (there always will be) you don't have to worry about compatability issues like you would with the traditional green coolant.
I think the safest bet is to just run the Prestone All makes/All models light green coolant for everything. I haven't heard of any problems with it, and if there is any old dexcool left in the system when you flush it (there always will be) you don't have to worry about compatability issues like you would with the traditional green coolant.