Generation III Internal Engine 1997-2006 LS1 | LS6
Sponsored by:
Sponsored by:

DEX COOL no good??

Thread Tools
 
Search this Thread
 
Old 10-07-2007, 07:41 PM
  #1  
Teching In
Thread Starter
 
bjbaxter22's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2007
Posts: 16
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Question DEX COOL no good??

So i was at my local Napa auto parts buying anti-freeze for my '98 Z28, and he said he had heard that Chevy discovered the DEX COOL and thought it was a good idea, but now they believe that is almost worse for your engine that the most generic green anti-freeze you can buy. Is this true or this guy just talkin out his ***? Thanks for your time.
Old 10-07-2007, 07:44 PM
  #2  
TECH Regular
 
RocketCutlass's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Hoover, AL
Posts: 408
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts

Default

i actually heard about a lawsuit from someone against GM, claiming the dexcool corrodes the head gaskets and causes them to blow. the green stuff is not bad if it is properly maintained. i use the prestone all makes and models in mine. i drained the dexcool out after i heard about it just to be safe.
Old 10-07-2007, 07:49 PM
  #3  
Teching In
Thread Starter
 
bjbaxter22's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2007
Posts: 16
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Default

wow, thats really strange, and a little disturbing. i guess im going to look into it a little more and probably change something.
Old 10-07-2007, 07:59 PM
  #4  
TECH Addict
iTrader: (14)
 
djsanchez2's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2005
Location: Simi Valley, CA.
Posts: 2,727
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts

Default

Looks like i'm switching to green and watter wetter when i fix water pump.
Old 10-07-2007, 08:14 PM
  #5  
TECH Senior Member
iTrader: (11)
 
SparkyJJO's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Ohio
Posts: 7,195
Likes: 0
Received 10 Likes on 9 Posts

Default

I've heard both ways and I don't know which to believe. Gotta make up my mind before winter hits though, I need to flush my system (the mix isn't right, previous owner put more water in it than there should be so there is a risk of freezing in the winter).
Old 10-07-2007, 08:31 PM
  #6  
TECH Fanatic
 
DaveX's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: Lexington, KY
Posts: 1,259
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts

Default

There was a good thread on this a while back. I'm not a fan of it but the all makes/all models stuff is about the same thing, and it's all I could find last time I went looking. So about all you can do is just change it periodically.
Old 10-07-2007, 08:31 PM
  #7  
Teching In
Thread Starter
 
bjbaxter22's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2007
Posts: 16
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Default

http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news0...m_dexcool.html
check it out, I think this may spell the end for DEX-COOl, at least in my case.
Old 10-07-2007, 08:58 PM
  #8  
TECH Senior Member
iTrader: (11)
 
SparkyJJO's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Ohio
Posts: 7,195
Likes: 0
Received 10 Likes on 9 Posts

Default

Samuel in Bellville, Ohio experienced a similar problem with sludge in the cooling system of his car.
Hey that's my home town!

The bright orange coolant often changes into a muddy colored liquid
Hmm mine looks like that, only really thinned out from the excess water.

automobile mechanics are advising that if you have Dex-Cool as a coolant in your vehicle, you should not replace it with another form of antifreeze.

If your car or truck came from the factory with Dex-Cool, you should continue to use that coolant both as replacement and to top off the radiator, the mechanics say.
So wait, even though dex-cool is seemingly bad stuff they still say to keep it and not replace it with the green stuff?
Old 10-07-2007, 09:19 PM
  #9  
TECH Resident
iTrader: (6)
 
Lt1Porsche's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2005
Location: Midlothian, Virginia
Posts: 795
Likes: 0
Received 2 Likes on 2 Posts

Default

Dex-cool may have some buid-up problems from what i have personally seen but i disagree with the fact that dex-cool eats away at aluminum parts and plastic parts. If you change your coolant and flush it at the recommended intervals. 5 years or 150,000miles. I garrantee you that not a single person follows the intervals that are recommended.
Old 10-07-2007, 09:32 PM
  #10  
TECH Resident
iTrader: (10)
 
chromeplated500's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2006
Posts: 804
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts

Default

Wow I never heard that... I had heard that if you mix orange and green.... it turns t **** and kinda gunks up.
Old 10-07-2007, 11:05 PM
  #11  
TECH Addict
iTrader: (34)
 
Websy21's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: Alberta, Canada
Posts: 2,346
Likes: 0
Received 1 Like on 1 Post
Default

interesting info, I will follow this since I am doing a cam swap this winter
Old 10-08-2007, 01:23 AM
  #12  
11 Second Club
 
LS1 FORMULA's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: Chandler, AZ
Posts: 125
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Default

Originally Posted by Lt1Porsche
Dex-cool may have some buid-up problems from what i have personally seen but i disagree with the fact that dex-cool eats away at aluminum parts and plastic parts. If you change your coolant and flush it at the recommended intervals. 5 years or 150,000miles. I garrantee you that not a single person follows the intervals that are recommended.

How does aluminum and plastic rust??????

If you take care of your car it will take care of you.

properly maintain it and you will have no problems.

If you do switch get all the old stuff out ( IE heater core ), they dont mix well. Been there done that.
Old 10-08-2007, 01:26 AM
  #13  
TECH Addict
iTrader: (41)
 
LS1Silverado05's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Jefferson City, MO
Posts: 2,329
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts

Default

Pulled a dex-cool'd water pump and the impeller looked like a thin crusty sawblade....no fins left on it. Thats enough for me to drain that ****!
Old 10-08-2007, 01:33 AM
  #14  
TECH Veteran
iTrader: (19)
 
2002_Z28_Six_Speed's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Wash, DC
Posts: 4,539
Likes: 0
Received 1 Like on 1 Post

Default

All coolant will eat away at the cooling system and engine over a period of decades and decades.
Old 10-08-2007, 08:35 AM
  #15  
TECH Senior Member
iTrader: (4)
 
vettenuts's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Little Rhody
Posts: 8,092
Likes: 0
Received 9 Likes on 9 Posts

Default

This thread has a lot of hearsay in it. Why not get the facts. There were several issues in the 90's with Dexcool, almost all were related to low coolant and systems not properly maintained. I have inspected my radiator and the block with a boroscope, it is as clean as the day it was made. There is not silicate build-up like you get with the green coolant. It was designed explicitly for aluminum, why would it eat it? I have even gone so far as to switch my 89 Suburban and 94 Grand Am to Dexcool, no problems in seven years but I also maintain it correctly. By the way, Dexcool and water wetter have similar properties so adding Water Wetter (which only reduces surface tension) to Dexcool is a waste of money.
Old 10-08-2007, 08:46 AM
  #16  
11 Second Club
iTrader: (14)
 
rpmauto's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2007
Location: Wisconsin
Posts: 709
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Default

I was at a a/c delco seminar last year and the instructor (who seriously knows his ****) says that dexcool gets a bad rep from the gunk you see at the top when you pull off the cap. He said that it is supposed to do that. Those are the contaminates in your system. IMHO all coolant needs to be maintained correctly to work the way it is designed. If you leave it in for many years all of it is going to have electolosis problems. Just try this once. take a dvom put it on volts and stick the pos end in your coolant and ground the neg end, you will get a reading. I cant remember what the spec is, but i have seen as much as 3 volts and that will eat up heater cores and **** real fast. Just my .02
Old 10-08-2007, 08:52 AM
  #17  
Trunion King
iTrader: (16)
 
bene's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2006
Location: Texan in Colorado
Posts: 4,394
Likes: 0
Received 2 Likes on 2 Posts

Default

I have used Dexcool on all of my previous vehicles one which has 197,xxx miles before I sold it (3.8 V6 firebird). No problems w/ this type of coolant.

BTW, I had : 91 S10, 98 sonoma, 2K Firebird, and what I have now in my sig.
Old 10-08-2007, 09:06 AM
  #18  
TECH Enthusiast
iTrader: (2)
 
silverbandit0996's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2006
Location: IN A VAN, DOWN BY THE RIVER!
Posts: 564
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts

Default

here we go again.
Old 10-08-2007, 11:11 AM
  #19  
TECH Veteran
 
robertbartsch's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: Hartsdale, NY
Posts: 4,055
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts

Default

My 99 SS radiator re-fill reserviour is a gummie sludge mess but the rest of my cooling system has cristal clear orange antifreeze.

My 95 z-28 was the same way and it ran the green stuff...

I've changed the fliud twice with 57K miles....
Old 10-08-2007, 11:45 AM
  #20  
TECH Enthusiast
iTrader: (6)
 
Prerun4fun13's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Nor Cal
Posts: 540
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts

Default

I use the Prestone all makes all models stuff. I dont like dex cool because it sludges up if there is any other brand of coolant. When i bought my car the momo put green coolant in it so i have flushed the cooling system with Prestone about 3 times. The reason i didnt put dex in is because if there was any green left i didnt want it to sludge.


Quick Reply: DEX COOL no good??



All times are GMT -5. The time now is 11:35 AM.