spm4520

iTrader: (5)

So is it age or usage that causes this stuff to go bad? I ask because I recently picked up an '01 with only 12,500 miles. As far as I know the coolant is original, but it does low miles.........should I change it?

Wesmanw02

iTrader: (4)

Age. And the more it sits the worse it is, because its not circulating. And it sounds like your car has sat a lot of it only has 12,500 miles on it in 7 years.

Might as well change it just to be on the safe side, it won't hurt anything to change it more often than necessary, but if you leave it too long it can sludge up.

IZRED

Both coolants are fine, just don't mix them together. I use the orange one.

spm4520

iTrader: (5)

Is there something special that needs to be done to get the sludge out? Or does simply flushing the system properly take care of it? Are there any special chemicals/detergents that help for example?

b-man64

iTrader: (2)

Last year I drained out the 5 year-old factory-fill Dexcool in my '02 WS6 T/A, there was 18K miles on the car.

I've never seen a radiator that looked cleaner inside.

I had never removed the radiator cap even once, I waited until it was time to change the coolant. If you don't introduce air into the system, the Dexcool stays happy. GM cars with leaky intake gaskets (factory design defects) seem to have given Dexcool a bad rap, I'll keep using it.

I drained the radiator and refilled the system with distilled water, ran the engine up to temp and drained again. Repeated this 5 times untill the water in the drain pan looked almost clear. Filled back up with Havoline Dexcool (GM OEM supplier for Dexcool), the distilled water that I left in the system before adding the coolant was 50% of the capacity.

From now on, instead of waiting for 5 years or 100K miles to change the Dexcool, once a year I'll drain only the radiator and fill it back up with a 50/50 mix of Dexcool and distilled water. This will keep the coolant replenished on a regular basis, there won't ever be much old coolant in the system.

When I do the LS3 (430 HP, 6.2 liter/376 cubes) swap into my '64 Tempest I'll use Dexcool.

cookba

iTrader: (10)

i have used Zerex G-05 for a couple years now and have no issues whatsoever.

wht01ws6ta

iTrader: (45)

https://ls1tech.com/forums/generatio...en-thread.html

Dexcool is fine, the thing is, just don't think you can go for 5 years or a 100,000 miles without changing it and expect everything to be great.

allbaugh_04

iTrader: (6)

Hell I honestly don't know what's better. I changed mine over to prestone I believe. Everyone else uses it and i don't hear them complaining or having issues.

If you need a howto on how to flush it, i believe ls1howto.com or installuniversty has it.

Mr Incredible

DexCool is an extended-use coolant with a suggested lifespan of 5 yrs/150,000 miles. It may work in a completely tight system with no problems, but you're betting the farm on it so I wouldn't believe it.

DexCool is is kind to aluminum. It degrades when exposed to air from compromised cooling systems and from non-distilled water. Opening a system that leaks and repeatedly topping off with water is bad.

Adding regular green coolant will not kill DexCool and cause the brown stuff....your compromised system letting in air and leaking coolant, or getting real close to the 5 yr mark, is causing the brown stuff. Adding Green to Dexcool simply lessens the service limit to that of the green coolant (2yr/20,000miles...or whatever).

Nowdays, practically all coolants are kind to aluminum. They may not be 5 yr, etc., but I don't find that to be a problem. You should maintain your car regularly, and 2-3 yr antifreeze is not too bad.

I changed over to the green and don't miss DexCool. If you have a tight system still, DexCool will work. Just don't go 5 yrs between services.

*And, OP, I searched this forum for DexCool and came up with 1500 hits. Google got 70,800 . That's enough reading to tell you what you needed to know.*

metalmechanic

dex cool # 1

metalmechanic

ditto

metalmechanic

exact same situation here, change it, 9,400 miles, 6 years old, over time the dex got a little lighter in color, and if you really know some ****, it will smell different to you.

rickybobbyss

I use dexcool/ I have heard do not mix the two colors

MMWS6

Dex was engineered for aluminum, it has what aluminum needs, and does a dam good job lubing your water pump. Stick with Dex is my 2 cnts

RPM WS6

iTrader: (3)

Ancient thread, but since it's back up....

Sitting does not make it any worse, so long as the system is sealed (no leaks) and distilled water was used.

This is exactly correct.

This works perfectly. I know from first hand experience, since this is what I've been doing for a decade now with my '98. Cooling system is still 100% original, with no sludge, no slime, no leaks, and no failures. I fully flushed it once in 2004 to get the original coolant out, and since then I've drained/refilled the radiator with a 50/50 Dexcool premix (which uses distilled water) every 1-2 years. Now at 15 years old, the radiator was as clean as a whistle when I drained it this last spring.

MMWS6

RPM WS6, how much pre-mix did it take? Available in 4l jugs here at dealership. Will two bottles cover me for a rad drop and fill? Mine was a full flush 3 years ago but only 20K put on it in that time. I would like to go this route myself that you speak of.

RPM WS6

iTrader: (3)

I buy the premix in a 1 gallon jug, and it takes less than the full gallon to refill the radiator after a drain.

My conversion chart tells me that 1 gallon = 3.78 liters. I've never needed more than the 1 gallon jug for a simple drain/refill.

BoricuaHec01

"Holy Ancient World, Batman."


What is the recommended timeframe for a flush/refill? I did a full flush and refill with 50/50 Dexcool and water when I got my car about two years ago at 70k, car now has 100k. I heard between 30-40k?

MMWS6

That's good, its expensive here so only needing one makes it very reasonable to go this way. I imaging there is something like 12-14 liters in the system so doing this every spring I think is a great idea instead of going 100k on the stuff

S13brett

Dexcool