Dex cool

[Dudeboy]

I am ready for my first start up, and I am buying all the fluids that I need (oil, transmission fluid and anit-freeze)and I read the 2002 Factory manual recommendations. I did a google search on Dex Cool and quite a bit of negative information pop up as well as a proposed class-action law suit. Have you guys seen this and what are using for anti-freeze instead of Dex-cool.

 

Thanks

 

P.S. (my vette is under warranty, so as soon as I find more information, the Dex cool is being removed)

[bleakdragonmage]

Im not a fan of the stuff. I believe its supposed to last somewhere around 5years 100k miles or something. My truck was way under that and that ♥♥♥♥ turned to a sludge and i ended up having to replace my intake manifold along with having to do a full chemical flush because it corroded the coolant ports. If you use it, i would change it every 1.5/2 years...maybe even sooner.

[EvilC]

I just added dex cool back to my car. I used it for 2 yrs. 8k miles, few tracks days and no problems. I have seen the negative comments on it but also there are good ones. I don't really have an answer besides...it worked for me...so far

[worknprog]

I had a 96 grandprix and I was actually part of the class action suit and received a letter when they finally settled. I couldn't wait and had to do the work myself. It clogged my intake and ate the gasket in the cross over passage which inturn caused it to leak into the intake and then burned off. I had so many problems with that car that at 120k I sold it for $50.00. I won't be running that crap in ls1. Just my two cents.

[worknprog]

Sorry for the double post, but another up date. My boss has 96 Z71 and yesterday it over heated. He had it towed to a shop and they told him it was going to be $900.00 they were going to have to replace the rediator and all the other coolant parts. they were full of sludge and had corroded the radiator. He is taking off tomorrow to do the work himself. Just my two experiences.

[rags]

Hi Glenn,

 

No DexCool in Dale's motor and she's still going strong after 11k.

 

Joe

[Savage42]

At my buddy's shop, we NEVER put Dex back into anything! If you are starting new, just use the green stuff. If not, flush well and then use the green stuff.

[Sumo]

I have had Dexcool in my 99 Lumina LTZ, no problems in it whatsoever. The key thing in using Dexcool is that you have to use distilled water to mix and not just regular tap water.

[piston]

dexcool sucks. ive seen dexcool chewing gaskets and working on iron blocks like termites. always swap to green in any gm i wrenched. i use dexcool in my old lt1 swap and didnt like it either, not that it damaged anything but the thought of eating gaskets and looking at the way the gm gaskets are set up and made of, i didnt wanna risk anything. you cant go wrong with green. in fact, thers this new stuff out for imports and german vehicles in red and blue made just for aluminum blocks and is a life time antifreeze. toyota uses it, nissan and honda uses it and mercedes...name is pentosin.

[blackice280zxt]

I am big into chevys and dex cool was an epic failure. That being said every car I get I drain flush reflush then flush again and put the tried and true green in.

 

Even my saab had this purple stuff in it and I replaced it with green just to be safe.

[rejracer]

Dexcool is a good product. Dexcool in the hands of ignorant owners/mechanics is a bad combo.

 

First off GM from the factory used clay tablets in the cooling system. This caused some problems on the early 90's vehicles, of which my 94 impala was one of them. I had to flush the system about 9 times to get it clean to my satisfaction. The symptoms was it was eating through radiators at the rate of 1 per year. This was caused from a contaminated system, not the coolant itself. It is these abused systems that have cost GM dearly, not the coolant itself.

 

When using the stuff, you must follow a few simple rules.

1. Don't add stop leak.

2. Use only distilled water, NEVER use tap water.

3. NEVER mix coolants, especially with dexcool.

4. Ensure the system is clean before converting to it.

 

If you can follow the above simple rules, dexcool will work just fine. If you mix green with the orange, and leave it in there for 8 or 9 years, and then wonder why your system is all crudded up, well, you abused the system.. Tap water is already loaded with all sorts of minerals. It is these minerals that cause a radiator to get calcified and and contaminated with the minerals. The minerals also negate the anti corrosion properties of the coolant.

 

Stop leak is just so much more crud floating around in the system. It's not needed, and should never be used, except for an emergency. GM thought they would use it to prevent a leak, but did not test it for long term stability. They paid for that mistake, and lost a lot of customers.

 

Mixing coolants together is bad because the chemical composition of the two is not compatible. It creates an acidic solution, that does the damage as described in previous posts.

 

Lastly if you are converting a system, you must get it clean, clean, clean before using it. don't just drain the radiator and fill it up. Take your time and do it right, drain the block, rinse it out, flush with radiator cleaner/flush, repeat. This is true for just about all coolant systems, and any coolant.

 

With that said, I converted to prestone yellow because it's said to be compatible with anything. If the prestone yellow was not available, I would use dexcool in ALL my cars, Z included.

[Dudeboy]

Thank you guys for the replies !! I will take a look at the pentosin. The engine has not ran since it was pulled from the Trans Am about two years ago !!! But, we drained all the fluids just before I put the engine in the Z. I will either flush the system and go with the green stuff or go with import coolant. I am not going to use Dex cool, the more I read, the negatives far out weigh the positives. Rejracer, that is some good information.

 

Thanks

[SUNNY Z]

I can chime in here. I've run dex-cool in both my 99 grand prix, and all of my LS Camaro's. No problems whatsoever. As stated earlier, you don't wanna mix, or do any of the other aforementioned things. Also, if your cooling system has an air leak, it will turn that stuff to the consistency of cottage cheese. Not pretty.

[piston]

i say just stay away from dexcool and you dont have to worry! you can never really go wrong with green in aluminum engines.