Yes. About 5 or 6 years ago my 95 Monte Carlo with the 3.8L blew an intake gasket and I waited too long to fix it, overheated it and took out a head gasket as well. At the time I was working tons of hours and had no time to fix it. A local mechanic, who by the way only works on GM vehicles, fixed it and flushed all the Dexcool out and replaced it with regular antifreeze. He claimed Dexcool was corrosive in one way or another and eats the plastic gaskets. I don't know the fate of the car after that because I sold it to buy a 98 Z-28 that is long gone too.

 

that stuff is crap. everone should dump it and install the old green stuff!!!!

 

when I was working as a HVAC service tech the chevy van I was driving went through a intake gasket twice. and the other techs were going through head and intake gaskets. The wifes 2000 went through an intake also I replaced it and went green and never went back. Yes there is or was a class action lawsuit against GM for the use of Dexcool. I did not read the info but here is a link. http://www.dexcoolsettlement.com/

 

no problems here running Dexcool. One with over 170k miles and one (currently) over 176k miles. Zero problems. No problems with my '05 Sierra in regards to Dexcool. A lot of people with problems, but not me.

 

no problems here running Dexcool. One with over 170k miles and one (currently) over 176k miles. Zero problems. No problems with my '05 Sierra in regards to Dexcool. A lot of people with problems, but not me.

Same here. I know a lot of people that told me it caused the problems with there cars/trucks but so far I must be one of the lucky ones.

 

As far as know, GM is still using the same Dexcool crap.

By a new GM vehicle, that's what you get.

 

99 Grand Am with 112K no problem yet.

 

I'm a nonbeliever.
I have over 160k miles in my 2002 Trailblazer using Dexcool and have had no problems. I changed the coolant once at 100k miles. Does it just affect everyone else and not me? Maybe smart guys are immune (j/k).

I suspect most of these problems have other causes and Dexcool ends up getting blamed. Think how many cars there are using Dexcool.

I do believe, however, that it gums up if you mix air into it. So people blow a head gasket, air gets mixed in and it gums up, then they point to Dexcool as the cause.

 

I do believe, however, that it gums up if you mix air into it. So people blow a head gasket, air gets mixed in and it gums up, then they point to Dexcool as the cause.

This is my thought too. After making repairs that involves getting in to the cooling system or leaking it out, I'll bet a lot of time the cooling system isn't bled properly.

I had a 2002 monte carlo that had a lower intake manifold gasket leak at around 70K, however I think this was due to a poor gasket design (they have since revised it). The motor was still going strong at 190K when the tranny went out. (10 days after my last payment!!) 3100/3400 v6 are notorious for this problem.

 

most of the stuff i see here with the "dexcool problem" are ones that have not been serviced. which leads me to believe that if left unservice the dexcool goes bad in time and starts to eat rubber/plastic stuff.
i have a few repeat customer that has not have any problems.
ohh and i think it goes by age not milage. as i had one a while back 01 with only 30k and it had a leaking manifold gasket. (coolant leak).

 

It's suppose to be good for 100K miles, according to the owner's manual of the last GM i owned (a 2006). The warrenty would be voided if you didn't use it. I had a water pump go at 70K miles; don't know if it was related.

 

2003 S10 4.3 liter, intake gasket leaked at 42000 miles. Should of drained the dexcool out of it when it was new and put the green stuff in.

 

Can anybody confirm or dispel the rumor that Aluminum engines need a low phosphate coolant? Is there a low phosphate coolant in the green stuff?

 

The gaskets would have done the same thing if Dexcool had never been in the system. :yes:

 

wellll....

Working at a radiator shop. We change head gaskets and radiators and yes antifreeze...

You guys are actually talking about 2 problems.

1.)Dexcool is slightly MORE corrosive then the "green" stuff.
2.)The lower intake gaskets on the GM's is faulty by design.

Sometimes customers come in and state that they called the dealer and the dealer says...change the antifreeze and get your lower intake gasket done.

My wifes Aztek just had it done while I was away in Egypt. The lower gasket was actually leaking and she stated that the gasket looked eaten...

You need to flush that thing once in awhile...

 

wellll....

Working at a radiator shop. We change head gaskets and radiators and yes antifreeze...

You guys are actually talking about 2 problems.

1.)Dexcool is slightly MORE corrosive then the "green" stuff.
2.)The lower intake gaskets on the GM's is faulty by design.

Sometimes customers come in and state that they called the dealer and the dealer says...change the antifreeze and get your lower intake gasket done.

My wifes Aztek just had it done while I was away in Egypt. The lower gasket was actually leaking and she stated that the gasket looked eaten...

You need to flush that thing once in awhile...

You bought an AZTEC!

Now I understand the rest of your post.

 

There was a class action suite against GM concerning dexcool damage. I don't know what the outcome was, but dex was reformulated in 1998 or 99. I have not seen post 1999 model year dexcool issues. I have seen pre 2000 vehicles with intake gaskit leaks due to corrosion swelling, ruined aluminum cylinder heads, and radiators and heater cores turned into lawn sprinklers.

 

The water/Dexcool mix in the overflow tank is in constant contact with air in the top half of the tank. No sludge there. Has to be something else besides air. I like to drain and flush the system about every four years but I do switch to the standard antifreeze when I do.

 

Fwiw, I have a copy of the class action letter that has since ran out AND we also have my wife's 2004 LaSabre w/ the crap in it w/ only like 8,550 miles on it IF that many!

I want to have it flushed and back to the the green stuff like I've always used.

pdq67

Best Car Insurance | Auto Protection Today | FREE Trade-In Quote

 

As said, I had lower intake gasket problems in my '92 Lumina; and that was pre-Dexcool. It's not the Dexcool eating the gaskets--it's faulty gaskets.

Dexcool does (did???) seem to have problems with turning to jelly or even solidyfying. Never saw it personally, but I've heard lots of internet stories, (so it must be true.) And, of course the lawsuit. I think GM has issued service bulletins about Dexcool turning evil. Again, I believe it happens--but I don't think "contact with air" is the cause. Maybe contact with exhaust gas. Maybe contact with oil. Maybe it's contact with underage girls.

What I do know from personal experience: I slapped a crate engine in my work truck in--perhaps--2000. It's 2009, I have about 90 or 100 thousand miles on that engine now. I have the same Dexcool; and it looks just fine. Heater works great; and I used to run a 205 thermostat year-round and NEVER had an overheating problem even when towing my small boat.

Yes, I'm aware that coolant should be flushed now and then. Yes, I'm aware that coolant can "look" good but still be worn-out. Perhaps I'll flush it this summer. Seems prudent. Even so: I, personally, have had Z-E-R-O problems with Dex in my truck; and in my '03 Trailblazer.

Do "aluminum engines" need special coolant? I don't know why. Buick and Olds had aluminum V-8 blocks and heads in '62. Think GM used "special coolant" in THEM? How about Buick and Pontiac aluminum timing covers? They've been a fact of life since the '60's too. Yes, they do corrode. First Guess: it wasn't because the coolant wasn't "special". It was because the coolant didn't have a proper ratio of anti-freeze; or because it went twenty years without getting flushed.

 

I want to say that GM coated the coolant passages of their old 215" BOP later Rover V-8 engine w/ a coating of waterglass and then toasted them in a reheat oven to harden it, (aka, the sodium silicate), to seal the passages against corrosion, BUT I have no proof at all!!

I can say that I've read where guys have done the same thing to the coolant passages of aftermarket aluminum heads to slow down the heat transfer from the combustion chamber to the radiator and doing so multiple times seems to build up a thick "heat transfer slowing down" build up of sodium silicate!

pdq67

Best Car Insurance | Auto Protection Today | FREE Trade-In Quote

 

3400 and 3100 motors use aluminum heads and I doubt there's anything special about the regular coolant.

 

I work on fleet vehicles and I can tell you that Catterpillar prefers the green stuff. One of our Freightliners with dexcool went very rusty in about ten months so I flushed it and put in green. I called about the engine warranty because I had changed the type of coolant. The rep from Cat said that they prefered the green but the OEM gets a break on their insurance premiums by using more environmantaly friendly coolant in the assembly plants. I also read somewhere that the rust inhibitor in dexcool can evaporate out of the coolant. That may be why some of the earlier cars had problems. Most cars now have the rad pressure cap on the surge tank so the coolant isn't exposed to the air.

 

I work on fleet vehicles and I can tell you that Catterpillar prefers the green stuff. QUOTE]


Really??

I haven't heard that one. I used to work at a Cat dealer and now work at a mine serviceing mostly Cat equipment. I have never even seen a bottle of green anti-freeze at either shop. Everything gets Cat extended life coolant (ELC). All the equipment runs it, from the little perkins diesels to the 2400hp 3516's in the shovels and production trucks. It is a little different than Dexcool but it is the red long life coolant. We have an on site cat dealer rep for tech support and service and he has not heard of this preference either.

I did have a bad dexcool experience once. The heater core in my grandfathers '96 blazer was plugged almost solid with the "jelly" you hear about. Was able to back flush it out and reuse it but it was a real pain to do.

 

The newer plastic intake gaskets are junk. No mater what antifreeze is used they will leak. Felpro makes a nice replacement for them.
Mike

 

My 04 Impala SS came with Dexcool. It clogged the system. I took it to my buddy who owns a radiator shop. He talks to God when it comes to cooling systems. He swears Dexcool is crap. He flushed my SS and said to just stay with the regular (alum compatable) green antifreeze.
So, that's my input on Dexcool.

 

I have had a ton of problems with my 99 Jimmy 4.3 BUT I have not done the intake gaskets and still use dexcool. Are southerners having more issues, maybe it is a climate thing?

 

I think its nationwide...

 

My 2000 Grand Am with V6 temp gauge started to increase after 30K miles. At about 75K it started to overheat on a hot day. Never got an alert from GM. Finally I went to the dealer and was told about inferior intake gaskets and that the head gaskets could delaminate. When I installed the new intake gaskets, I noticed the intake bolts were loose on both ends of the manifold and thats where I was losing pressure. The old gaskets looked okay. New bolts were provided with the gasket set that had blue threadloc. Maybe the threadloc was the real fix? If we blame the gaskets having relaxed then why were the middle bolts still tight?

 

http://www.dexcoolsettlement.com/index.php3