Anyone have any problems with Dexcool ( sometimes referred to as death cool!). I have a '97 Blazer that seems to need a new thermostat evry year and it may be dexcool related.
Posted by Quasar99SS (Member # 709) on :
I've always wondered if it wasn't at the root of the problem with the coolant level sensor problems so many of us have had in the Fbods.
After having a thermostat decide to close itself and never again reopen late at night far from the next town in a 76 MonteCarlo several years ago - I've adopted a practice of never replacing a failed tstat. Don't really need them down here - and one less thing to go wrong. Posted by chrisL (Member # 97) on :
130,000 miles on the wife's '98 Cavalier. Same thermostat.
I did change out the dexcool per the manual at 100,000
Posted by 10thhawk103 (Member # 2033) on :
Yep, had a 97 blazer that started having problems. The "death cool" would turn brown after a very short time, and I had to flush the heater core about every 6 months, seemed like the coolant was causing corrosion and plugging the heater core. I assume since you used the "death cool" name you've seen and are aware of all the stuff all over the internet about it? No longer have that Blazer though. Keeping fingers crossed that I don't start seeing any problems with the other 3 GMs I have with it.
Posted by 1997Z4CSS (Member # 2155) on :
I know 2 class A mechanics and they both have LT1 cars. I just replaced my Dexcool with traditional Prestone. After an engine flush all my oils seals started leaking and replaced every seal in the front end of the block. This all started with my water pump leaking intermitently when I would first start it up some days after sitting for a bunch of days. They strongly recommended replacing the Dexcool. They said it can get acidic and eat away seals and gaskets. But I'm sure you will hear other people who love it. Posted by poSSum (Member # 119) on :
Fixed the no heat (in winter) situation.
Posted by Camaro_Woody (Member # 1619) on :
I had my head gaskets leak with this stuff. This week I am going to drain all of it out and fill with the old stuff. I dont mind changing it every 30000.
Posted by SuperSport (Member # 1686) on :
My '99 Blazer had a Dexcool problem at around 80,000 miles. It turned to clay sludge and clogged up the heater core among other things. Had to do a serious radiator flush with some special detergent at the dealership to get it out. Immediately afterwards had a head gasket leak and the water pump failed. I checked a Blazer board that had several mentions of this problem.
Posted by Bill Mason (Member # 1807) on :
I just replaced the radiator, thermostat and housing on my '98 Trans Am. The radiator was half plugged and the thermostat and housing was all gummed up. The death cool in there was only about three years old with about 100,000 kms on it.
On the other hand, it has been in my wife's '94 Vette a lot longer with no problems.
Makes me wonder if it isn't a death cool and aluminum compatibility problem (i.e.: aluminum block versus iron block....I realize that the LT1 has aluminum heads.....what I am getting at is the amount of aluminum surface area).
Posted by 2002Z4CSS (Member # 1393) on :
quote:Originally posted by Bill Mason: Makes me wonder if it isn't a death cool and aluminum compatibility problem (i.e.: aluminum block versus iron block....I realize that the LT1 has aluminum heads.....what I am getting at is the amount of aluminum surface area).
I thought it was designed for aluminum parts. The older cars that had cast iron intake manifolds and cylinder heads never seemed to have a problem with the old green stuff.
Posted by el ess1 (Member # 1544) on :
quote:Originally posted by Bill Mason: Makes me wonder if it isn't a death cool and aluminum compatibility problem (i.e.: aluminum block versus iron block....I realize that the LT1 has aluminum heads.....what I am getting at is the amount of aluminum surface area).
I've had deathcool in my 84 Hurst Olds for about 15 months, and it turned my coolant overflow jug brown and gooky on the inside. Opened the cap and it was like chocolate. Opened the petcock to drain it, and it was almost plugged. Pulled the drain plugs out of the block and had to use a screwdriver to poke out the gunk to get any flow.
All this with a NEW radiator, freshly rebuilt engine, and new water pump 15 months ago, etc. Death cool was the only coolant installed. Iron block/heads with aluminum water pump and intake.
It was always topped off and never run low. As far as I'm concerned, Deathcool sucks wind and I'll never buy it again.
I'm going to go have the Camaros flushed out and replaced with the green stuff. F** what GM says, they're wrong about it but will never admit they've made a very bad mistake with this crap.
Posted by Bandit (Member # 1867) on :
Changed the dexcool in the LT1 @ 28K with a 160 stat plus added a product which helped reduced heat in the dexcool.
With that combo I never ran above 175 degrees.
Maybe a flush, new dexcool and a lower temp stat may help?
Posted by TxGC (Member # 2075) on :
It must be causing more than just a few problems.
Posted by SteelHorse (Member # 1725) on :
I always heard if the car didn't come with it don't put it in. I've always used the green stuff and changed it on schedule and never had a problem. I know a guy that the dealer put it in a GM car that didn't come with it and his head gaskets started leaking.
Posted by SS_CarGuy (Member # 2065) on :
Is DexCool the only "alledged" 100,000 mile antifreeze or is their another alternative?
Posted by Hawkeye (Member # 88) on :
No problems yet with my '98. Only one low coolant sensor malfunction this summer. I've changed the fluid twice in 6 years - due to age, not mileage (22,000 km).
Posted by Ken Howe Sr (Member # 196) on :
To Avoid any problems with "deathcool" flush out you entire coolant systems every (3) years,it is very cheap insurance.It seems to "gel" in the S10 vehicles and the 94-96 Impala SS.I do my SS every (2) years regardless on the mileage.Roughly 4-5k miles Posted by DaddySS (Member # 848) on :
quote:Originally posted by JeffY: Anyone have any problems with Dexcool ( sometimes referred to as death cool!). I have a '97 Blazer that seems to need a new thermostat evry year and it may be dexcool related.
Jeffy:
There's a TSB on dexcool for blazers - it recommends a complete flush with the prestone flush system and then replace the dexcool.
Posted by JeffY (Member # 120) on :
Well, he was just here. I opened up the hood, which needed a shot of WD40, and the overflow tank has green stuff in it! He says that the guy at the oil change place just topped off the tank yesterday and now its fine! I wound up putting another half-gallon of Prestone in it-couldn't see any orange anywhere. I vaugly remember (that's what happens when you get old) flushing it out last year for him but I can't remember what I put back in it. I've got bottles of Dexcool and Prestone in the garage-theDexcool wqas opened but the Prestone wasn't!
Posted by SteelHorse (Member # 1725) on :
Posted by chrisL (Member # 97) on :
quote:Originally posted by JeffY: I opened up the hood, which needed a shot of WD40
Posted by 01SunsetOrangeSS (Member # 846) on :
I guess I better do a full radiator flush before going to Bowling Green this year. I have 70K miles on the original Death Cool. Any suggestions on the Brand to use?
Posted by KenC (Member # 189) on :
quote:Originally posted by JeffY: Anyone have any problems with Dexcool ( sometimes referred to as death cool!). I have a '97 Blazer that seems to need a new thermostat evry year and it may be dexcool related.
ive put 4 thermostats in HER HAWK in 75k miles, Jeff.
Posted by SS_CarGuy (Member # 2065) on :
OK.............after reading all your posts and the one on the class action suit, I just couldn't stand it any longer. My SS is the only car I have with Dex Cool. It is a little over 4 years old with about 10,000 miles. I have test strips to check acidity so I did this and it is still in the "safe" range.....but just barely. Next, I siphoned out some of the coolant to look at it and it is still crystal (pink) clear. So I have concluded that so far it is not causing me any problems. But just to be on the safe side I think I will change it out.
Now a question for the do-it-yourselfer's. After reading my factory shop manual on the flushing procedures, it says to pull the plugs out of both sides of the block.........but naturally they don't show you where these plugs are located. Since I haven't yet crawled under the car, doeas anyone know if they are readily axcessible?
Posted by JeffY (Member # 120) on :
Dexcool is orange - very orange - not pink.
Posted by SS_CarGuy (Member # 2065) on :
quote:Originally posted by JeffY: Dexcool is orange - very orange - not pink.
Mine looks pink..I double checked it. It's the original fill from the factory. So what does pink mean? Any guesses?
Posted by RagSS (Member # 1127) on :
Very 'interesting' thread. I'm with "SS CarGuy", ...and roughly in the same mileage range (just under 10K), ...original factory fill, ...and it's PINK. Prestone=Green Dextcool=Orange ? = Pink ...
For anyone here who works for GM (ie. Service dept.), ...WHAT IF...we switch over to the green, is there any legal wording that states we must use Dextcool, ...or your warranty could be in question? (just curious)
Posted by T TOPSS (Member # 1674) on :
I used to use the prestone 3/50 long life coolant that came out before the 5/150 in my '69. It was like golden in color and I mixed it with Distilled water and that system stayed crystal clean.
[ 08. July 2004, 06:21 AM: Message edited by: T TOPSS ]
Posted by SS_CarGuy (Member # 2065) on :
I have found a number of threads in doing a Google search about "pink" antifreeze. Apparently VW and Mercedes use pink stuff but I have also found reference to pink DexCool. If anyone can provide any insight on what GM was using in 2000 (my car is a 2000 SS), please post it. In the meantime I will call the local dealer to see if they can help and if anyone else wants to check the color of their coolant and post it, I would appreciate it.
Posted by agmSS (Member # 853) on :
FWIW, I spoke with a good friend of mine who's a service writer at local Chevy dealer and I asked him if he'd seen any TSB's on a potential problem with the dexcool.
His repsonse to me was that they've been seeing problems with overheating in the Blazers that they've traced back to worn/defective radiator cap gaskets. Apparently the caps are cheap plastic and they've got equally cheap gaskets. The gasket deteriorates/melts over time and allows some air entry into the cooling system. This aspiration degrades the dexcool very quickly according to the service writer. They've opened up several radiators and found them full of sludge where this radiator cap gasket failure has occurred. Replacing the t-stats won't fix the overheating condition. He's run his own '99 Z28 to 58k miles over the last 5 years on the original fill of dexcool and has had no trouble. My wife's Cavvy is coming up on 75k and 5 years old this Fall and is still on the original fill of dexcool with no trouble. His recomendation to me for my 30k service next month was to drain the dexcool, flush the radiator with distilled water, and then refill with fesh dexcool.
Not sure if this is helpful, but I thought I'd share what I learned from someone who has seen it.
Posted by CamaroSCG (Member # 1591) on :
I just measured the PH on my '02 SS with almost 30K miles using a calibrated PH meter. It read 7.76 PH, which is close to neutral. The color is very light pink. It's so light pink that I'm wondering what it's protected to (-32 degrees?). I'm going to check it at home later.
Posted by DaddySS (Member # 848) on :
quote:Originally posted by RagSS: Very 'interesting' thread. I'm with "SS CarGuy", ...and roughly in the same mileage range (just under 10K), ...original factory fill, ...and it's PINK. Prestone=Green Dextcool=Orange ? = Pink ...
For anyone here who works for GM (ie. Service dept.), ...WHAT IF...we switch over to the green, is there any legal wording that states we must use Dextcool, ...or your warranty could be in question? (just curious)
There's been a good deal of debate on this. The TSB refers to the older 94 - 97 GM engines and had to do with contamination. Once flushed thoroughly, the dexcool works fine. My view is GM did a good deal of testing before putting it in our engines and if you keep it clean and replace it after 5 years or 75 - 100k miles it will be fine.
Posted by Happy_Dan (Member # 118) on :
My 99 has almost 38K miles on it and no problems, but after reading all this, I think I will be flushing and refilling soon!
Posted by MM (Member # 1247) on :
They (the engineers) figured out that the reason that Dex Cool would literally gum up was related to air entering the system... so if the brain cells recall correctly it was traced back to bad radiator caps (and not properly bleeding the systems of air). It also seems that earlier applications (early to mid 90's) with Dex Cool had more problems... now you never hear about problems. For the one person you didn't know if his 00 car had Dex Cool you can check your owners manual... but who reads that right?
[ 10. July 2004, 08:51 AM: Message edited by: MM ]
Posted by SunsetHawkSelena (Member # 2197) on :
i never had any problems, but we have always flushed out the dexcool and run purple ice within the first 20K miles. what about redline water wetter? anyone use that?
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