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Dexcool to no dexcool

bentendo92

bentendo92

New member
Dexcrap- I mean Dexcool sucks, IMO.

Once the warranty runs out I am thinking of switching to the old stuff. I have heard of a lot people doing this with claims that it is better than dexcool.

Is it true that dexcool can actually cause more damage than it promises to prevent? Such as eating at seals?

Is it stupid of me to switch oveR?
 


Ugh, don't really even want to begin to hit on this topic. Although I'm just going to put this out there...


I run dexcool and have never had, or seen a problem. Not once.
 
Ok. I was just curious because I hate the stuff. I had a chevy s10 and every seal was eaten by the stuff - or so says the mechanic who worked on it. Had the same issue with a 2000 Grand Am. Coolant went from that nice color dex-cool to a disgusting brown in less than 20,000 miles... rust.. No oil in coolant or coolant in oil..... but a mess no less.
 
There are quite a few topics of discusion of this topic. infact you can ask Scotty(Syntheticshield) about his dealings with dexcool.

I have flushed that stuff out of ALL my cars. green all the way!!!!
 
the issue with dexcool I think is overpromising, you can't go 100,000 miles on the stuff. Realize every major manufacturer now recommends dexcool (even toyota uses it) I use the new yellow stuff that mixes with anything
 
I agree that Dexcool isn't as big of a problem as most people think it is. I will give you that.

But the fact of the matter is that Dexcool still has its issues that you need to deal with. And that is why I changed mine out, in every vehicle I own.

The way I went about it is this. I first drained all the dexcool out I could. I pulled the radiator hoses, t-stat, knock sensors, etc. Let it drain, blow it out with the air hose, etc. Then I put it all back together, and filled the cooling system with water, right from the garden hose. I ran this for an hour or so, doing errands around town. Then I drained the water out, and put new water in and drove it some more. When the water coming out of the radiator was as clean as the water going in, I stopped. I then opened everything up again, hoses, t-stat, knock sensors, etc. and drained all the water really well. I then put in a 70/30 coolant/water mix. Since I couldn't get all the water out of the engine, I used a more coolant mix. I did have to use a hygrometer to test the coolant a couple days later to make sure I was where I needed to be, and I had to add a little more water. But now everything is great.

And FWIW, I did this over a couple days. I didn't make any special trips with the car or anything. Just drove it normal to and from work, and wherever we went. Then every night or so, I would drain the water. Took about 5 drain and re-fills to get everything clean.
 


Dex cool is good untill air is introduced to the cooling system while under pressure.

Green stuff is what i have ran i nall my cars and in my gtp i saw 10° difference from dex to green
 
The problem with it from the beginning was that GM was using an inferior gasket material that would interact with Dex. Poor R&D IMO
I've given up trying to tell people what the pros and cons are anymore. Run what ya want. And technically they can't really void the warranty because of what coolant you want to run.

Just be sure to keep your coolant system topped off and all the air bled out of it. That should go regardless what coolant you decide to run.
 
Whatever you use change it on a schedule just like in the good old days. IMO

I had the dealership change mine to green as part of the purchase agreement. Since that time, my thoughts on the subject have changed. When we did my son's GTP LIM gaskets a few months ago, we used Dexcool.
 
Dexcool doesn't eat anything, but it can turn a little sludgy if you're not maintaining your cooling system properly. Air in the system can "upset" it.

That being said, I have no issues with it. But, I use the yellow universal Prestone stuff to add to it and eventually replace it. Best of both worlds.
 


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