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Which coolant to use...

Rickochet

New member
This has probably been debated many, many times, but what is the latest consensus on which type of coolant to use after replacing lower intake gaskets and flushing the cooling system. Some say Dexcool due to the chemical make up and incompatibility of other brands of coolant and some say use Prestone or what ever brand. I plan to keep this car for a long time and I really prefer to not have coolant related issues if there is a way to avoid them. Thanks in advance for the info!
 




Nothing wrong with Dexcool if you maintain your coolant system. Still, I've been putting the yellow back in as needed. Though I'm in no rush to remove any remaining Dex. 72k miles and no cooling system problems.
 
Nothing wrong with Dexcool if you maintain your coolant system. Still, I've been putting the yellow back in as needed. Though I'm in no rush to remove any remaining Dex. 72k miles and no cooling system problems.

If you dident have dexcool you wouldnt have the need to keep adding the yellow as needed, when it leaks.
 
Dexcool will sludge if air is introduced to the system.
Dex likes to eat plastic gaskets.
Dex runs warmer in most cases, once I switched to green on the prix and the regal both cars ran 10degrees cooler.

In the summer time I'm going to try just water and water wetter

Edited for Sex runs warmer. Posted from ipod. Still getting used to touch keypad(fat figers)
 
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Dex likes to eat plastic gaskets.


It isnt the Dex-Cool itself that eats plastic gaskets. That affect seems to come more from the sludge that is created that tends to solidify over time and becomes some what abrasive. Its not the coolant itself, its the affect of the coolant being exposed to air.
 
Sex runs warmer in most cases

must...resist....comment....


Does water wetter have any anti-corrosives in it? If not, I sure wouldn't recommend running without any coolant, you would have the same problems you can get with Dex and air destroying the anti-corrosives.
 
i run AMSOIL yellow coolant, it is compatible with everything. as a GM tech Ive seen the results of dex cool first hand, dex cool will become sludgy if not maintained. if you add green to the orange it tunrs into a brownish gelatin substance that will clog up everything. i stay away from dex cool only because ive found myself in a bind where i had a leak and coolant was low and found myself at the closest gas stations and stores and nobody carried dex cool. this happened at 5:30 am on my way to work needless to say there was auto parts stores open, but i did manage by using plain ol' water for the time being. a real nightmare though trying to find dex outside of a shop or auto house
 
If you dident have dexcool you wouldnt have the need to keep adding the yellow as needed, when it leaks.

My system is not leaking at all, thank you very much. As needed would be when I tear into it to for upgrades (removed throttle body, changing thermostats, changing coolant elbows, etc). My car doesn't leak a drip since I replaced the original ****ty LIM gaskets.
 
I believe that the 5.7L Vortec motor (late 90s) also had intake leak problems as well. Have put 2 into my old mans truck (2000 K2500) and 1 into my brothers 97 K2500!
 


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