Dex-Cool

[chkptcharlie]

Okay, so i was over at a girls house the other day and her dad comes out and was lookin aound my car(he's an aircraft mechanic for fedex, and a proud chevy owner also) and he poped my hood and was checking everything when he came to my coolant resiv. he pulled the stick out and it was coated in a gooey looking brown. when i checked my radiator it was a watery brownish. I've heard dex-cool can do these kind of things and search didnt help me out too much. i am already planning a radiator flush, but what do yall reccomend in the process.... acid wash or anything? change over to green, or keep the Dex. Also how do yall flush yalls radiators? is there some magic little place to find or is it pretty much pull it all out(i'm used to old style radiators in engine compartments with alot more space)

[Dominic]

Be extremely careful if you change to green.

A flush is a good thing, you might even want to slightly acidify it using vinegar (white distilled, one small bottle for the entire coolant flush).

If its not ABSOLUTELY FREE of orange, converting to green will be a disaster.

Dexcool works fine for me, but Im always messing with it 2x a year when I change my mixture.

[camaroincal]

Yeah Dexcool does get that "muddy" look in the overflow reservoir where you check the coolant level. Flushing the radiator isn't as simple as one might think. I'll try and give you a good overview. To drain the radiator and block of the fluid, you must remove the upper radiator hose and drain that and also locate the plug on the block (Which I didn't do). Flush the crud out of the radiator and get all the brown gunk "Dexcool" out of there until the water coming out is almost clear. Then reconnect the hose and plug and if you have the radiator flush stuff follow those directions. Then fill er up with 50/50 mix Dexcool and DISTILLED water..NOT hose water as hose water causes the Dexcool to "muck up" faster and it's just not good..anyway run the car until normal operating temperature with the radiator cap OFF because you don't want air in your system. Also locate the bleed valve in the engine compartment it looks like a screw...(well it is a screw) [img]tongue.gif[/img] and turn it a couple turns and so then the fluuid level will go down as the engine warms up and just keep adding the proper 50/50 mix until it reached the neck of the radiator and to insure that the thermostat opens up properly when that's all said and done screw in the cap make sure you also have the proper level of fluid in the overflow reservoir and you should be good to go. I have also heard that during the summer it's ok to have a a higher mix of water to dex .. i.e 60/40 Dex/Water. Oh and I'm not really as smart as i sound you can thank the Chilton manual for that! [img]tongue.gif[/img] Ok now it's time to be castrated by the "Camaro gurus" in this forum lol. Hope I didn't miss too many steps.

[camaroincal]

whoops i meant 60/40 WATER/Dex sorry (more water/less Dexcool) is ok during the summer...right guys!?!?!

[merlinsrealm]

I recently had this same exact issue....My car would over heat at the trak with the dex-cool. What had happened was that the dex-cool had broken down and the silicone base would clog the radiator cores. Flush the system and put the good ole fashion kill the ozone green antifreeze in...no difference except you wont have the silicone base and the dex-cool is better for the enviroment...you would change your antifreeze anyways so go with what works. I have no problems since.

Eric

[Dominic]

<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by camaroincal:
whoops i meant 60/40 WATER/Dex sorry (more water/less Dexcool) is ok during the summer...right guys!?!?!<hr></blockquote>

Yes, mine typically looks like thinned out tang in the summer :D Approx 70/30

[Tireguy]

Do yourself & your car good, this is one of the things to go to the dealer ( yes I said Chevy Dealer, hate them myself) & have done right, they will flush out the old crap & warranty it for another 100,000 miles & you wont have to deal with it any more.

[chkptcharlie]

Thanx Camaroincal, that information was more than helpfull(it's about time i went out and bought one of those manuals) i'm going to stick with the dex-cool, but my system is going to get a nice flush. and it wont get the chance to gum up like that again... as this car is only a few months old to me, i'm going to be sure it get alot better care from me than it did it's last owner.

[Ninja02]

On the other board there was a link to the service bulletin for GM mechanics in regard to problems with Dex-cool. In there it said you should not have to use distilled water. It's formulated for regular tap water. Most problems were occur because air is getting in the system. Usually through a defective radiator cap.

[Ninja02]

I found another good source for that info. http://web.camaross.com/forums/showt...hlight=dexcool. Scroll down to the post by dave1w41.

[ June 30, 2003: Message edited by: Ninja02 ]</p>