Dexcool is the spawn of Satan!

[elc32955]

I posted a topic on my 3.8 overheat a day or two ago. This was my original message as it related to the Dexcool...

"I've gotta get the Dexcool mixture crap out of the system before I contaminate the new radiator. The previous owner converted to green but didn't do a good job in cleaning out the system, there's always been red streamers running through the coolant. I power-flushed the crap out of it a few months ago when the heater core seemed blocked up and flushed & flushed until it ran clear, however the overflow tank seems to be a reservoir of poison because no matter how much I tried to flush it the red/brown junk is still in there. When the radiator level was down before I refilled it the sludge contamination was something you gotta see to believe, and it was rodded & cored less then 25K ago."

Today I got ready to start the radiator R & R and took some pics. Here's links to three pictures of what my radiator looked like. Pics 1 & 2 are of the inside of the radiator as viewed from the filler neck. Pic 3 is of all the sludge & junk on the radiator cap.

http://www.policeinterceptor.com/dexcool1.jpg
http://www.policeinterceptor.com/dexcool2.jpg
http://www.policeinterceptor.com/dexcool3.jpg

This is a link to one of the attorneys that is involved in the Dexcool class action.

http://www.cwcd.com/CM/ClassActions/ClassActions35.asp

Anyone else seeing what I see in my car?

Eric

[Brett Garret]

Welcome to the club. A bunch here have had the same damned problem. Many have even had to get new radiators.

[UsMuScL398]

wow this is a shock to me,ive got a 98 and i had to recently replace the water pump and my coolant was just fine looked normal, my caps clean and ive had only good things from the dexcool so honestly i dont see the problem. but i will file cuz if my sh1t turns to that im gonna be pissed and if i c more of this amma power wash the sh1t out of my car cuz i DONT want that

[crasher]

**** new radiators I had to completely change out my cooling system. Radiator, water pump hoses and a few other things replaced cost me a pretty penny too.

[Lord_Verminaard]

BTW, that only happens to cooling systems that have been contaminated with silicated (non-dexcool compatible) coolant. Mixing the two causes just that- a slimy, sludgy gel. 99.9% of those problems were caused by grease-monkeys at jiffy-lube topping off with the wrong kind of coolant. ALWAYS top off your cooling system with 50/50 blend of water-dexcool compatible coolant to avoid that. I converted my Chevrolet Beretta from green over to dexcool, it ran on it for 70,000 miles with no problems.

Brendan
2000 Camaro L36 M49
84 VW Scircco 8v

[OneQuickV6]

Agreed. It's almost always a problem of mixing the two. Do people not ever change their anti-freeze as directed? I have changed mine 3 times so far, and I only have 60K miles. It's like your oil, although it might still be fine to keep running longer, you change it anyway! It's a good product, and I personally thinks it's obsurd to think GM will ever pay money to anybody for it.

[chas]

i have changed my dexcool twice (every two years or 30000 miles -- i dont believe the 5yr/150000mi hype). each time it came out looking the same as it went in.

[hockeyman]

I'm with you guys, I'm gonna switch back to green.

[elc32955]

OK, got about halfway through the job today before the rain clouds stopped me. Anyway this is what I'm seeing after getting the radiator & thermostat housing pulled. Pic 4 is a thermostat shot.

http://www.policeinterceptor.com/dexcool4.jpg

Pic 5 is a shot of the inlet from the end that sits on top of the thermostat.

http://www.policeinterceptor.com/dexcool5.jpg

Pic 6 is a shot down the end of the pipe towards the inlet. You can see all the crap on the interior of the pipe. What doesn't show in the picture is the corrosion on the pipe itself, which was rather suprising.... This is also the area directly by the air bleed.

http://www.policeinterceptor.com/dexcool6.jpg

Anyway, so far so good.... tomorrow AM I'm going to finish the thermostat change & flush & scrub around the inlet, pull the coolant reservoir & try to power flush it off the car, install the new radiator, change hoses, then put everything back together.

Laters!
Eric

[ July 04, 2004, 11:41 PM: Message edited by: elc32955 ]

[MustangEater8251]

I switched to green in my old car


not sure what I am gonna do in my new car, but dexcool is pure sh|t. And definitely don't let it mix... I flushed my old car a good 3-4 times before I ran the green stuff. One point, I stuck a hose in the radiator, let it run till overflowing, had the drainplug under the car open and ran the car for like few seconds watching the temps. Also ran a coolant flush crap at the store that you just put in and run.

[ July 05, 2004, 02:33 AM: Message edited by: MustangEater8251 ]

[Lord_Verminaard]

Why do you feel that it is pure "sh|t"? Has it done anything to you? It lasts twice as long as the green stuff, and has superior cooling properties- not to mention, it cant build up silicates when the PH is out like the green stuff. It really irks me when people come on here trashing something they dont know much about.

EVERY automaker now, has switched to some form of non-silicated coolant- but yeah, it must be crap, none of the engineers know what they are doing....

Gimmie a break.

Brendan
2000 Camaro L36 M49
84 VW Scirocco 8v

[MustangEater8251]

Originally posted by Lord_Verminaard:
Why do you feel that it is pure "sh|t"? Has it done anything to you? It lasts twice as long as the green stuff, and has superior cooling properties- not to mention, it cant build up silicates when the PH is out like the green stuff. It really irks me when people come on here trashing something they dont know much about.

EVERY automaker now, has switched to some form of non-silicated coolant- but yeah, it must be crap, none of the engineers know what they are doing....

Gimmie a break.

Brendan
2000 Camaro L36 M49
84 VW Scirocco 8v

How many times have people had it completely turn to jelly in their cars causing them to replace Thermos, radiators, and heater cores?

green stuff never gave me this problem. And NO those people did not mix them. I wish I took pics of my girlfriend's radiator with the mighty Dexcool in it.

Also FYI, whatever better "cooling" properties they had my 94 cooled better with green stuff then dexcool.

Talk to people that work for GM and have seen higher mileage vehicles (70-100k). Manufacturers like it because they can say 100,000 mile service free coolant! Which average buyer likes. Hell woudln't surprise me if dealers like the fact that they will have to replace several cooling system parts.

as for "A car engineer did it so it must be right" Wow do I have to start making lists and lists of engineering flaws in cars? I am sure there are people with power windows and flip up headlights that woudl agree with you in a heartbeat.


Its one of those designs that seems to look good on paper but not in the real world. Kinda of like the opti-spark, probably the more efficient way to run an ignition system but is a total piece of crap.

[chas]

the biggest advantage of dexcool (and any of the new coolants) is the lack of silicates in the corrosion protection package. this extends water pump and water pump seal life. as for the extended life -- change it like you would "the green stuff" and i dont see how there should be any problems.

flip up lights are cool. however they were built on a budget. so you get plastic/nylon gears instead of brass.

power windows are cool. however they were built on a budget (and they cant chop off people's heads so you have to have some sort of limiter in there).

[UsMuScL398]

WoW this is turing in to a flame fest but im gonna have to side with dex-cool. my cars got 82000 miles and i had to recently change the water pump and my dexcool came out perfect as it was when i put the stuff back in. my water pump was still chrome appearing and everything inside, i run 100% dex-cool and change it when i feel it is nessicary....in fact i rarely get past 195* and i race...ALOT. as for the engineers, dont even flame them they know 1000's more than you and a few mistakes will happen. there is no such thing as a perfect car, but dont you think GM thought for more than a couple mins about changing all of their coolant to one type......maybe just maybe :rolleyes:

[Lord_Verminaard]

Right- Notice that GM was one of the first to switch, and everyone else followed suit. So if Dexcool is crap, then all of the other auto manufacturers non-silicated coolant is also crap? I worked for Volkswagen for a year and a half, and the only time I ever saw coolant sludge was when someone mixed the coolant types. PERIOD. VW's non-silicated coolant is the exact same stuff as Dexcool.

Brendan
2000 Camaro L36 M49
84 VW Scirocco 8v