ive heard dexicool starts to sludge up after about 70kmiles causing coolant system problems. i was wanting to know if anybody has any info on this subject. if so what is the best coolant to replace dexicool with? thanks....

 

if you replace the dex cool with another cooling brand it will void your precious GM warranty.

I personally see nothing wrong with using a different brand.

 

i have 50k miles on my car....no longer worried about warranty.

im also not interested in opinions. i am a gm fanboy myself, but i want the FACTS if there are any about dexi cool sludging up or jelling up. i was told this by a couple of mechanics that i dont think would lie or be biased. was also told gm is doing away with dexi cool.

 

I have seen it sludge up on my car..Not my balt but a previous car...Not sure how many miles but it will after awhile..

 

I have seen both dexcool and non dexcool antifreaze sludge up, just flush your system every 60,000 to 80,000 miles it isnt that expensive

 

In my old car, I replaced mine with your basic every day green coolant. Most things I've read on Dexcool from experienced mechanics point to weird foam build-ups in the surge tank and odd discolorations. On my old car, I had to replace almost every cooling system related component after having Dexcool in it for the first 100k miles. Nothing else ever broke on that car except the alternator, and no cooling issues after putting the green stuff in, either.

 

I work at a garage and I have seen cars with sludged up dexcool. Most have had GREEN antifreeze mixed in or have never had their cooling system flushed. Dexcool is suppose to be good for 100K- BS! It should be changed at 30-35K.

 

coolant is coolant. as long as you have a 50/50 mix you're fine. you just need to flush it every 60k or so. personally i've only seen coolant sludge up when dexcool and green are mixed together but its not like it immediatly happens, it takes a while to do it. gm says its good to 100k..but i'd flush it around 60k. or anytime you have cooling system work done. i.e. waterpump, radiator, ect.

 

this is basically what i was told, and what i was looking to hear. i understand flushing the system every 60,000 miles or so is best, but i was also told even at that people were still seeing problems with the dexi cool. thanks for the input.

 

just don't mix the green stuff with dexicool... and use good sense when getting the system flushed... you should be fine.

 

i can only hold my head... i've had this argument upteen hundred times since the stuff came out. Before I was a paperworker, i was a mechanic and a damn good one, specializing in nothing but GM. When dexcool came out, the more 'redneck' counterparts i worked with were hooting and hollering that the stuff 'et headgaskets, etc'...

I've run 4 Cavaliers on Dexcool... NONE of them sucked a headgasket. NONE of them developed sludge in the radiator, water pump or hoses when changed... all of these cars ran cool (180-190) all the time. I think that all this anit-dexcool crap is horseshit, plain and simple. I've seen many a high mileaged GM come through the shop without any cooling system issues. But of course, this will turn into a flamefest and a rash of name calling...

My last Cavalier had 215,000 miles and had only had the coolant changed at 165,000 when I destroyed the waterpump (they don't like 6500+RPM's) and the coolant was clean, no sludge. I've heard about foaming and discolorations, but never seen it myself. Even with cars that had mistakenly mixed green with dex, it was no big deal. I flushed out the engine and heater core and life was fine.

Scott

 

where can we get this dexicool stuff.... and how in the hell do you flush the radiator on the cobalt.... i see no place to drain or fill the radiator



.

 

ive seen too many people with issues using dex-cool after 60-75k miles. change it. green is cheaper anyway if im not mistaken

 

thanks.....you say you never seen any problems when green was mixed in with the dexicool? as ive been told, thats when it has problems. thanks for the input

 

dexi cool sucks it eats your intake gasket

 

x6!!

 

and your 1st child

 

wow dexicool is bad i did a google search... here it is

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&l...ol&btnG=Search



.

 

[QUOTE=Florida 76]wow dexicool is bad i did a google search... here it is

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&l...ol&btnG=Search


well.....after reading thru alot of that, i believe i will be going green! that was a great find, thanks Florida 76. worth the read folks, look it up.

 

my car was flushed at 60k (by previous owner) and my dexcool was fine up until around 130k miles. but it was after i mixed regular green coolant in with it that i started having problems.

 

Christ it's DEXCOOL


Not DEXICOOL

if you dont know how to even spell it, I wouldnt go near it.

If you are afraid of it "jelling up" Then drain it and fill it back up with a 50/50 mix of dexcool/water.

Im a GM tech, and I can tell you right now, I have never seen any weird things with Dexcool other than it being contaminated with oil from intakes leaking.

 

googling dexcool gives you the same types of responses as googling dexicool

 

I'm going to clear this whole cluster F*** up for everybody. I manage a collision center so please listen carefully. Here are the facts.

(1) You should have your coolant flushed every 60,000-70,000 miles anyway.

(2) You cannot mix dexcool with "green coolant." If you do that, it will basically turn into silicone and you will pay dearly to fix that problem. I.E replacing the radiator, hoses, water pump and more.

(3) If you want to use something other than Dexcool, Prestone sells a coolant that will work with any vehicle, any manufacturer and guarantees on the bottle that if their coolant causes any damage or voided warranties, they will cover for that. You can buy it at Oreilly, Autozone, Napa and/or Advanced Auto parts.

I hope this helps.

 

Well, this may help or hurt. I have owned a 91 Caprice Classic (5.0 L) for the last 4 years, (since i got my license). I had the engine rebuilt only after driving the car for 10000Km. (Total odo: 210000Km) I switched to Prestone's red DexCool equivalent, with a 60/40 mix (DexCool/H20) and ran it for 62000 Kms, when it was recently flushed again. There is no evidence of any damage, and nothing was wrong with the coolant i flushed. (Apparently i could have ran it for another 40000 Kms.)
I have heard of DexCool "eating" seals, in OLDER vehicles, so i was interested to see if anything would happen with my 2003 rebuilt engine. NOTHING. NO PROBLEMS. Now, this is PRESTONE's DEXCOOL equivalent; and a new engine (as of 2003).
Like i said, this may help or hurt, but i personally haven't heard of anything bad with DexCool unless mixed with green "stuff".

 

Honestly, just stick with Dex Cool, GM put in in there for a reason. If you need a quick fix for something sure poor in Prestones crap that mixes with anything.

One of the only reasons DexCool GELS is because of exposure to oil or high exposure to oxygen due to lack of flushing. Look in your owners manual under your maintence schedule, in there you will see COOLANT FLUSH, do that and your fine.