RollOver360

Well I popped my hood the other day and noticed my dex-cool(sp?) was a dark brown syrup color. Now I know that when I bought the car, it was pink. So I talked to a couple people and they said that oil could be leaking through the head gasket into the antifreeze. Im going in on the 28th to get it checked out and see whats going on. Just wanted to give everyone else a heads-up on my problem just in case anyone else has it. BTW I have a 2006 2.2 LS w/ SAI and mods.

later

possible trade in for a ss/sc?

Sunburst_SS

generally if you have a blown headgasket you will have coolant being mixed into your oil down in the pan....not likely oil in your coolant tank. You could pull the oil dipstick out and see if you have any milky colored oil, and even pull out the spark plugs and see if there's coolant in the cylinder or residue on the plugs.....but good luck, let us know what happened

KillerNutz

I'm definitely goin with head gasket on this one. Do u have trouble starting it? Hows it run? Have u done a compression test?

RollOver360

Well i just changed my oil the other day and it was fine and i just checked the dipstick and that looked normal.
-No problem starting it.
-Idles perfect.
-Runs great.
-No compression test.

Cars under warranty, so i will let them screw with it, and figure out whats wrong with it.

later

Here is a pix, u can see how dark the dex cool is.


later

Sunburst_SS

I had an equinox at the dealership last week with the same issue....there's a bulliten out on those trucks for dicoloartion and a funny smell from the coolant. Had to do an acid flush on the coolant system and change the radiator, heater core, and surge tank hoses. I doubt you have oil going into the coolant....but keep us posted either way

NightriderCobaltSS

yea mang get that Sh*t looked at.

kenhebe

Most likely a blown head gasket. Just make sure you don't let your car overheat now because if you do, it will warp the valve cover and head. That is really costly.

RollOver360

Warranty FTW! I will try to take it easy with it until I take it in. But im trying to remember how long it has looked like that... I never really gave it 2 thoughts until I saw some other cobalts and their dex cool color... o well damage has probly already been done... That pix that i posted was back in January 07... and now its even darker just ask CobaltLT and JohnnySasakiMGS. They saw it saturday and it was pretty nasty....

later

rukkee

iTrader: (3)

My wifes equinox is going in for a full flush a hose replacement , seems the dexcool is eating the hose from the inside and depositing the crap all threw the motor and cooland system . Id bet that its happening to you too .

saunders1986

iTrader: (1)

my 02 impala has had this problem for awile, gm flushed it, but it came back, dex cool just turns this color when it gets older, or thats what they said... never had any problems with the impala runing hot or shitty

RollOver360

Well is the level of the dex cool suppose to increase? lol... I dont think so. Also the car hasent even broke 20,000 miles and the dex-cool is turd brown? I was checkin out my dads blazer which has dex-cool and around 50,000 miles and nowheres near the color of mine, his is like a burgandy color.

Going in wed, i will keep u guys updated.

later

bluecobaltss06

It's not oil in the coolant. Like Sunburst_SS said there's a defect in the coolant hoses where they have some chemical material on them that makes the coolant like that. Every equinox I have seen does that there is a bulletin on it. You have to replace all the hoses and flush the system. Looks like you have that too.

css9450

I think I'll switch to regular green coolant!

RollOver360

Alrighty so why dont other cobalts have this problem? Or am i just really observant? I will tell the dealership that and see what they say. And clue as to if its crappy tubage or the coolant? NVM... i read to fast... and missed what u said.

later

Sunburst_SS

It's like any other problems....some cars get it, some don't. Just becuase one car has a problem doesn't mean ALLLLLL of them will.

RollOver360

Well i went in today, they didnt have a clue so they just flushed the system and refilled it. They tried blaming the person that put the painted headlights in, saying they probly didnt know what they were doing and tried doing u a favor and topping ur system off with some green antifreeze. Well he pretty much crapped his pants when i told him that i put the headlights in. Then he kept insisting that i must of put something in there when i did the headlights. I was like what does the headlights have to do with the coolant system?!!!? So I had them warranty it after arguing with them forever that I never put anything in there...

Then I got a recall about the cusion in the headliner or whatever. I tried setting up a appointment to get it done, and the guy told me the parts were on order and to wait a few weeks to a month to get it done so they get some practice in with taking the headliner out and putting it back in.... and i was like ARE U KIDDING ME? Im glad the guy was honest but a headliner isnt that hard and i will make sure i dont go back there to get any work done..

later

Tomtwtwtw

Dexcool does tend to get a little brown tint to it as it ages, and even though you're "supposed" to be able to go 100k + without changing it, I highly recommend you flush the cooling system every other year at the most. I doubt there's anything wrong with your car, and that flush they did should clear things up.

CobaltPerformanceParts

Dex cool has been known to do this. There are several ongoing law suites for it. My malibu started doing it from just a small air leak. As soon as I noticed it the trusty green stuff was put in.

06blackg85ss

iTrader: (1)

Green stuff shouldn't be run in engines requiring dexcool... it eats away at the aluminum.

but anyway. my coolant never turned that coler... even though I"m on my 2nd radiator, and probably 3rd coolant drain and refill (long story it's posted somewhere up here) but my friends 06 impala SS did that, but they said it was something with the cap

Tomtwtwtw

Interesting about green stuff eating the aluminum...from what I've heard, that *only* happens when you mix them. If you completly flush your system and re-fill it with green, you should be fine. And by flush, make sure you drain, run the chemicals through it, and then fill.

I did this on my last car after having to replace the radiator, water pump, heater core, and a freeze plug. Also, the person that bought it before me had to replace the water pump twice as well. It basically went through a radiator, heater core, freeze plug, and 3 waterpumps in 80000 miles, and never had a problem for the next 75000, when I traded it in for the Cobalt.

I'm counting on technology now, as my last car was a '98, and hoping that the Dexcool in my car is better than the crap in the old one. Then again, for all I know, the previous owner mixed some green **** in there by mistake without flushing it.

Here's a decent read about the different kinds of coolant out there.
Clicky.

CARLOS

what was the problem with this? Because i have the same problem. the oil from the engine went in to the coolant, and the oil dipstick is completely dry.
any help will be apreciated
Thank you

RollOver360

No idea, traded the car in for a ss/sc. Blown head gasket allowing oil into the coolant maybe?

later

Dainslaif

I'm not sure if they have the same equipment as the LSJs, but the last 2 times people saw oil in their coolant they both had damaged oil coolers.

But since it was a 2.2 and the OP doesn't really know if it actually was oil, this is just a shot in the dark.

chuckie

did you find the solution ? I have the same problem.

Cman46290

I had a car in at my dealer recently.... coolant bottle full of oil. You could dip your finger in it and it literally was 50% oil. As said above... if a head gasket blows.. you will get coolant into the oil... not oil in the cooling system.

I would have to say you have a crack somewhere in the engine block where there is high pressure oil. It has to be getting through somewhere where the oil pressure is greater than the cooling system pressure.

You're probably gunna have to start tearing into the engine to figure this out.

The guys at my dealer decided to not have it diagnoses. But my mechanic and I spoke about this... and he was 99% positive of the block being cracked somewhere.