In an 06 buick with 3800 (135k), has had Dexcool from day one with a couple of partial drain and fills along the way due to repairs, does it make sense to do a full flush and swap to one of the newer all makes coolants or just stick with the Dexcool? After reading several posts on the topic I have come to these conclusions.
1. By 2006 GM had either addressed gasket material and/or the Dexcool was reformulated to be easier on gaskets. In that case and with clean system a good flush and fill will likely pose no furthur issues.
2. Drain and fill with one of the current all makes formulas, Peak, Prestone etc. Seems reasonable but if these are mostly DEXcool clones then is there anything to be gained? The only thing I see, again based on other threads, is something like the Peak global doesn't have 2-EHA in it which many deem the likely culprit in past issues. Would it be a good idea to swap just for the sake of getting rid of the 2EHA, or does it really matter at this point in this cars life? I've read where other ingredients also act as plasticisers as well so it may be getting rid of one but adding another.
3. In general most of the coolants today are the same with the exception of Asian blended coolants having phosphates. I know distilled water is always preferred but perhaps more so with phosphated coolants because of minerals in tap water falling out in the presence of phosphated coolant. The honda coolant in my 07 van seems to be pretty solid and at one time I had considered whether that was a good alternative but again it appears it is likely nearly identical to Dexcool to start with.
I would like to get a few more years of use out of this car and trying to find the best path to do that and hopefullly avoid any more issues. I had 2 other vehicles, a 97 tahoe and 97 bonneville that both had intake problems but I think that was early when the problem just started to show up after a few years of Dexcool being introduced. Im hoping that by 2006 and with the series 3 3800 some of the problems naturally went away on their own.
1. By 2006 GM had either addressed gasket material and/or the Dexcool was reformulated to be easier on gaskets. In that case and with clean system a good flush and fill will likely pose no furthur issues.
2. Drain and fill with one of the current all makes formulas, Peak, Prestone etc. Seems reasonable but if these are mostly DEXcool clones then is there anything to be gained? The only thing I see, again based on other threads, is something like the Peak global doesn't have 2-EHA in it which many deem the likely culprit in past issues. Would it be a good idea to swap just for the sake of getting rid of the 2EHA, or does it really matter at this point in this cars life? I've read where other ingredients also act as plasticisers as well so it may be getting rid of one but adding another.
3. In general most of the coolants today are the same with the exception of Asian blended coolants having phosphates. I know distilled water is always preferred but perhaps more so with phosphated coolants because of minerals in tap water falling out in the presence of phosphated coolant. The honda coolant in my 07 van seems to be pretty solid and at one time I had considered whether that was a good alternative but again it appears it is likely nearly identical to Dexcool to start with.
I would like to get a few more years of use out of this car and trying to find the best path to do that and hopefullly avoid any more issues. I had 2 other vehicles, a 97 tahoe and 97 bonneville that both had intake problems but I think that was early when the problem just started to show up after a few years of Dexcool being introduced. Im hoping that by 2006 and with the series 3 3800 some of the problems naturally went away on their own.
