1997 Olds with Dexcool

[Hokiefyd]

Originally Posted By: maybehabitformin
You honestly believe the gaskets cause the oily residue left behind and not the dexcool?


I do. I've owned three GM vehicles with Dexcool, and none of them had problems. They all had near or well over 100,000 miles. Hint: none of them had engines with manifold gasket problems. Two of them were even the dreaded Cadillac Northstars. Never had any coolant issues with Dexcool.

 

[440Magnum]

Originally Posted By: maybehabitformin
A stealership tech go figure.You honestly believe the gaskets cause the oily residue left behind and not the dexcool?


Dude.... eat more fiber.

No one is denying that there were problematic GM vehicles with DexCool. But it was a COMBINATION of things that caused the trouble- combination of metals used in the engine, radiator, heater core, gasket materials that changed in the presence of the 2EHA in DexCool, cap location that allowed air to be in the system all the time, etc. But that was bad GM engineering, not bad coolant. And YES, once the LIM gaskets get leaky, they CAN cause the "oily residue" you have seen. In other engines where everything was compatible with Dex, there are ZERO issues. Some of the cleanest cooling systems I've seen. Suggesting that SteveSRT8 "put it in (his)SRT8" is just irrelevant- the SRT engine is NOT made for it. Its not made for conventional silicate coolant, nor for Asian car phosphate HOAT coolant either, would you suggest he run those? And if THEY damaged the SRT Hemi, would you blame the coolant, even though all those Toyotas out there are running around fine with the pink stuff and all American cars used silicated coolants for decades? Right tool for the right job, and there are lots of cars for which DexCool is the right tool.

 

[cchase]

Originally Posted By: FusilliJerry82
If its a 3.4L DO NOT use Dexcool.


Are you insinuating that Dexcool causes LIM gasket problems?

 

[DinoOil]

Originally Posted By: SteveSRT8
Originally Posted By: maybehabitformin
Put it in your SRT then ! Do the gaskets cause the oily residue thats coated in the coolings systems and overflow bottles? There are some ignorant people on this site!BTW where are you a technician at ?


Nope, the SRT gets HOAT only.

I would agree there are very ignorant folks here sometimes. Look in a mirror lately?

I was an NIASE certified tech at three different manufacturers dealerships in the 80's and moonlighted as a tech until my kids were grown. Now i care for a fleet of GM products.

Any more questions?


Bro: after reading all your defending of DEXCool, I can't help but ask if you are a shill for Gov't Motors or Havoline? Seriously, it's getting OLD.......

 

[mechanicx]

You could ask similarly for all the Dexcool bashers, are they anti-GM, anti-Havoline (Prestone, Peak, Zerex) shills? Oh yeah Ford is now on board with Dexcool.

 

[aquariuscsm]

When my gf had her 98 Delta 88,I had to replace the radiator. I refilled it with the old style green coolant.

 

[zzyzzx]

I have a 1999 Oldsmobile Alero V6 with the LIM Gasket problem. When I replaced the gasket, I used Dexcool. The alleged problems with Dexcool are really due to a questionable gasket material, and poor torque on the LIM bolts and/or lack of thread locker, not DexCool.

Quite frankly, the only thing I don't like about Dexcool is that I have keep different coolant around just for this car.

 

[SteveSRT8]

Originally Posted By: DinoOil
Originally Posted By: SteveSRT8
Originally Posted By: maybehabitformin
Put it in your SRT then ! Do the gaskets cause the oily residue thats coated in the coolings systems and overflow bottles? There are some ignorant people on this site!BTW where are you a technician at ?


Nope, the SRT gets HOAT only.

I would agree there are very ignorant folks here sometimes. Look in a mirror lately?

I was an NIASE certified tech at three different manufacturers dealerships in the 80's and moonlighted as a tech until my kids were grown. Now i care for a fleet of GM products.

Any more questions?


Bro: after reading all your defending of DEXCool, I can't help but ask if you are a shill for Gov't Motors or Havoline? Seriously, it's getting OLD.......



But seriously, instead of simply parroting the standard mantra do the research and learn for yourself.

Dexcool is NOT A BAD PRODUCT. You are misinformed and just adding to the mindless droves that repeat what they heard somewhere on the Net!

 

[rshaw125]

Dexcool, Deathcool, left the biggest mess in my Buick I have seen. Sludge city. If there is any doubt why risk it? After two flushes I thought do I really want to do this again? Just say no to Dexcool.

 

[Rock_Hudstone]

Originally Posted By: SteveSRT8
Absolute baloney. Dex is even used by Ford now. It's a bad gasket, not an inherently evil coolant.

Replace the gasket(s) and there are no more problems.

Pure Internet baloney at at it finest

Do you deny Dexcool turns into red muck when intake manifold gaskets fail on post 1995 3.1/3.4 GM engines?

 

[mechanicx]

Actually though the Dexcool doesn't sludge in the N-cars with 3.1/3.4 even with leaking intake gaskets as long as the coolant level isn't run too low. The high mounted pressurized reservoir/surge tank keeps the system full.

 

[ls1mike]

You made me log in so I could post.
Here we go with dexcool again.
In a pressurized overflow system it has not been an issue.
In a system like all of the GM stuff uses now with DRY INTAKES it is not a problem. (1.4, 1.8 2.0 3.0, 3.6 LS based stuff)
So go back to 1996. 3.1, 3.4, 3.8 and 4.3. Problem is a combination of things. Gaskets and fluid. The gaskets were poor and when the system got air in it due to it running low the exposed intake gasket would break down due to acidity of the coolant. Fel-Pro does make a gasket that helps prevent this. It is called the problem solver. They are metal framed,no overtorquing, and resitant to break down. When I did the Buick I flused it, flused it again, replaced the gaskets with the updated ones and added plain old Prestone green.
Any modern car made by GM can use dex cool without issue. I have it in my Equinox, Silverado 2500HD and Trans Am. The Trans Am does not have a pressurized overflow but it has a dry intake so it does not suffer like the unpressurized systems.
The problem was fixed in about 2004 with intake and gasket updates.

 

[ls1mike]

Originally Posted By: Rock_Hudstone
Originally Posted By: SteveSRT8
Absolute baloney. Dex is even used by Ford now. It's a bad gasket, not an inherently evil coolant.

Replace the gasket(s) and there are no more problems.

Pure Internet baloney at at it finest

Do you deny Dexcool turns into red muck when intake manifold gaskets fail on post 1995 3.1/3.4 GM engines?

Chances are the red muck is failed stop leak, used as a band aid. Dexcool without it that runs low or is mixed with the wrong stuff will be gel like.

Gel like substance in my Buick.

Stop leak added by the previous owner as a band aid.

You also have to remember the formula for DEXcool has changed since it's intial use and sometime in 2000 it had a reformulation with an updated antioxidant.

Some of the failures were preventable, a bunch were not. A portion of the failures were caused by owners who didn't understand Dexcool should not be mixed or they just didn't maintain the car properly. My 98 Bonneville and my 01 GTP never needed gaskets. I put 260,000 on the Bonney and 270,000 on the GTP, never had coolant in the oil but they never ran low on coolant and I swapped it every 50,000 miles.

I got a good deal on the Buick because I knew it needed the intake gasket, a radiator and a good flush.
Not defending GM on this one, just laying the facts out there.
I will take the intake gasket in my 3800 over a timing belt/valve adjustment anyday, becuase once it is fixed right you are good to go.

 

[SteveSRT8]

^^^Thanks Mike. The bitterness of a bad decision has left a lasting scar, eh? It's been a LONG time and Dex is still blamed for everything but bad gas!

It is simply not an issue anymore. I owned 2 different Buick V-6's while my kids lived at home and both were incredibly high mileage. Never made a peep. Had Sunbirds and Cavaliers as well without coolant issues. Many V8 trucks as well were run to the ground from brand new.

Never a Dex issue in this driveway.

 

[DrDusty86]

Steve, you are correct. I use Dexcool in my Ford car and have for 9 years. My Ranger went 413k, 375k miles was on Dexcool. ZERO problem and 100% clean cooling systems...No rust, no crud, no flakes, no sludge. They looked brand new. It was GM's scrappy engineering of gasket material that caused it. GM has a lot of scrappy engineered odd stuff..like the stepper motors in the gage clusters, the fuel pumps their alternators.....on and on.. BUT Dexcool is fine.

 

[tightwad]

Maybe the internet hysteria is true. My years of no problems with Dexcool may be a mirage. You can't put anything on the internet that isn't true, right? But what do I know? I'm just a french model. Bonjour!

 

[ArrestMeRedZ]

Steve, Mike, let the madness end. I have a '97 5.7 Vortec with the wet intake manifold. I have been absoloutely, um, what's the word without being censored, meticulous?, about maintenance. I expected to get 300k miles on it before unbuttoning the engine. At 65k it began leaking coolant. I changed out the IMGs and noticed the radiator and other passages were clean as a whistle, probably because the coolant was never allowed to get low. The gasket itself looked like acid had been poured on it around some of the coolant passages.

The gaskets and Dexcool were simply incompatible. The gaskets themselves may have been weak, but I am convinced they would have lasted close to 300k with just about any other coolant, just like any other well maintained small block Chevy.

I also got ahold of a 3.4 in an Alero. It had a leak in the thermostat bypass pipe (really weak design), and the IMG bolts had worked loose. Massive leaks. The IMG itself showed no damage, so that problem can't be contributed to the gasket or Dexcool.

I've had no problems with high mileage 6.0L or 5.7L LS1 Chevys with a dry manifold.

You can say what you want, but Deathcool was a problem in the earlier years becase of an incompatibly with the IMGs. Unless you can prove they changed the IMG materials starting in '96, you can't make a rational argument that there was nothing wrong with Dex. The fact it works well with a huge number of engines with a dry intake manifold had no bearing on what it did with 1996-2004 wet manifolds.

If I had maintained my truck poorly, I could understand having problems. I didn't.

 

[mechanicx]

My position is that Dexcool requires the cooling system to remain full to protect the cooling system. High mounted pressurized reservoirs/surge tanks do a better job of keeping the system full even when there's minor leaks or a low radiator.

With the intake gaskets, they were switched in design almost at the same time Dexcool was first used. The plastic gasket and silicone elastomer type was not very durable for any coolant, but was probably marginally more durable with conventional Green non-OAT coolant where the silicates would coat the gaskets. They still wouldn't last all that long nor had good durability.

I don't think Dexcool is much more aggressive with certain gaskets than other OAT coolants. I don't entirely blame Dexcool on the gasket leaking, but I also don't blame the leaking gasket on all the problems Dexcool had at the time. I look at as Dexcool has cooling system requirements and some of the systems didn't meet the requirements.

 

[ArrestMeRedZ]

I can agree with that 100%. I have almost 2 cases of G-05 I bought to change out all of my GMs, then decided to only use on the '97 (I bought and changed out the gaskets with factory replacements before the incompatibility issue was public knowledge, and don't know if I have the new design or old). I still buy and use Dexcool on the LS* style engines I have.

For the mechs out there, anybody aware of Dex causing problems with the early head gaskets over an extended period of time?

 

[mechanicx]

I think Green followed by G05 would over time potentially be slightly easier on the older flimsy intake gaskets than Dexcool and OAT coolant, but they are still prone to leaking.

I don't think Dexcool has any real negative effect or shorten service life on early headgaskets. The headgaskets are pretty robust and the coating seems to be resistant to Dexcool compared to some of the early intake gaskets. I think conventional coolant would give marginal to no increase in early HG life, and heat cycles over many miles and years would be the deciding factor to HG life.