If so, no other drawbacks?
Avoid Opening DEX-COOL Surge Tank?
- Thread starter viscous
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Probably no other drawbacks, unless you have the Nissan Frontier mentioned previously.
The advantage of adding coolant is that you have a bit more cushion if you should develop a slight leak/use problem and/or you forget to check your coolant level for a while.
Thanks for your input. In that case, I see no good reason to purchase DEX-COOL for an unnecessary top-off. Everything will likely be fine as long as the coolant remains above the entry hose on the surge tank.
That's true. Barring those conditions, though, seems like top-off is not needed. Does anyone else have an opinion on this?
By the way, has anyone else observed the phenomenon I discussed in the following thread:
I know someone who bought a car where the coolant was low like that, for years and didn't affect anything. It wasn't topped off at the factory correctly.
I personally haven't seen it. I am using the Prestone version of DexCool.
OK. Someone else mentioned that they had also seen the "oil slick" appearance. I've seen it in both conventional green and DEX-COOL open bottles. Wonder what it is.
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Good god I remember those intake problems like they were yesterday. Used to replace at least two a week.
When you had them all apart the old gasket almost felt slimy as the rubber had deteriorated. It usually took between 35,000-45,000 miles for those gaskets to fail. We’d replace them and end up doing them again another 30,000-40,000 miles later, BUT it was mostly in the 3.4 engines. Didn’t see it much in the 3.8’s or the V8 engines.
But the guy in the video is right - Ford did theirs right - I never saw one single issue with the Ford coolant/gaskets/engines/leaks in those similar years. It was always so strange to see those GM’s come in with low coolant level, know there was an intake leak...and the Fords were full. Almost every single time. Never even changed the coolant in those fords. They were just so air tight. And I’m not a “Ford guy” by any means, come to think of it I’m not a GM guy either.
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Deleted member 89374
What happens if you run Dex-Cool in a HEMI?
I'm pretty sure that's illegal.
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Deleted member 89374
I'm pretty sure that's illegal.
I got the Mopar antifreeze for the truck to be safe, and for the Hyundais, I got Peak Global Extended Life (OAT). It's pretty funny that my wife's 2017 was manufactured at the end of 2015, and we got it in June 2016. I'm about to do a flush on all of our vehicles and install a 180F t-stat in the RAM 1500.
Considering that the current Mopar OAT coolant is essentially Dex-cool I'd feel very safe in saying that nothing happens.
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Deleted member 89374
Except that the Mopar OAT antifreeze doesn't contain 2-EthylHexanoate - and I don't know why FCA made such a big deal about it. I think the only other coolants that don't have 2-EthylHexanoate are Peak Global Extended Life (they love to advertise "2EH free formula"), Valvoline MultiVehicle AntiFreeze, and Amsoil Low Toxicity Antifreeze (though I think this one is HOAT). If I missed any, I apologize, but I'm not really that passionate about antifreeze. I bought the Mopar stuff for the RAM, and for the Hyundais, I got Peak Global Extended Life. I hope it works out well.
Are you talking about the pressurized tanks? Because there were vehicles that used DexCool that didn't have pressurized tanks back in the mid-late 90s. My 95 Tahoe had an unpressurized tank and used DexCool, never had any issues with cooling, sludge, or gaskets. At least until the head gasket blew on the driver's side head one day at around 240K miles, although that had nothing to do with the DexCool. Most of the DexCool "info" passed around is just myth.
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