DEX-COOL Tragedy !

[Mike_dup1]

fyi

Dexcool is a product of Texaco.

A Goodyear mechanic told you it was the anti-freeze, a GM dealer told you it was not. Seems like a difference of opinion to me but you don't want to see that. You assumne the GM dealer is a liar and the Goodyear dealer is correct. So you have jumped to a conclusion based on hearsay and opinions.

The 4.3L engine is not one of the best engines and I don't care how good an engine is, its going to need maintenance and leaking gaskets are known to occur. Your are expecting too much for it go t 250,000 miles and not have one single problem, that would be more luck than quality.

You still have told us the info on your car, what year, make, model and mileage.

[ February 21, 2003, 09:07 AM: Message edited by: Mike ]

 

[rgl]

I am running a 93 Explorer that I Dex Cooled about 4 years ago when I was unaware of any controversy. I have put 100,000 miles on the Dex Cool and it has 184,000 right now. On the good side, it still has the original water pump and the original hoses, no swelling, cracking, or other deterioration. And original heater core. On the bad side, I just replaced the radiator because of leakage from the metal to plastic side tank. But then again the car is 11 years old. And I had a very similar problem many years ago on a 84 Camaro that was running green stuff. So for me the verdict is

.

 

[RobZ71LM7]

DexCool is perfectly fine. Most of the problems come with not checking the ph level and allowing the coolant level to become low or having air in the system. The problem is most likely improper torquing of the bolts from the factory. Many Vortec V8's have intake manifold gaskets fail and leak coolant which is b/c of overtorqued gaskets from the factory. Properly maintained Dex-Cool does not eat gaskets. No I am not implying the problem is your fault more likely the fault of GM.

 

[S2000driver]

The proper type of gasket is to be chosen for the type of coolant to be used. If GM specifies DexCool, but the gasket is not compatible, GM is ultimately responsible.

If your car calls for a certain type of coolant, you deviate from that and have gasket failure, you are ultimately responsible.

However, I feel that the coolant manufacturers share some of the responsiblilty in making you more aware that there are risks replacing or mixing the OEM recommendation with other coolants.

 

[outrun]

Hey Yall,

Indeed it is a bit reactionary for me to pit absolute blame on GM for this problem. At the same rate with my car turning 5 (that is in three weeks to this day according to my build sheet the car rolled off the factory line at St. Therese, Quebec) and 67,500miles i would not think a gasket failure would come sooo soon.

In fact, it is my humble opinion that modern engines are very sealed units and outside of routine maintence (filters, lube, etc) the engine core is essentially idiot proof. That is no "routine" honing, boring, and in my case with the 3800 no valve adjustments like the Honda DOHC engines.

I will chnage back to DEX-COOL when in a couple years a sell the vehicle to get it back to OEM stock. Other than the remarks of other owners with problems and other mechanics who have told me thier opinions and observations I do not want to risk a more expensive Head Gasket leak in the long run.

In conclusion to this string between G-05 and G-48 would you recommend to go in my cast iron engine? As in is one superior to other?


(G-48 is BMW coolant (P/N 82 14 1 467 704). It retails for $13.50 at BMW dealerships)

I am closing my choices between that and NPG+ by Evans.

 

[S2000driver]

Adjusting valves is FUN!

I would much rather do that than replace a head gasket on an iron block.

At least with Honda you know what you're in for.

 

[outrun]

No insult on Honda's i mean.

With GM engines especially vehicles with the mid engine design it seems the OE almost makes it a deliberate pain in the neck if someone was curious to see and investigate the visual condition of thier valve train.

Those Honda engines are nice...it seems like any DYI can change the plugs and catch a glimpse of how clean or dirty thier valve train is easy.

I wish my vehicle was the case. I am extremely curious to see how clean the valevtrain is from running synthetics non-stop.

And the car gets the intake manifold gaskets Monday. I actually visually detected DEX-COOL on my oil fill cap this morning...formed a "white sludge on it" yucky. I do not want to imagine the elevated engine wear the stuff has caused to the internals.

 

[Tom Busby]

Something about the Dex-Cool makes it change in certain engines. I had pink-grey sandy-junk form in my wife's '95 3.8 liter Transport. The front cover water-passage had an eroded hole in it from what I know believe was an aluminum to coolant ion exchange. Like the aluminum was electro-plating into the coolant. I had to sue GM and they finally paid for the damage but didn't admit anything was wrong. They said that they would know if something was wrong and there were no similar claims. I didn't believe it then either.

When I posted about this in another forum I received several suggestions. Here they are:
1. The coolant is electrically active because of insufficient engine grounding (maybe);
2. The coolant went bad from something I put in it (but I used only Dex-Cool and water -- tap water though);
3. Some tap water will make the Dex-Cool go bad (maybe);
4. A good way to fight this is to use a strip of magnesium metal - magnesium will oxidize before aluminum or iron will, so if you attach it to say your radiator cap (if it is metal) with something conductive, and let it sit immersed in your radiator the magnesium strip itself will degrade, and protect the internals of your motor; and,
5. Dex-Cool is good for 2-3 years just like the green kind but GM and others wanted to avoid EPA antifreeze recycling like the regulations for waste oil (probably).

 

[Ron-Indy]

While I use Dexcool and have experienced no negative issues, I have investigated the sacrifical anode idea.

What I found was that A) it only would have an impact in the immediate vicinity of the anode, i.e. around the neck of the radiator, and B) in a Dexcool environment it would actually deplete the anti-corrosive properties of the coolant as it "protected" the anode.

I have one to sell if anyone wants it. Hardly used....