DO NOT USE Peak Long Life!

[MaximaGuy]

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I do agree that mixing antifreezes is a bad thing. Sorry, but just about every coolant related problem seems to be cause by a blend of various antifreezes.

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Well in my case I mixed Dexcool with Nissan stuff-- why is the world would the back of the bottle say mixing is OK.

The instructions should have been clearly said "Mixing of coolants NOT OK", then I would not even gone for the $10 bet, the OTC coolant manufacturers lure u into it and then down the lane we spend hard earned bucks fixing a whole set of parts.

I for one will NEVER EVER burn my fingers again in the coolant dept.

 

[TallPaul]

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I also have an issue with tap water, certain additives, and incorrect water:coolant ratios.

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Good point and true for most people. Here in Detroit, we have Great Lakes water. Very soft and the only thing in it is the bit of chlorine from the treatment process. I have no problem using this water in my cooling system. But in most places I would need to get distilled water, or just buy the premixed coolant.

 

[ms21043]

In 97 I bought a new Plymouth Breeze and one of the first things I did was dump out the original coolant flush it a few times and re fill with dex cool. I did this because

 

[ms21043]

Oops,where's the edit button? Anyway long story short the car has 200k on it now and still runs great. I did have to pull the head at 90k because there was an external oil leak. When I had the head off the water passages in the block and head looked still looked new.

Dex cool worked fine for me.

 

[mstrjon32]

I had a '97 Monte Carlo that ran Dexcool since day 1, never had a coolant related failure in 195K miles...did the intake gaskets fail, they sure did, due to a poor design. Guess what, had a '95 Lumina, same engine, NO Dexcool, ran that to 216K miles, intake gaskets failed on that too, strictly because of the design of the engine, NOTHING to do with the coolant. Had an '89 Regal, had probably over 200K miles (Odometer broke, [censored] knows how many miles it had when I sold it), never an engine related failure with the original gasket design used on those earlier 60*V6 engines.

My new car has Dexcool and I'll be flushing and refilling the system probably every 2 years or 50K miles; but that's overkill. I could certainly run that coolant for the life of the vehicle with no problems.

I'm sorry if you're on some kind of Anti-GM agenda, but the reality of it is that BMW and Mercedes have just as many problems as GM or Toyota. BMW is currently spec'ing ridiculous OCI's for their cars and are generating many unhappy customers. Toyota built sludge boxes for years. Until very recently many Mercedes models were rated only slightly better than the French automakers (which often take home the lowest scores on the reliability benchmark, flawed as those benchmarks are, IMO)...that said I'd love to own a Peugeot 407 (or even a 406) coupe, if I could get one in this country.

IMO, Dexcool never had a problem, the problem is and always has been with a flawed intake manifold gasket design which came about after GM decided to change gasket materials in the third generation 60*V6 engines.

This is like saying that the Toyota sludgeboxes used conventional oil, I better stay away from that [censored]...

 

[BigAl]

I've used DexCool in several cars ever since it came out. Never had an issue, but I always flushed well first. It always looks nice, clear, and pink.

It's too bad that GM started using it about the same time they came up with a really bad intake manifold gasket design on the 3.1 engines. Like mstrjon32 said, people are mixing up the cause and the effect.

 

[pbm]

IMO, Dexcool never had a problem, the problem is and always has been with a flawed intake manifold gasket design which came about after GM decided to change gasket materials in the third generation 60*V6 engines.

I think you are 99% correct. One problem with Dexcool is that when air is introduced into a Dexcool protected system
a sludgey mix follows. This can be avoided by keeping a good working radiator cap and keeping the system FULL. if these 'conditions' are met Dexcool will protect long and well.

 

[The Critic]

I put Prestone All Makes All Models in a '96 Saturn and '92 Previa with poorly maintained cooling systems. I even used an aggressive chemical flush in the Previa before installing it. No problems with either vehicle. Both vehicles have the original hoses, radiator, thermostat, radiator cap, and all cooling system gaskets.

 

[beanoil]

I recently switched from factory filled Dex to Peak Global in my Rendezvous. 4 years old, 56k. Coolant was like new, no sludge, brown bits, nothing abnormal. Refilled with the Global at 50/50. And the only reason I did that is because the global was closed out at Sam's for 9.00 for a box of 3 gallons. Now the Ford truck I just did was another story. An obvious mix of factory gold, and green. Coolant was ugly, and slimy. The puke tank was filthy, and full of brown bits at the bottom. There was no obvious corrosion, but the thermostat housing and thermo were slimed up also. I flushed with a tee in the heater hose for about 30 minutes, and refilled with G05. I do not think Dex is the problem. Lack of maintenance, air in the cooling system, and coolant contamination from mixing formulations causes many more issues than the chemical formulation of Dex.

 

[obbop]

"The puke tank was filthy, and full of brown bits at the bottom."

Some of those 'round these parts (Moribund et al) would find a way to cook with those brown bits!!!!

And, some of thee having grief with coolant? That ain't nuthin'.

There's a dern cricket in the shanty, chirping... chirping... chirping.... ENDLESSLY!!!!!

Can't find it to squash it.

Like a Twilight Zone episode I am stuck in an endless loop of irritating CHIRPING.

Acccckkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[va3ux]

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Here in Detroit, we have Great Lakes water. Very soft and the only thing in it is the bit of chlorine from the treatment process. I have no problem using this water in my cooling system. But in most places I would need to get distilled water, or just buy the premixed coolant.

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Paul, Great Lakes water is not "very soft". It is considered to be a "medium hardness" water by industrial standards. It's quite a long way from being considered soft at all. Using it in your cooling system certainly isn't going to kill it. But when a jug of distilled or DI water only is a couple of bucks, why use free, hard water at all.