GM Dex-Cool class action settlement in Sun paper.

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Jim Spahr

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In the June 1 Parade section of the Sunday paper is a notification of the class action suit against GM V6's such as the 3.1L, 3.4L, 3.8L, and the 4.3L. An example would be the 1995-2003 3.1 and 3.4L in Luminas, Centry's, Grand Am's and many other GM models. The notice says GM will reimburse members for repairs from 50.00 to 800.00 within the earlier of 7 years or 150,000 miles. It states the Dex-Cool in the vehicles caused damage to the cooling systems and mentioned the intake manifold for the 3.1 and the 3.4, engine sealability for the 3.8, and engine sludge in the 4.3 Chev V6. For more info see
http://www.dexcoolsettlement.com
 
what about my 96 sunfire with dexcool and no problems? sounds like an intake manifold design issue
 
I think we're all well aware that all problems with Dexcool are imaginary. Or at least the owners are at fault.

Thousands and thousands of imaginary gaskets have failed due to imaginary chemical incompatibility with Dexcool's OAT addiditve, 2eha. Thousands of imaginary engine failures, thousands of imaginary bills.

Luckily somebody has imagined some lawyers and at least SOME GM owners will get an imaginary check. I imagine I'll file a claim, myself.
 
Originally Posted By: Audi Junkie
What about owners of cars w/blown engines?


GM said "what blown engines?"
LOL.gif
 
Originally Posted By: Cutehumor
what about my 96 sunfire with dexcool and no problems? sounds like an intake manifold design issue

If youll notice, those are a V type engine where the coolant has to run through the I/M. :P The only problem my '98 Cavi had with the cooling system was it needed a new water pump at around 80000.
 
So, according to the website, I'm eligible for a whopping $50 since my repair didn't happen until the car was 7 years old. Beats a kick in the head I guess, but I'd like the other $650 or so.....especially since I flushed/filled the cooling system per specs.
 
Originally Posted By: opus1
So, according to the website, I'm eligible for a whopping $50 since my repair didn't happen until the car was 7 years old. Beats a kick in the head I guess, but I'd like the other $650 or so.....especially since I flushed/filled the cooling system per specs.


They can only pay you $50 because the legal fees for your percentage of the suit were $1,978.34 to get you the $50.
grin2.gif
 
Originally Posted By: PT1
Originally Posted By: opus1
So, according to the website, I'm eligible for a whopping $50 since my repair didn't happen until the car was 7 years old. Beats a kick in the head I guess, but I'd like the other $650 or so.....especially since I flushed/filled the cooling system per specs.


They can only pay you $50 because the legal fees for your percentage of the suit were $1,978.34 to get you the $50.
grin2.gif



Oh, don't get me started on that.....I owned ADM stock once and some activist/investor group filed a lawsuit on behalf of the shareholders, claiming, if I remember correctly, that management was holding the price of the stock down via some manipulation that benefitted them.

When all was said and done, I had shares worth half of what I paid for them, pre-lawsuit, and a nice letter telling me that after paying both sides' legal fees, there was bupkis left of the settlement to actually reimburse us shareholders.
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Some of the problem is that Dexcool is a bad coolant. another problem is that the gaskets in certain cooling systems had plastic "Skeletons" that would crack, and cause coolant to leak, sometimes getting into the oil.

I just replace the stuff every 2 years, and hope the Ecotec I have is better than the GM 3.4, 3.8, and 4.3.
 
What is wrong with the 3.8 V6 GM engines? I have one and changed the DEX Cool when I first got it. What should I look for in terms of possible problems?
 
It affected the 3.8's that used the plastic intake manifolds. To say that the 3.8 was without problems isnt quite accurate. My '97 Grand Prix failed twice, and I had flushed the coolant twice before the car was 6 years old - so it wasnt due to lack of maint. In my experience it likely wasnt a dexcool problem, but the dexcool certainly wasnt helping the matter. The problem with mine was that it was a terrible design that didnt use an aluminum intake manifold, and also one where the EGR tube ran right through the plastic intake manifold. What seemed to happen on my car was that once air was introduced into the system via the leak the coolant turned to a sludgy gooey mess that clogged everything up. Ive never seen non long-life coolant do this. Anyone else?
 
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Dex Cool is not a good long life coolant. If you have a car that already has it, I would change over to the new Prestone 'either' coolant. If you are determined to contine to use Dex Cool, I would change it every year, or at least, every 2 years at the outside limit.
Dex Cool also forms sludge when mixed with the old style green coolant. For example, I tried to convert my 94 Chevy to use the new upgraded Dex Cool and it formed a brown sludge almost immediately. You can never flush 100% of the old green style out of the system. Then I had a terrible time trying to flush out the brown sludge to go back to the green coolant. Later, I had to replace the water pump and the intake manifold.
 
I noticed the brown mess in the Impala and had the system F&F with new Dexcool. My Cavalier has green in it because I forgot to look for Dexcool on the bottle.
 
The gaskets aren't the only problem. The EGR tube burns the UIM plastic and causes a coolant leak. Thanks to these two problems we have a nice supply of good cars that are cheap and easy to fix.

For the gaskets move ahead years until you get the metal ones which last and are GM's silent admission that plastic gaskets were a mistake. The UIM also has a solution that is just as good.

Automotive Parts Network: GM Intake Manifold Kit

When buying a used car you can avoid the problems or intentionally buy the problems by knowing the affected years and looking at the manufacture year on the UIM. If the manufacture date is the same as the car then you know that it has not been replaced. Depending on your ability that may be a ticket to trouble or a ticket to a low cost fixer upper.
 
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