2013 Chevy Silverado Which Coolant

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I just got a 2013 Chevy Silverado 2500HD. I want to change the coolant. I am thinking about using G05. I know the Dexcool is new and will be good for a log while but had a bad dexcool experience in another vehicle. Probably wasn't a Dexcool issue but would like to using something else.

Any recommendations? Thanks!
 
I see zero Dexcool issues with GM vehicles at our dealer. I would recommend leaving the Dexcool in for the recomended interval, or, untill your water pump leaks (the water pump will likely leak before the antifreez needs to be changed)
 
Use Dex in this truck. The whole system is pressurized and the intake is dry. I assume this is a 6.0 truck? Dex cool is not a problem of the LSX engines. If this a 6.0 it is LSX based. Leave it alone. If have to change it out so you can sleep at night, get it all out or that will give you problems.
 
Could go G05, but why waste the Dex? It's fine....


I wife's 03 ecotec is getting a flush.....with you guessed it- DEXCOOL! I know, the car will die tomorrow I'm sure..
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Seen many cars around me with Dex...including my own, with no issues. Don't let a few intake gaskets scare ya..
 
I have a '98 z-71 with the 5.7l engine. It had about 134,000 miles when I got it. It has about 189k on it now and runs great but I had lots of crud in the system. I replaced the water pump twice had to scrub the overfill jug and the hose going from the radiator to the overfill was plugged with red crud. I think the previous owner let the dexcool get too low and ran it that way for a while. I don;t fault dexcool and I am not a dexcool hater just kind of leary and have had good luck with G05 but wanted to see what people were using. I don't want to cause any problems so I guess I will just stick with the dexcool.
 
I have a 6 liter as well and now have about 50,000 miles on it with Dex. My wife's car has Dex as well with 188,000 miles. No problems Zero, Nada, Zilch.

Follow the maintenance plan and you will be a very happy camper.
 
Originally Posted By: jkhawaii
I see zero Dexcool issues with GM vehicles at our dealer. I would recommend leaving the Dexcool in for the recomended interval, or, untill your water pump leaks (the water pump will likely leak before the antifreez needs to be changed)


Note that we routinely run our fleet trucks to component failure before even touching the coolant. This is almost always in excess of 200k miles and sometimes much more.

Dex is not the problem.
 
The intakes on the the LSx motors are DRY!!! I don't know how many times I have to say that here. NO OIL OR COOLANT TOUCHES THE INTAKE GASKET...
If you keep asking people about the intake gasket on an LSx motor 99 and up (97 and 98 for the Vette and F-body) GM SBC ALL OF THEM, when they talk about coolant STOP. You are giving poor information.

ls1lifter.jpg


Here is what they look like. Lifter valley covered, with knock sensors installed. No oil, no coolant. Every LSx. 4.8, 5.3, 5.7, 6.0, 6.2. 7.0 are like this. Iron or Aluminum Block. Corvette, Silverado, Sierra, G8, GTO, CTS-V, Imapla SS, Grand Prix GXP, Trans Am, Camaro Etc Etc.
The intake touches the heads and even has an air gap between the lifter valley and it's base. That is why the knock sensors sometimes fail. Moisture gets under the intake and corrodes the sensors.

Ok Rant off.
 
I've got almost the same trucks as you. I have a '97 C2500HD with the SBC 5.7, and a 2011 K1500 with the 5.3. I also have an '02 Camaro with the 5.7 LS1.
I've replaced the intake manifold gaskets on the '97 due to the Dexcool issue and have a stash of Zerex G05 for that truck. On the Camaro (and the newer truck, when it's time) I use Dexcool exclusively, as these engines (as has been said by many above) have dry manifolds, and also have no gasket incompatability with that coolant.
 
I don't care for Dexcool either but it does seem to work well in trucks that have a pressurized over flow bottle. It's the ones with an old Skool Radiator cap that cause trouble.

I'd leave it in and replace it with more Dex in 5 yrs or so.
 
When I say here, I mean this board. So many folks who don't know or don't like GM will tell you that DEX cool will kill a car with an LSx. This is the not the case. My whole goal in life now will be to educate BITOG about the current GM offerings..
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Originally Posted By: ls1mike
The intakes on the the LSx motors are DRY!!! I don't know how many times I have to say that here. NO OIL OR COOLANT TOUCHES THE INTAKE GASKET...
If you keep asking people about the intake gasket on an LSx motor 99 and up (97 and 98 for the Vette and F-body) GM SBC ALL OF THEM, when they talk about coolant STOP. You are giving poor information.

ls1lifter.jpg

Here is what they look like. Lifter valley covered, with knock sensors installed. No oil, no coolant. Every LSx. 4.8, 5.3, 5.7, 6.0, 6.2. 7.0 are like this. Iron or Aluminum Block. Corvette, Silverado, Sierra, G8, GTO, CTS-V, Imapla SS, Grand Prix GXP, Trans Am, Camaro Etc Etc.
The intake touches the heads and even has an air gap between the lifter valley and it's base. That is why the knock sensors sometimes fail. Moisture gets under the intake and corrodes the sensors.

Ok Rant off.


I'm glad to see your intake ports are as filty as mine on the 04 below with a K&N for ALL of those miles.:)
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted By: Chris142
I don't care for Dexcool either but it does seem to work well in trucks that have a pressurized over flow bottle. It's the ones with an old Skool Radiator cap that cause trouble.

I'd leave it in and replace it with more Dex in 5 yrs or so.


More nonsense data. Just doesn't happen. Our whole fleet of 3500 Savanas have open bottles on them! Never a Dex issue here, period. Some ran over 250k miles without any cooling system service ever. Every truck has a heat exchanger that means tons of aeration and the Dex haters think that is involved.

As a side note, look at how nicely that injector spray cleans that intake valve!
 
Picture of the LSx is not my engine. But looks like that. A catch can will prevent the oil from doing that to the intake valves. They need Seafoam.

98 to 02 F-bodies did not have a pressurized system and did not suffer from Dex Cool problems. Dry intakes.

Most Dex cool stuff happend because of the gasket material on the 96 to 04 3.1, 3.4, 3.8 and 4.3.
Big issue was people would run low or the cap would go bad and the exposed gasket would break down and this is where you intake leak starts.
I bought my Buick knowing I would find this.
Lower Plenum, supercharger bolts on top of this
img2281jn.jpg

img2283a.jpg

img2284w.jpg

154 dollars and 4 hours later. No issues. I replace the cap yearly and check the level monthly. Real reason I have no issues now is I used the Felpro problem solver gasket. It is metal framed and use a different material gasket.
 
^^^Thanks for the photos, Mike!

Too much hooey about dex gets mindlessly repeated and frittered around the Internet.

Reality shows us that the coolant was not bad, just the gaskets.
 
But the point remains Dexcool requires the cooling system to be completely full at all times. The gaskets on some older models were not durable but original Green would not sludge anywhere nearly as fast on a leaky system. N-cars and W-cars and S/T trucks both had Dexcool and leak gaskets, but the N-cars were not prone to sludge and the others were. The difference is the N-cars had pressurized reservoirs.

Pressurized reservoirs/surge tanks are best at keeping the system full and bled, but a radiator cap system that is completely leak free, with a working cap and reservoir can also remain sludge free with Dexcool (a high radiator helps as well). There's also a matter of gasket compatiblity and lead solder but that's a thing of the past and beyond the topic.

That Dexcool requires the system to be full is pretty much established fact stated by GM and the Dexcool maker.
.
 
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