![]() ![]() It appears that, particularly when mixed with air, DEXcool becomes corrosive. While no pro by any means, I've had a bunch of motors apart, and serviced a bunch of cooling systems. (04 trailblazr, 70k miles, 04 Silveraod SS, 126,000 miles. I own 2 vehicles that have their factory fill of DEXcool still in them. I have personally "lived with" a DEXcool problem car (03 malibu, 3.1 V6) and I repaired the damage to that car with my own hand and eyes. some have been revised, use the followup links in the first article. I will be really pissed off if I start burning water instead of fuel. I hope the Intake manifold gaskets aren't trashed and have a reduced life now. I was a mechanic in my dad's shop for 10 years and never seen gaskets do that. However, the intake manifold gaskets are not blue anymore either they look "oily, dark" I'm now wondering if those Fel-Pro gaskets are not reacting well with the different formula of the Dex-cool coolant. After running the engine to operating temp the gasket dried out, but then seeped coolant after a couple of days again! I ended up just pitching the gasket and sealed with thermostat/water pump "grey" silicone specially designed for proplylene glycol resistance and it hasn't leaked since. The gasket was "wet" looking and no longer blue. Let it sit about 2 days and noticed coolant on the intake. It was the strangest thing, I used a blue Fel-Pro gasket that came in the rebuild kit and applied some RTV silicone because the thermostat housing was a little corroded and tightened it down, let it sit for a day or so, filled system with Dex-cool and water mix and fired her up. This could also explain an issue I had with the thermostat gasket seeping coolant from the gasket onto the intake. I've spent way too much money on the engine and cooling system to have it screwed up by a mere coolant issue. I will be flushing the system and refilling with Prestone green. I took out thermostat ,turned the heater on and flushed for 1 hour ,revving it up now and then and more came out until finally it was clear.Put in the green Prestone and never looked back and I have had no more problems since I did that over 5 years ago.Chevrolet has a class action suit against them for that junk called Dexcool. I asked where the shop foreman was ,he pointed to an office, went in ,asked him his opinion on Dexcool.He stood up ,looked around and quitely told me get that shi* out of your truck.He said they had new trucks 6 months old blowing head gaskets,water pumps,temp. Went to the chevy dealer ,asked service rep about it ,he said good stuff,no problems. Did a search and found pages of Dexcool problems. It's also a must in batteries requiring water to top them up for the same reasons.I have a 98 Suburban, I went thru water pumps,intake leaks,thermostat's,tempature spikes. Distilled water is a must if you don't want mineral deposits clogging your rad. Had Cahill's Yamaha & (used to be ) Triumph order me a new pump under warranty and refilled with Dexcool and ran the bike up to 55K with no problems whatsoever. ![]() 10K later the 'bird was leaking at the pump. They used Prestone straight out of a 55 gallon drum for all their new bikes. I bought my first Triumph triple, a 1995 Thunderbird, from Cycle Riders in Orlando, FL. Check your coolant or better yet change it out if in doubt of the type of coolant in your system. It won't eat pump seals like the run of the mill Prestone w/sillicates. Dexcool should be changed every three years to avoid any problems. I've encountered some of the sludging problems mentioned above in GM cars and it is definitely from neglect/age. I've used Dexcool in my 1995 Speed Triple bitsa' bike, you know bits of this and bits of that (Isn't Triumph's modular approach grand?), for eight years now with no problems. ![]()
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