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The Story of Dex-Cool: The Coolant That Put General Motors in Hot Water
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 18 ส.ค. 2024
- Dex-Cool is an ethylene glycol coolant that was introduced in late 1995 with the 1996 model year vehicles produced by General Motors. It was a derivative of the original formulation of coolant that eliminated silicates and phosphates from the formula, in order to extend the life span of the coolant. However, the chemicals that replaced them would soften some seals, and didn't handle an imperfectly maintained system. The orange coolant quickly gained a reputation for causing cooling system issues, but wasn't entirely to blame...
Dex-Cool is still used by GM today, still a factory fill for new vehicles. One way or another, the issue has been resolved, but it's still an important part of GM history, and, in Steve's opinion, a story worth sharing.
Chapters:
0:00 Introduction & What is Dex-Cool
1:09 Why Use a Different Coolant?
3:22 Perfection Required
5:10 All Roads Lead to Failure
6:54 Orange Bailout
8:40 New GM, Same Coolant
9:32 Closing Thoughts
The General Motors chapter 11 bankruptcy filing played an important role in the story of DexCool, but the full story of that and the Motors Liquidation Company (MLC) is a tale for another video.
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Main Sources:
GM Technical Service Bulletin 05-06-02-002B
Texaco DEX-Cool Antifreeze: www.hotrod.com...
GM DEXRON Trademark: www.sae.org/pu...
GM DEXRON Web Site: www.gmdexron.co...
Coolant shelf life depends on if the bottle is sealed: cglapps.chevro...
Penray DEX-Cool FAQ Information PDF: penray.com/wp-...
Coolant Confusion: www.motor.com/...
DEX-Cool Lawsuit Pending: www.consumeraf...
DEX-Cool Lawsuit: www.classlawgr...
DEX-Cool Lawsuit Finished: www.latimes.co...
DEX-Cool MSDS: www.acdelco.co...
Old GM Cut Up After Bankruptcy: www.reuters.co...
Old GM Dumps Liability: www.cleveland....
Other Sources:
Additional Dex-Cool Information: www.getahelmet...
Patent for Improved Surge Tank Material: patents.google...
Hot Rod on using Dex-Cool, 1997: www.hotrod.com...
Coolant type timeline: www.pqiamerica....
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Sources in description!
Is there any part of the DEX-Cool story that you think we missed?
Good video, my understanding was that mixing dexcool with conv green formed a gel... you only mentioned poor performance.
The AC Delco coolant tablets.
Thanks for a highly informative story on Dex-Cool Coolant. The concept of changing coolant every 150,000 miles is great. Researched prospective GM vehicle and 1.4 engine option prior to acquisition. Decided to purchase a 2016 Cruze Limited with 101,000 miles. Based on prior research, did not rely on coolant temperature gauge as a reliable resource to judge engine temperature or vehicle coolant level. After purchase, tried to regualry pop the hood to monitor coolant levels. Eventually stumbled upon obserrving a slow coolant leak. Have not figured out where the leak is, but in the interim, replenished coolant overflow resevoir every 500 to 1000 miles with Dex-Cool only. In the midst of regularly replenishing the leak, did eventually encounter bubbling, Did research on the matter, and resorted to turning on heater at full blast, let engine run with coolant resevoir cap off,and actively replenished coolant during bubbling until it disippated. I really appreciate this vehicle. To me, it's a beauriful car, proud of regualy attaining between 29 to 32 MPG, during mixed city highway driving. The engine is not babied , but nor is it pushed to the limit. It feels spritely and runs smooth and quetly.
Bought a 2000 Grand Am GT 12 years ago with 63k on it. Constantly had radiator, overflow tank, intake gasket, head gasket and water pump failures. After constantly throwing $$ at it, finally decided I had enough. Flushed the Dex-Cool out and went with green at around 100k. It now sits at 400k and hasn't had a cooling system issue since the switch.
Smart move. Plus the green coolant is completely fine as long as it's maintained properly. Newer dexcool says 150k change intervals. That just seems too long.
do believe that the choice of dex-cool was the reason for those multiple failures ?
👍👏 Just recently bought an 04 sunfire with decent low mileage and already flushed out the Dexcool switching over to green 50/50
400,000 Wow!
I have a 2007 Cobalt SS with 191k on her, I replaced the coolant at 100k and then again at 190k both times the coolant was very clean and I have had zero issues with the dexcool.
Then you lucked out.
That was probably the remade formula they never said they changed to avoid lawsuits from before.
Been using the ac delco or prestone…
@@adrianrobinson7953 O'Reilly brand.
Also I'm up to 206k miles now
I have a 07 Trailblazer that came with dexcool. I am the only owner of this vehicle and never had any problems aside from a water pump change and today i changed the thermostat. Truth be told, aside from the top off of antifreeze from the waterpump and thermostat change i have never replaced/flushed the old stuff out of the system. 13 yrs and 200,000 miles later still without any major problems and running like a champ.
In 2002 or 2003 Bought a used 99 GMC Suburban with a 5.7L. Soon after ownership noticed the coolant expansion tank kept going empty. Never smelled, saw or noticed any leaks, just disappearing coolant. Eventually took it to the dealer who found a seeping head gasket. Leaked and seeped into a cylinder and burned while the engine was cold and sealed up when the engine was at temp. Dealer pulled the gasket and showed the failure to me along with silicone like crystals. Tech flushed and replaced with green. Besides the plastic/nylon hose connections, and that quick connect intake manifold connection, no other coolant related issues since. 195K miles and 15mpg. Still rolling. Go Green!
Thanks
My dad bought a 96 silverado brand new back in the day. When he brought it home and saw that pink radiator fluid he said WTF? Immediately flush it out over and over and put the normal green stuff in it...he didn't realize what good deed he had done until a few years later. Now my son my dad's truck with 250k miles on it.
The prestone 50/50 green is te best option.
@@williamraysv 50/60%
@@outwiththem 50/60? Where did you learn math??
I have a 2001 Silverado Pickup that has been in the family since it was new. At about 10 years old and with less than 100K miles, the water pump failed and had to be replaced. Around the same time, the engine developed an issue where it would consume coolant without any sign of leakage, requiring frequent top offs. Within the past year, I had to replace the knock sensors, which required removing the intake manifold for access. When I removed the intake manifold, I noticed that one of the original flimsy plastic gasket assemblies had failed due to a crack. I thus replaced both with the new, re-designed metal gasket assemblies made by Fel-Pro (I had planned on installing these regardless). Whether or not the Dexcool is what caused these gaskets to fail, I don't know for sure, although I no longer use Dexcool in the truck. I did a thorough flush of the whole cooling system, replaced the radiator, the plastic reservoir, and a few of the hoses, and now I just use the yellow jug Prestone Universal coolant.
GM’s plastic gaskets were/are to blame for that. I had the same issue with a 1996 gmc pickup with the mystery coolant leak. 3 of the 4 coolant passages in the intake gaskets were cracked. The silicone would seal until the system built pressure, and then would leak the coolant out and stop leaking again. $25 and a couple hours later it was all fixed. I believe the plastic lends itself to being broken when torqued down, and that is the real problem. I’ve since changed cracked gaskets in 3 different vehicles with aftermarket metal cored gaskets and never had a repeat event.
Thanks for this great video and the history of Dex-Cool!
TL;DR - GM can suck it
I purchased a new 1999 GMC Jimmy who lived to the ripe young age of 104,236 miles (6 years). The first year was trouble free and I loved my truck. It was my first new car and got all of the attention, and then some. However years 2-6 were a different story. Despite me giving it all the attention and more, it slowly sucked me dry of my blood, sweat, tears, and money...lot's of money. Those years entailed multiple power-flushes, 2 radiator replacements, 1 heater core replacement (that nearly sent me and my friends to the hospital after breathing the fumes spewed into the vehicle on a freezing new years day), 2 water pump replacements, and 2 head gasket replacements. 99% of this was done by the dealership (Grand Auto), in many cases begrudgingly, GM did pony up for some of the repair costs but ultimately began dragging approvals out weeks out to avoid paying and reduce the cost of the warranty coverage. Maybe stupid of me, or maybe wise beyond my years I had opted to purchase the extended warranty, the sucker bet, which should have been a saving grace until I learned that the extended warranty company was owned by the owner of the dealership. So without the support of GM who basically never owner their flaws, and the extended warranty being a failure, I spent upwards of $6,000 (25% of the vehicle purchase price) of my own money in a vain attempt to save my truck. Alas, the final head gasket failure led to it's demise. Also of note (warning: conjecture) was a little known Easter Egg in the GM software - at EXACTLY 100,000 miles the next start of the vehicle would not be successful on the first turn of the key - something that had NEVER happened on the vehicle before. Coincidence? You decide. In any case - I gave GM every chance to do the right thing, and in 2008 when they leveraged the market crash as an opportunity to send the final F%$K YOU to their customers by writing off the settlement debt in a shell company for their bankruptcy, I decided to write them off for good, and GM will never own another hard earned cent of mine.
P.S. I'm happily still driving the 2005 Toyota Tacoma that I replaced my GMC with to this day. GM can suck it.
Yes yes and yes I was having cooling system problem
No more new cars, all dealers want an additional 50-80% over the MSRP
I own a 2001 Jeep WJ 4.0L V6 which also had a blown head gasket due to overheating about 6 years ago. I spent about $2500 for that job but the engine has been reliable and I now have 325,000 miles on this engine and its still going strong. I use synthetic oil and the green stuff. Im really glad I bought this car now when I hear stories like this.
I have many many years of experience dealing with dexkill. I believe you are right on the money when you say that air leaking into the system is the cause of the sludge buildup. I was unaware that dexcool had leak stopping additives built into it but now that I know it makes perfect sense.
In my experience I believe the dexcool problem mainly affected GM's 60° V6 platform. Because of the lower intake gasket issues those engines seem to be the primary ones that develope the issues. In my research other engines that do not typically have gasket issues do not develop the sludge formation.
In conclusion vehicles with gasket issues that allow air in the cooling system develope the sludge. I have rebuilt many and it involves changing every component in the cooling system. On one vehicle the sludge was so severe that I had to remove the head gaskets because chunks of sludge had plugged up the passages in the head gasket where the coolant flowed.
Thanks for helping me solve exactly why dexcool did what it did. I knew it had to be an additive that was specific to dexcool that was solidifying and then sticking to what ever surface was closest. If you tear down a sludged system you will notice a pretty even coat of the sludge on every surface. Thanks for the video! If you ever get a chance check out my video on my chanel about my experiences with dexcool.
@@manuelester7420 exactly! It has been my experience that GM's 60° V6 platform of engines are the ones most vulnerable to air intrusion. So in my opinion it matters what kind of engine you have. But I like your statement most. Why take the chance and just use conventional green. That is what I have done with all of my GM engines and I have never had any issues.
2003 Malibu 3.1 V6 which used Dex-Cool. Never over-heated but was using up coolant. No milkshake, no leak, no exhaust smoke so it took a bit to figure out the LIM gaskets were eaten up and allowing mixing in the combustion stage, hence why I never saw it in the overflow and never on the disptick as well. Took me longer than it should've to figure stuff out and most likely contributed to the loud ticking that developed on cold starts and persisted afterward. Car lasted me from 65K miles to 165K miles though and after new LIM gaskets I never had to top the coolant level off again. I don't regret owning it at all, decent little car. Current car (2017 Ford Fusion) uses orange. Never had a bad opinion on Dex-cool. It's not "Death-cool", GM just used crappy gaskets in that time and didn't know it was gonna cause the shit-show those gaskets caused.
To be honest my GM Z12XE engine was born with Dex-Cool inside and serviced with various Dex-Cool equivalents, ranging from well known ones such as PLI's Paraflu UP to some really obscure stuff simply labeled as silicate, amine, phosphate, nitrite, borate free OAT. Even put Genuine GM Dex-Cool inside at some point. Never ever experienced a cooling system related problem in its life (17 years so far) except for normal wear and tear. The heater core has never ever been touched and it's still fully functional and leak-free. The head gasket is still good. Cools fine, never overheats. The real issue is some brown gooey paste, clay like, on the header tank's walls. But, apart from that, no problems
I have a 2001 Pontiac Grand Prix. I bought it used about six years ago. This vehicle is one of the ones with the 3.1L engine that suffered the notorious intake manifold gasket failures. I can't say whether my particular car ever had its intake gasket replaced. However, about three years after I bought it, I did a normal maintenance flush. It had been filled with the orange Dexcool coolant. The coolant looked old, but not contaminated or sludgy. I refilled it with the orange stuff and to this day I haven't yet had a cooling system issue or component failure with this car. No sludge either. The Dexcool is perfectly fine.
One thing is for sure, if it has the original gaskets it WILL fail eventually because the plastic and silicone seal surfaces of the gasket will be compromised over time by the nature of the OAT coolant technology. That's a given. The plastic support backer on the gasket is hygroscopic and absorbs the coolant decomposing it and the silicone bead seal pushes out.
As an ASE mechanic in the early 2000s I dumped and flushed so much DEXcrap I lost count.....what a mess. So many intake Gaskets and head Gaskets....our shop always replaced dexcool with Peak Global Gold which we bought in 55gallon drums.
Do you recommend Peak's Global Gold on 3800s?
@hitek9too255 Global Gold is no longer made. I believe Peak 10X is the replacement. I've used the 10x in several applications. But no long term evidence as of yet.
Great video here Steve, I'm running Dexcool in my 2001 Olds Aurora, and
never had a problem. It's the Cadillac Northstar engine but smaller. The
gaskets can withstand the acidic content of Dexcool, whereas the cheaper
GM models like from 97 to 2006, used a nylon type gasket, and the Dexcool
ate them up, causing intake manifold leaks, and the coolant got into the
oil, and the engine seized. My sister had a 97 Lumina, and rebuilt her motor
2 times because of this. I still have a 97 Lumina, but after reading all this,
and what happened to my sister, I drained the Dex from the 97 Lumina, and
filled it with the standard old green coolant. So far, no problems.
As for my 2001 Aurora, it has about 62,000 miles on it, and leaks a tiny
bit but not much, and I'd like to have it flushed, and refilled with Dexcool, as
my coolant looks very good, and clean. I'm a little scared to do that, because
of what happened to my sister's Lumina, but the gaskets in the Cadillac
Northstar engines can handle the Dexcool -- so I'm told ?? Don't quite know ??
Anybody have any advice for me -- refill with Dexcool, or fush out and use a
standard geen, or Universal, or maybe the new Hybrid, Organic Acid Technology ?
Go green and dump it every couple years or whenever you're bored. That orange coolaid did NOT protect our engines and reguardless of what is told how great it is, it coagulates and clogs passages. Gaskets will blow.
The problem with that Dex Cool is it's very acidic to the bearing materials and if you get the tiniest amount in the crankcase it will wipe out the bearings and it's rebuild time. I would never use that garbage. The risk is too high and the payback too little to chance it. In a perfect world, like their lab, yah, it's great. But EVERYTHING has to be perfect.
The biggest problem was probably the extended change interval... fluid changes are some of the cheapest maintenance items you can do for your car, and the positive effects of diligent fluid changes are substantial. $1000 dollars in oil changes every 5k for 100k miles driven(assuming $50 oil change cost)? That's NOTHING, especially when considering what's at stake; everything from excessive wear on metal parts, sludge formation, seal breakdown, pcv system clogs, and much more can occur due to infrequent oil changes. That's just one fluid... coolant? Coolant changes Ph over time, and if it isn't changed when this occurs it will eat at and corrode every engine component it touches. Many people also complain about how terrible their transmission is, but they've never changed the transmission fluid. ALL transmissions need fluid changes; the manuals that say "fill for life" are complete BS. Also, with so many 4WD and AWD cars on the road these days, many people don't realize that those differentials and transfer cases need fluid changes too. CHANGE YOUR FLUIDS... and you will see that your car will last for a very, very long time with minimal breakdowns.
agreed, "filled for life" trasmission fluid is the biggest BS from car manufacturers. They only want it to last through the warranty period - after that it's not their problem
Thats over simplitic, there are many factors that can make a coolant go bad like, air in the system, a small coolant leak, a leaking head gasket causing oil to mix with coolant, etc
But Dexcool is not normal coolant it can last a long time but it is up to the owners to check on it from time to time.
Well...
My father's Lumina (97 I think) ran Dex Cool. We actually took great care of that Lumina, but it said "F you, I'm gonna die." All the gaskets went out in it.
After that, he picked up an Oldsmobile Sillouete. Had the same issue. He swore to never get a car that used Dex Cool ever again, and managed to save up enough money for a 2012 Nissan Sentra. Several years later, it was time for my first car. I was sold a 1994 Cavalier Station Wagan from someone within the family. Little 4 cylinder. Apparently, someone had the grand idea of putting Dex Cool in THAT. I turned around and flipped the car for a profit. I found out later that the buyer had pulled the motor out and decided to rebuild it, only to junk the whole car as the entire motor was gunked up with "Chunky Dex Cool". Motor couldn't be saved. I held onto the money, and managed to get ahold of the Mustang in my pfp as I was always a fan of Newedge Mustangs. After some time, I had a job and needed a car that was a gas saver, so I picked up a 1996 Toyota Camry with that good ol' 5SFE so that I wouldn't have to sell the Mustang. I kid you not. Dex Cool in that too. I decided to say Screw it, it's a 90's Camry, let's see how long it lasts. I drove that little Camry through last winter, and it finally died on me as Spring rolled around because, you guessed it, Dex Cool did it's thing, and ate away at the headgasket. I still remember driving down the road, then looking down to see that temp gauge at Max, seeing smoke billow out FR under the hood. I managed to pull off the side of the road, shut the vehicle down, and looked under the hood. I could tell the motor was done just by looking at it. It leaked all around the head gasket so bad. I had it towed off, and it sat until a guy bought it to turn into a demolition car. I now stand with my Father. No Dex Cool. Period. I'm still happy with my 2000 Mustang GT, and picked up an '01 Honda Accord as my new daily driver, and both are maintainedat my place of work(Valvoline). No more Dex Cool for me! 😤
I have a 2004 Pontiac Vibe (Toyota) and have always run Dexcool according to the manual. It has 130K miles, not a lot but it has primarily been used in stop n go city driving. No problems at all.
I work in an auto parts store and a lot of people complain about gunk in their radiator and waterpump. Now I know why. Thanks
The first time I saw that gunk, I was also working at an auto parts store, but unfortunately it was on my own car!
I'm a mechanic, and i also notices dexcool will also eat aluminum. causing total destruction of the heads
Some of these issues explained in the thread are more basic neglect rather than blaming it on the coolant. They call it scheduled maintenance for a reason....it's not a suggestion. The further you go outside the window the greater the chance of something catastrophic happening.
I saw a comment where 200k + miles went by and the gaskets blew out. Commenter made it sound like the coolants fault.
Well the thing it, the gaskets went 2x their service life.
I bought a used 96 suburban with dexcool in it back in 2010. Granted it was a used vehicle with 200k, the dex had destroyed the intake gaskets and radiator. The vortec 5.7 was a tough engine to withstand the slow leak into the engine oil for that many years.
Impressive! Do you still have it and still run Dex-Cool?
I do still have it at 350k, but I don't drive it anymore. It sits at a relative's house as a back up vehicle. I put straight green in it after replacing the intake gaskets, radiator and over flow back when I first purchased it. The Dexcool also ate away the metal on the rear coolant port of one of the heads.
Yikes, sounds like that coolant really did a number on it! Impressive miles, though! I hope I can get something to last that long one day!
My story is similar! 99 GMC with 5.7L. Gasket failure and seeping water into the cylinder when engine cold and sealing when at temp. Dealer replaced the gasket and switched to green. That was about 17 years ago...Besides plastic/nylon hose pipe replacements and that intake manifold quick connect, still going stong.
@@kenhdog Sounds like a keeper to me. After two failed sell attempts, I think my burb is meant to stay with me. I'm starting a slow restore on it with new roof paint, windshield, etc.
The coolant itself being the problem is simply a myth. I worked at a Chrysler dealer in 2013 when they switched to the same coolant and we saw zero coolant related problems. My Chrysler 200 is a fine example. Almost 10 years old the coolant is still clean, sludge free and has never had a coolant leak. I’m my opinion, GM rushed it and didn’t do proper research on how this coolant would react to certain gaskets and conditions. Chrysler on the other hand was very careful. From what I was told by a Chrysler training instructor when they came out with HOAT coolant in 99 or 00, they still specified the old green be used in the 4.7 V8 because they hadn’t at the time done enough research on how this new coolant would affect this new engine. They eventually gave the go ahead for it in all of their vehicles after a year or two.
I have a 2006 Chevy Cobalt. I'm the original owner. It now has 151,000 miles on it. I've never had an issue with the coolant. In 2012, I was driving down the freeway and a pickup truck ran over one of those large white banquet tables which had kicked up and smacked my bumper hard enough to crack the radiator. That was the only time the coolant was changed. Today I'm getting new radiator hoses because I tried to remove one but it has adhered to the engine block after 16 years in the Arizona heat. I'd say that's not bad.
I have a 2007 GMC Envoy Denali. Today, I am flushing the radiator for the first time since the car was new. I'm having no problems but doing the flush as routine maintenance, albeit late. The fluid drained is clearly the DEX-Cool color, orange-red and not cloudy. I kind of wished I'd not even opened the system but new fluid should at least renew lubrication properties of the coolant. This video was very informative. Thank you.
In the process of diagnosing weather our 14' dodge avenger needs new head gasket or just replacing the gaskets on the engine oil cooler (oil pump) not sure if it was this same dexcool coolant, I remember having to use a HOAT form of coolant. But whatever it was, somewhere in the middle of a 4hr round trip for us the Avenger began to over heat RIGHT as we begun our 2hr trip home. When I looked into the reservoir it appeared to be EXACTLY like the 1 clip you showed a few times, the coolant was no longer liquid but rather looked like a creamy peanut butter just like the 1 clip I saw in your video. In fact that's the FIRST actual video I've been able to find of another coolant resembling what ours looked like which I appreciate because I've tried to describe it to other ppl & they act like I'm crazy lol. I spent an entire summer constantly blowing out the heater core & flushing out the whole system trying to fix the problem before finally talking to a mechanic online that told me that our yr Avenger had an "engine oil cooler" which is a fancy way of saying they pump coolant around the outside of the oil pump to keep the oil cooler & sometimes the seals will give out & allow oil to leak into the coolant causing that peanut butter like substance to suddenly be what your coolant looks like. I was hopeful for it just being those seals on the oil pump rather than a head gasket for obvious large financial differences but still waiting on a verdict sometime this week. Anyways just wanted to say thanks for the video of the peanut butter looking coolant now I can finally show it to someone when they look at me like I'm crazy talking about peanut butter in the coolant system lol. Great informative video as well. Much appreciated!
I’ve had a few cars with this stuff and I hate it, I just run regular green antifreeze in my gym stuff(all of which are 15+ years old). I recently replaced a 3.8 in a car for a guy I work with whose engine had hydro locked due to the lower intake gaskets failing and the intake flooding with coolant, now I know why those gaskets are so prone to failure lol. I don’t feel bad about switching the dex cool out on my cars now. This makes me wonder if dex cool had anything to do with the 3400 and 3100 very common head gasket failures, the ones in my moms old grand am had been replaced when the car was still fairly new and their mechanic put green antifreeze in it and the gaskets never failed again after that.
If a person was to consider changing the antifreeze from dexcool in a 2007 Buick Lacrosse, what brand and formulation should I look into and why? I have no "visible "signs of leaks, but my antifreeze over MONTHs will be low enough for the check engine light to come on and I can hear fluid passing over the baffles when I turn! 104K miles
I have a 2005 Sunfire....had it since new and never had a single issue with Dex-Cool ....Before that I had a 2001 Cavalier running Dex-Cool without issues...and before that I had a 1996 Sunfire with Dex-Cool and no issues.....So it's a little more than just lucky!
I switched every car I've owned to Dexcool. My 2002 Nissan Maxima, my 2001 Mazda Miata, my 2001 BMW 330CI, my 2005 Toyota Highlander V6. I think it's the most superior coolant. Both of my current cars, my 2000 BMW Z3 and my 2011 BMW X3 both have over 200,000 miles on them and I switched them from the BMW "Blue Coolant" to Dexcool with better performance as the result (They run slightly cooler than before). Beamers are known for running hotter than most cars (it's not because of a problem with the cooling system, it's by design). I just wanted to bring temps down by a few degrees which it did. Before any BMW "experts" call me an idiot, the BMW Blue Coolant and Dexcool are the same type of coolant chemically, the only difference being the colour. Can't explain why switching from one to the other helped with temps with all cars. It just did.
Yea, and it's also called Dexikill because if air is introduced to air it will turn to "mud" and clog the cooling passages.
When I get cars that have Dex-Cool I go back to green
I have a 2004 Grand Am with Dexcool and have had absolutely no issues car will be 20 years old this April. I don’t understand the hate for this coolant.
2007 Saturn still running on dexcool. 4 years ago the overflow level sensor stopped working and the overflow tank was replaced. Just replaced the original radiator yesterday Feb 16/2022 after developing a leak. No issues, but I also follow all recommended flushing intervals changing them a bit sooner.
The only issue I've had with Dexcool was the heater in my new '96 Impala quit working about a year into ownership. My understanding was that it wasn't the coolant, but that GM was using a stop leak additive to address concerns over the reverse-flow cooling LT1 engines. I back flushed the heater core (ultimately doing that countless times for other owners) and whatever schmutz was in the system flushed out. The heater and the car worked flawlessly after until I bought my new '03 Silverado 2500 HD wirh a Duramax. I've flushed the cooling system 3 times on the truck over 18 years and 180,000 miles and DX has been clear orange every time. Even towing heavy through the Smokey Mtns, the truck has never overheated or even close to it. Excelt for new upper and lower radiator hoses just this year, I've never had a moment's concern with the cooling system.
1999 Chevrolet Silverado 4.8 liter. 240,000 miles. Flush and fill with Dexcool every 4 years. No leaks ,no issues. Original water pump.
Now that I think about it. All cars that I've owned with Cooling system problems are Dexcool GM cars.
2 chevy and 2 Cadillac all had some kind of Coolant /overheating issues.
All my other cars have had some kind of mechanical issues over the years but never cooling systems. That includes Ford, VW, Toyota and Hyundai.
There are a lot of people who will still tout that dexcool is the worst thing ever and that it ruins gaskets and seals today in 2021. I've had it in my gm vehicles from the day I owned them and not have issues. But then again 1996 was over 20 years ago and the formulation is probably changed in that time.
Man this story just got me fired back up about my 2002 Chevy Malibu LS that I still own. In 2005 I began having overheating issues thanks to the Dexcool coolant. I had the intake manifold gaskets replaced and I paid for the repair out of pocket, $50-$100 gasket... $800-$1000+ bill to dismantle the engine and replace the gaskets. I was a college student at the time, my funds were limited but I found the money to pay for the repair. Few years later I find an article in TIME magazine about a class action lawsuit against GM because of the negative effects of Dexcool. I go back find all my receipts, submit my claim only to be told they never received it a few months later. I re-submit my claim and next thing I know GM files for bankruptcy which made my claim null and void. SMH... My Malibu still runs strong... 106,000k miles lol... Had 29k miles when I bought it...
2004 Silverado 195 thousand miles I've R&Rd fluid 3 times no problems so far
It's worth mentioning that GM put stop leak tablets in the cooling systems of many of their vehicles at the factory for small nuisance weeps. This combined with not changing the coolant at proper intervals could lead to muddy coolant that would block passages and cause overheating. On top of that if a leak developed people would drop more of those tablets or stop leak products which made it worse. Those tablets which are sold as Barrs brand, were recommended only at coolant change, lower rad hose ONLY. People started dumping them in the expansion tank which led to orange mud and a new tank. Often it could take multiple flushing to get it all out. This is especially true for Northstar Cadillacs which were one of the first GM cars to use Dex. A small purge line that runs from the expansion tank would get clogged and lead to overheating. Often owners would replace caps, water pumps, rads, t-stats to no avail. Often just cleaning out that line and a coolant change fixed the problem! Many Cadillacs went to the crusher with blown head gaskets when it wasn't the case. GM put a bulletin out in 2006 to stop using those pellets. Here's the rub: in typical GM fashion they didn't update the sticker in the engine bay that said to put that garbage in at coolant change! Many people are still dumping that junk in. Change your coolant at proper intervals, fix leaks when you find them and avoid stop leak products. This goes for ALL coolants.
Damn... My Astro calls for DexCool but for the sake of convenience I switched to green... Wonder how much damage this is causing =/
all those quick fix liquids are snake oil. if a part is broken the only solution is to fix or replace it
Awesome explanation and details! Definitely did not help the image for GM in the early 00s. Personally I like to stick with affordable green coolant and change it regularly in everything. Though I know the new purple , yellow, pink, and blue coolants can actually be superior overall. I know colors don't 100% determine chemistries, but I don't feel like looking up all the proper names right now. :P
Now that i watch this it all makes sense for my 97 Firebird 3800 series 2(v6 3.8). I bought the car with 55k miles almost two years ago and it had sludge like substance in the reservoir but very little particulates visable in radiator but even after flush not as clean as it should be a resoivoir all but impossible to completely clean with removing it. i flushed it multiple times, switched to a non silicone universal as was recommended by dad as being ok, and it decreased over time. originally thought it was oil leaking in or someone mistakenly poored some in but the Dexcool makes sense since it sat Non Op for over 10 years, being driven occasionally to keep things going. Ive now had it appear again and what seemed like a possible tiny leak from water pump appears to be worsened, i think a cleaning i did loosened up all the anti leaks benefits of it.
But now i know i have a water pump leak and already have a little leak of everything so im debating whether to just switch back to dex cool, and change frequently until leaks stop(hopefully) to preserve system better or continue with universals and use a stop leak and or conditioner or just find a way to temporarily seal water pump without removing or replacing it. Not sure pros and cons now that ive switched long ago, but need flush now, have leak but everything is pretty decent all things considering. Just dont have the means or expertise to repair certain gaskets, buy new pump etc
This was only a problem in older GM vehicles, especially those in which coolant was rarely changed. Ford never had this problem with their Dexcool coolants and gaskets. Newer GMs dont seem to have this problem anymore as well.
My Ford Escape 2014 uses it. No problem here.
Never had an issue with 2000 Buick LeSabre until 2021 when the heater stopped working. Rad changed and therm, now have coolant bubbling out of reservoir on short drives. No mechanic can replicate the issue. They're not test driving it. Worse on warm days. Found stuff gunk stuck to rad cap recently and build up in reservoir. I don't think the mechanic did a proper flush of the system before refilling. Never had gunk in the system prior to repair and no notes made on repair receipt or mentioned to me about the gunk.🤷♀️
what your article doesn't say is when those intake manifold gaskets fail, they dump the cooling system into the engine and oil pain having water mix with oil, by the time your coolant light has come on, your engine has been trying to run on water for oil for a bit. It's an expensive fix. 3800 and 3400 v6 engines were most prone to failure. Then as your radiator cap analogy, As dex cool is open to air, it's corrosion inhibitors will become exhausted, the PH will deviate and it will become acidic. Start eating all sorts of components but it's favorite is heater cores. Think of the money we saved the customer. Instead of flushing coolant, they could pay the dealer 10 hours of labor to swap a heater core on a 4 year old car and then smell carpet that smells like rusty ass for years after.
I'll never will put that crap in my cars. Dex cool can kick rocks.
I have a 2004 impala as with this type of coolant. I bought the car used and still have it. I do have this problem or did. I decided to have it completely flushed and changed out and went with green coolant. My car does run cooler now but I also changed out just about all coolant parts from upper and lower intake gaskets water pump coolant albows radiator hoses ECT. But there is still brown deal however runs around 190 degrees now so I'm pretty happy about that. I would just do a few flushes and change it to the green
I was doing a radiator flush and coolant replacement today. Had to put in Dexcool cause I don’t know what alternatives to use in my Chevy Impala. Wish I had a choice.
Evelina van Vroonhoven Causes my engine to go over temperature.
Chevy’s require dex cool you should be fine.
I’m Running dexcool I get it free at the dealership so meh.
I own a 2000 Buick LeSabre. I got from a friend with 147k miles. I almost overheated the thing thanks to a coolant leak. The DC was probably the OG factory fluid or green shit the Quick Lube places put in. Either way it wore a hole in the lower radiator hose. I finally got that fixed and also replaced the water pump as that had failed. And I currently have an internal leak.
Repair records for the car are sparse prior to my ownership of the thing. Other than saying work was performed it doesn’t say anything else.
Makes me wonder if it’s all from the previous owners either not changing the Death-COOL or having a Quick Lube place put incompatible coolant in it.
I plan on keeping it up with the modern formula. But yeah makes me wonder
I have a 05 chevy silverado 4.8 that I've mixed whatever coolant i had at hand and never gave me engine problems for the 10 years I ran it on a pool service route. At 250k. Towards the final 2 years it would burn more oil until I started using Rotella diesel oil. My 2020 chevy silverado 2500hd 6.6 gas truck just started leaking coolant from a pinhole size leak on the reservoir tank or coolant expansion tank as the owners manual says. Im afraid it will be a head gasket issue and feeling pretty bummed out after watching this video
Iam thinking to put dexcool in my wife maxima 2013 and to my altima 2006 after replacing headgasket
So is it safe cause I was planning to use havoline red but I want long lasting coolant 😅
But after this story I don't think it's safe to go with dexcool I'll buy Prestone coolant
1998 Pontiac Montana V6. Due to gasket failure coolant leaked into the crankcase and the crankshaft broke. Don't remember the miles, but I remember the cost of a used engine and paying someone to put it in.
2000 Chevy S10 with 4.3L V6
Having the problem because the sediment is plugging up the heater core. Confirmed by back flushing the heater core with the hose and got heat for about 3-4 days and I mean warm air. Not hot air. But I was in the right direction with that. My plan is to flush dexkill out completely from the block, radiator and heater core to change it to the AutoZone coolant that's yellow if I remember but it's good to use on multiple vehicles and gets rid of the dexkill.
I have a 2008 gmc sierra...bought it at 21000 miles....today I have 144000 miles...still original dexcool.....no problems....i do need to change it...but no problems at all.
2005 Saturn Relay with Original fill coolant 17 years and 110k. Coolant turned to acid and ate away the corners of the head gaskets. The combustion heat and gasses transferred to the water jackets of the block solidified the coolant around the cylinders. So much so that when I removed both drain plugs on the block, no coolant came out. Had to bust the solid coolant away. Really nasty stuff. Looks like plastic
I own a Pontiac solstice that I very recently replaced a waterpump and thermostat in. The pumps in these are known to fail, but I don’t know why. Would this be it? Should I regret not switching when I put new coolant in?
02 Silverado 2500 (non HD) with 140 thousand miles and I have only used dex cool. Have never had any issues 🤞
Love the title 😂
802 Garage gets credit for that one!
(He had some input while I was working on the video.)
Good video deserves a good title! :P
What year did they switch to dexcool compatible parts? That's all I wanted to know.
That date varies quite a bit depending on manufacturer and model. For example, even within GM there were different dates. 2004/2005 was for many of them but not all.
Roughly around 2003-4
My Australian ford runs the pink coolant with no dramas ? Gaskets must have been upgraded ? It’s an 03 turbocharged
The pink coolant probably isn't Dex-Cool, usually just General Motors cars have the orange stuff. I thought Fords usually had more of a yellow coolant here in the States, but I'm not familiar with Australian Ford's original coolant type.
Cars Simplified ah I see! I was not aware of this! The only thing I know is to never mix the two ever! :)
Ford never had same problem GM products used to have with dexcool like coolant.
I poured the Orange DexCool into 2009 Ford Edge (50/50 with water), after a year found some black sud in the expansion tank around the walls. This is hoses/gaskets dissolving or is it from blow-by gasses?
@Gerry Cooney, the process stopped, without doing anything. Now it's alright. Do you know the reason for such occurrence?
I don't know for sure what causes that, but I have definitely seen that before in a Dex-Cool system. It wasn't a problem I was assigned to solve on those cars, though; I took note of it, told the owner, and they never brought it back for that concern. Hoses/plastic dissolving or some sort of mold/mildew that can tolerate living in that coolant seem like the most likely reasons, though.
@@CarsSimplified Can i mix the prestone universal coolant with dextron?
I'm an ASE CMAT and I have a 2001 Corvette w/ dex-cool with only 65K on it. I don't have any coolant issues yet, I bought a test kit for DC and it is failing the Reserve Alkalinity test as being to low @ 3.0, Any ideas are greatly appreciated!
Luckily I never had a car with this antifreeze! Lucky me!
Do any of your cars besides the Crosstrek take a special antifreeze?
@@CarsSimplified no I just have my '18 Crosstrek currently.
I’m running 🏃 Dexcool in my 06 GTO since I bought it thinking 🤔 it was good for the car.
Since the manufacturer recommends it. Should I be worried? Is there a better alternative?
Well, it is the coolant that I had in my '05 GTO when I had cooling issues, but given that it was a water pump leak, a broken radiator tank, and the coolant was clean, it was likely unrelated. I currently have Dex-Cool in mine, but haven't put many miles on it. If I come across an alternative, I'll be sure to talk about it on the channel, but I suspect modern Dex-Cool is a little more robust than what was available when the car was made. I think the weak point on the GTO's cooling system is not the coolant.
No. Just change the DEXRON. I change the coolant every 5 years.
I have a 1999 lesabre with 180,000 miles on it. I use dex cool and I'm not changing anything. Dex cool has been reformulated and my intake gaskets are upgraded anyway...😐
You’ll be sorry 💀
All roads lead to failure when dexcool is used green coolant switch before it's too late gunk
There’s one other thing that I think contributed to the problem. Not needing to change coolant for 100k doesn’t mean no maintenance. The level must be maintained and coolant added.
I think the general public understood 100k coolant change intervals as no maintenance, which is most definitely not true.
a good amount of car owners only think of oil needing to be changed
I live in the south, straight distilled water and corrosion inhibitor. No need for anti freeze.
Which corrosion inhibitor product
What corrosion inhibitor? Moonshine ?
2010 Chevy impala 137000 miles. Noticed condensation on oil cap and bubbling of antifreeze. Replaced head gasket and other gaskets that were removed to access the block. I’m not sure if dex cool was the culprit but I’m strongly considering switching
I learned a hard lesson about Dex-cool. I've never had skin reactions to vehicle fluids before. But last Wednesday was the first time I ever used it and splashed some on my hands. Didn't think anything of it. 6 days later, the skin on my hands is molting crazy like. That's the only thing I've been exposed to that could've caused something like this. I've never had this happen before in my life lol.
Wow, that's rough! Was it definitely just Dex-Cool or could there be something more in it like an additive of some kind?
It's definitely good to wear protective gear, even if something doesn't cause harm immediately or within a week. Lots of long-term effects with automotive chemicals!
I hope it clears up! You should probably have a medical professional take a look at it in case it has the potential to get worse.
@@CarsSimplified Dex-cool contains 2-Ethylhexanoic acid. Exposure to that can cause delayed chemical burn days later. I didn't know that tell I looked it up to figure out why my skin started peeling 6 days later. But yes, I should have been using PPE regardless when working with automotive fluids. I've been using Aloe and moisturizers. It doesn't hurt but looks gross lol.
Is #12346290 (50/50 mix) as SummitRacing says or it is concentrate?
I never had a problem with it, even after 810,000 combined miles across three GM's. I also had a family member top off their red Toyota coolant with Dex because, "it looked similar."
that's because you have the cars with gaskets that don't react with it...
they did it on certain model year cars because the cia determinded the vehicles would last too long resulting in no one buying any new cars...
same thing is happening now, that's why they are trying to make driving gas cars illegal or too expensive so you will need to by a new green car....
01 Taurus...does Ford call for green or orange?
Back in 04, it ruined my 03 Grand Prix.
I have owned a 2008 Holden Commodore since new and have had zero issues, car still runs like new, however I have replaced the coolant in that time 3 times with Nulon Red OAT based coolant, what I have noticed if the red coolant comes in contact with air it causes a red powder maybe this contributes to problem's if system isn't 110% air tight?
That stuff killed my nice car, I purchased a used but like new 2000 malibu with 12,000 miles on it. I only got it up to 50K before the Dex-Cool both ate through my heater core and caused my head gasket to blow out. At the time I was broke and could not afford to fix it, I ended up selling the car for pennies on the dollar. FK you GM. And whoever came up with Dex-cool should be forced to drink a cup of it.
I have had problems with 2 GM suvs overheating on Dexcool....mechanic recommended a green conventional and the engine ran cooler never going above half way in 110 temp 8 hour drive...Dexcool is a problem for 2007 GM engines both ran hotter with Dexcool...
Flushed out all the dexcool in my 2001 silverado years ago. Switched to the old green Prestone. I flush and refill system every 2 years and never have had issues. 5 years is too long for any coolant in my opinion. Reminds me of car manufacturers who say 100k for auto transmission fluid. That's also way to long unless you do all highway driving.
My Ford escape runs on Dexcool. Not an issue here.
Its eating my hoses in my chevy cruze all oem equipment. Overflow tank is black with rubber chunks thonking of switching to just water for summer
every 3800 or 3100 Ive seen has problems with their intake gaskets . when I buy a GM car the first thing I do is get that dexcool crap out of there. I have an 02 Buick regal I'm doing the intake gaskets on right now. I'm flushing everything very good changing the gaskets and putting in green antifreeze. I understand that the new gaskets should work just fine with dexcool, but I know the green stuff does. I just pop in a 180 thermostat instead of a 195 to solve my insecurities. never had a problem switching to green . I have owned several Buicks with the 3800 engine.
Got a 02 buick that i just put distilled water half full should i worry
Yes! Lol
Lmao - I’m at 120k in my Pontiac vibe. I’m sure it used dex cool from its birth and went to get the radiator flushed earlier.
The guy told me he was using dex cool and got nervous!
Watching videos and articles about it now. I mean my car made it this far in it..... machine gods I be grateful!!!
Anyone know if it’s best to flush and use Toyota red or continue with dex cool?
contact a gasket maker and see if they have a special improved gasket to cope with dex cool, watch this
th-cam.com/video/mWnOBahaK5Y/w-d-xo.html if there is no special improved gasket your Ok
Use Toyota spec coolant
I think it's a combination of corrosive coolant that people shouldn't trust for 5 years and horrible gaskets that GM designed. It's the reason the 3800 has a good and at the same time horrible reputation. Goes through intake parts like candy.
I believe it’s just antifreeze with distilled water cheap 50-50 antifreeze is just tap water and antifreeze
I never use dexcool. I always use the green antifreeze
I rather use tape water than dex-cool. I have been a mechanic for 15 years. This fluid is so bad for your engine and that is why gm uses it because they can make money in car repair and car sale. Five years life expectancy is worthless if it destroy every gasket in your car. ONLY USE THE GREEN FLUID.
You're blowing smoke dude. I've worked on cars for a decade and the also own vehicles with dexcool in them. Have not encountered issues with it.
Dex cool got terrible rap. Leaks etc were the real culprit. Pull a intake off a greenie then a dex cool. Dexcool shines!
Yeah, but leaks happen in coolant systems all the time, so the coolant shouldn’t booger up everything when one does happen. And if one particular coolant does booger up everything when a leak happens above and beyond other coolants and people notice then vids like this get made.
I'm replacing radiator t-stat flush the system including the block on 05 Jeep Wrangler because dex-cool ate the radiator and calcium build up everywhere going with Prestone universal with corrosion control and is good for 10 years or 150k miles
Dex Kill.. Kills the engine, not the rats on the ground..
That junk ruined my 03 Alero. I think it corroded the water pump and other stuff. I have negative feelings about the Dex because of that.
I have the same problem with my 05 Jimmy flushed it out 3 times what coolant are you running now ?
I hate Dex-kill too. On my 2003 blazer I only used it bcuz that's what GM said is best. After 2 water pumps, 2 radiators, and finally a blown head gasket and intake gaskets, I learned. I'm done with GM and their products. Not to mention multiple ignition coils, failed AC, and 2 tranny rebuilds.
Anybody run dex cool in their GTO? I just opened mine and it’s got greeeeeeen in it 😮
Antifreeze is not a coolant. It is an additive.
My 1999 gmc Sonoma because dexcool I had to replace the engine never ran the same again And gm didn’t wanna take responsibilities so huge loss for my truck and my pockets and because all that I switch to ford f 150
It also killed PowerMac G5s
1000 dollars in oil changes in 5 months?
I’ve had cars over heat with the green coolant . It was no big deal just refill and go, not with this crap if it slightly overheats it turns into sludge. It is worse than anything I have ever used and will not buy another car that uses this coolant . It’s trash .
Cars Simplified
25$ oil change😭
25 bucks for an oil change. What is this? 1975?
Full synthetic five quarts cost me 20 bucks. The filter is another 8. That's if I do it myself. Definitely not 25 if you are going full synthetic.
In hot coolant