Dex Cool Coolant ... It's Bad News

[C_Sephiroth]

No way, if it eats aluminum that would make it COROSIVE.

[bigdaveangell]

Ive had to replace water pumps and radiators because of dex cool. and no, it wasnt mixed with antifreeze

[C_Sephiroth]

You probably had to replace them because they were faulty. Don't just asume it is because of the dex cool. Don't get me wrong when they first started the Dex cool thing (late 95) They did have some problems, but the Dex Cool they are using now is far better than it was before, Like I said You need to wait till about the 3rd year of something new before you buy it,there are always bugs.

[Jimmiz71]

I have 81,000 on my New Body Style 99' and run Dex Cool I pull a trailer on weekend with my quad on it and have no problem with the coolant. I admit I was a lil skeptical about it when I bought my truck but its done nothing but good for me. I check under the hood on a regular basis, Alero man seems kind of bitter about his ride, Maybee you should buy a dodge and let the transmission fall out from under you =) If you dont like GM then go elsewhere.
-Jimmy

[C_Sephiroth]

You must not understand what Corosive means. It only "Eats" something because of the acid levels in the coolant. So if it is eating aluminum it means someone hasn't taken care of there cooling system

[2003CAVw/issues]

Originally Posted by Pegisue

Our 97 Chevy Silverado 2500HD had the radiator replaced at the dealership in June 02. It had been leaking from a seam and was replaced with a manufacturers specified radiator & the dexcool coolant using the extended warranty.

In July 03 just 3,600 miles (yeah, I know we don’t put many miles on this vehicle) later, the engine severely overheated, the top and bottom radiator hoses collapsed and the head gasket blew. This happened on our first camping trip with our new trailer (5500 lbs so don’t worry, we didn’t overload the truck)

We had it towed to the dealer initially for their diagnosis, which was that the engine had been blown and our only option was to put in a “crate motor” for what we felt was a very high price. We chose to have it towed to an independent mechanic that we have taken our vehicles to for many years and had the engine rebuilt for just over half the price quoted by the dealer. The radiator was sent out to a radiator shop to be bore out, and was found to be 50% blocked internally. He cleaned out red gunky substance that was clogging the radiator and causing it to not function properly.
Also as a note, this heavy-duty truck has a single core radiator as a stock issue, which seems kind of small for the engine and load size considering that this truck has a weight rating of 9,000 pounds that it can tow. I have had the dealer verify that the correct radiator was installed. The radiator shop mechanic recommended replacing it with a double core radiator to lessen the chances of overheating in the future.

Now that our truck is home and repaired we have to go through the “break in period” with the rebuilt engine and cannot tow our new trailer all summer if we want to break it in properly and safely since we live in a valley and everything from here is up a hill there is no real flat land camping to go to. We surely don’t want to heat it up and cause a problem at all, so we’re taking it easy.
I have called the dealership and their standpoint it that this is a General Motors issue and they say that they installed the proper radiator in the truck so there wasn’t a problem on their end. I have called GM and they said that since I didn’t have all of my oil changes done at the dealership that they cannot determine that we have properly maintained this vehicle and therefore are not liable for anything.

No where in the owners manual does it say that we are required to take our vehicle to the dealer for maintenance so I think that GM is trying to get me to back down by finding something that I might not know and perhaps they can scare me away.
I can’t get anyone to talk about the Dex cool issue. I have read some stories online about the problems people have had. I am hoping to get GM to help me pay for this engine rebuilding and admit that there can be a problem with using their Dex cool product.

Is there anyone out there that has had a similar experience or has some advice for my situation?
Is there a class action lawsuit in California for this?
I would appreciate responses from anyone with information, opinion or experience with this matter.

Thanks!

Pegisue

I have a friend with a late 90's or 2000 model Chevy Impala her car had high mileage, but the Dex Cool caused build-up around something in the engine and Chevy paid part of the repair bill, can find out more if you would like more info.

[C_Sephiroth]

Well How High is High? Did she ever have the cooling system flushed? Just because it says 5 years 100,000 (or 150,000 now) does not mean it will last that long. If the coolant test out bad it should be flushed regardless of the mileage.

[knucklebuster2]

I have been repairing cars for twenty years. I have friends( mechanics) at GM. Never in a million years will they go on record saying Dexcool is garbage. Believe me when I tell you they've told me in order to solve the brown sludge problem, switch to green antifreeze. The sludge is the Dexcool breaking down. It is not because it was mixed with green antifreeze. I have had my Pontiac from day one, and no one has worked on my car but me. My car never saw a drop off green antifreeze until lafter the brown sludge clogged my heater core and rad and I switched over. By the way, all the vehicles that have come into my shop that have had the "Dexcool effect", I have changed to green antifreeze, and have had positive results. True, Dexcool may have had problems in the beginning, it's just a very long beginning.........Dexcool may be better now, and I realize they work out "bugs", but unless my customer requests it, I highly recommend the changeover.

[C_Sephiroth]

Personaly I would Stay with the Dex Cool (The newer stuff) Maybe just me but From the research I have done, and from what I have heard Dex Cool has Many more Benafits that the Green Coolant does. If you Flush it (when it starts to get bad, and don't wait untill it is Bad) then you will never have a problem.

[bigdaveangell]

Ive got friends that are gm techs and none of them will use dex cool.

[ceanern]

I have a 99 chevy Blazer LS, and I have a 99 chevy cavalier Z24 with a 2000 motor in it. I Just went and looked at my antifreeze and it appears to be the dexcool. But it is a orangeish brownish color. Is that normal for it. I am unsure if the cavalier has the dexcool in it or if it was switched over. Since I wasn't the person who performed the motor swap and intial purchase of it. Should I maybe get that system flushed to be on the safe side? And thanks for having this posted I wasn't even aware of the dexcoolant until finding this article!!

[bigdaveangell]

If you have orange coolant with brown in it that sounds like dexcool with rust in it. If it is rust try a cooling system flush. If you do have rust in your radiator or another part the only solution would be to replace the part

[public]

When DexCool came out I converted my 89 Cavi and later my 94 Cavi. I then bought a 98 Buick Century. Oddly the 1989 is the only on that never developed problems with the DexCool. My 98 came with the Dexcool and it started to sludge up. The 94 had the same thing. I checked online and found all the problems. I flushed all three cars and went back to the green stuff. Several years now with no more problems. I won't be using DexCool again anytime soon.

C_Sephiroth GM says it is from running the car low on coolant, not mixing the green stuff. Check this out. The Story is on several local news websites around the country. It reminds me of Ford blaming the tires for rollovers. GM had no rollovers with those tires. Always blame someone else.????

http://www.wivb.com/global/story.asp?s=1366511

[tom3]

2001 Blazer, dealer serviced since new. Gurgling noise under dash, engine getting noisy at 12,000 miles. Very low coolant. Took to two dealers to finally get it loaded up with stop leak. Yes, sawdust in a new low mileage vehicle. If the coolant doesn't degrade the plastic (?) intake gaskets, something sure did. How does this company stay in business? Like to see them cut the rebates and start servicing what they sell - and build them better to start with. Whew.....

[grimesjm1]

The sludge you people are talking about can be caused by two things...

1. Mixing the coolant with green coolant, and
2. Letting the coolant run low and overheating the engine. If your engine overheats one time, the anti-freeze is shot if you have dex-cool. it will sludge up and block water ports in your engine, creating hot sapots and blowing gaskets. Dex-cool is fine if you replace it every 30,000 miles like the green stuff(not 100,000 like it advertises), and never let it get low. but it would be a wiser decision to stick to the green stuff, which can accidently run low without "burning" and sludging up your engine.