Coolant like Mushy Brownies

I looked in my coolant resevoir (coolant recovery tank) today and its all black and gunky. That cant be good right? They said they checked and replaced all stuff on my car two oil changes ago. Those bastards! Does anyone know how to drain the coolant out of that tank or what I should do to fix this. Should I check the radiator too? I read how to fill the tank back upso I dont think i need any help with that. My car's a 98 GP SE 3100 auto. Thanks.

Hmm. Seems to me that a power flush would be in order. Some places have a special machine that forces new coolant through your system, rather than just draining it out using gravity or running your engine.

I would definitely check the fluid in the radiator since whatever comes out of it goes into the overflow reservoir. If it appears dirty already, chances are that there is a bigger problem within the engine somewhere. To drain the overflow reservoir, remove it and flush it out. To drain the radiator, open the plastic drain plug that's located on the driver's side near the bottom of the radiator. You'll either have to go in from underneath the vehicle (by the left front tire), or go in from under the hood and reach down at it. It twists out to open, but doesn't come all the way out (it's held in). When I flushed my system, I drained all the fluid out, filled it with water, and then ran the car until the thermostat opened (to flush the old fluid out of the block). I did that several times until the whole system was clean. Then, just fill the radiator with straight antifreeze (no need to mix since the block is full of clean distilled water). Hope this helps.

What kind of Engine problems could be causing it? I heard a blown head gasket could do it, but I dont get how. Is this somewhat normal or am I in for some big repairs?

fyi. walmart sells a kit to splice a t into a heater hose so you can hook a garden hose up to it and flush the system with water. it worked great for me and it's only about $4.

DexCool is notorious for that. THIS IS NOT NECESSARILY AN INDICATOR OF SOME OTHER MAJOR ENGINE PROBLEM. Sorry, no need to shout! I wish I still had the links but there were a few people who had sued GM for engine failures related to overheating after multiple coolant services by the dealer.

A lot of GP owners have switched to the green stuff. You have to make sure you get ALL of the orange crap out of there first though...the orange and green do not mix well.

Try these links:
http://www.consumeraffairs.com/automotive/gm_dexcool.html
http://www.geocities.com/b_gillie/dexcool_problems.html
http://www.girardgibbs.com/dexcool.html

Any info on changing to "green" or other coolant? Can I just flush the coolant system and use a different coolant than Dex? Also, is the do it yourself flush kit hard to use? And where do u dispose of the coolant? Thanks for the help.

Anyone?

You can flush the Dex from the system and refill with a 50/50 mixture of standard Ethylene Glycol (Green stuff) and distilled water. Make sure you flush the system well before refilling though. From the articles I've read, the two types don't mix well and will gel up.....not sure, just what I've read.

Obviously the best solution for disposal is to collect the used coolant and take it to an approved recycling center. I'd bet the Dex is as toxic to animals as the green stuff is.

I've used the Prestone kit mentioned earlier and it's pretty easy to use. The only thing is, and it's not that big of a deal, that you have to splice a "T" fitting into a heater hose.

I had the same problem, the only problem was the old DEX-COOL coolant was never changed and got to the point to what you are decscribing. I just got the car from my brother in law who bought it new in 97, it is now 2004. Change the old and put in som NEW DEX-COOL and drive on. A flush is probably nessesary at this point. As for the resevoir. Take it out of the car and hose it out.