Dexcool for my 03 GT..

Reading all the stories about intake gasket leaks and dexcool problems, I want to flush out my radiator with Prestone Antifreeze, but my question is can I just use the reg. GREEN antifreeze or do I still have to put the Dexcool in it since i have read so many different things on Dexcool problems affecting gaskets in the 3.4 motor...

Man, awesome question... I am trying to find out the exact same thing for my 2000 GT1.
I think Prestone now makes a "Dexcool safe" one; but I am not 100% certain. Is yours all gunked up too? I looked in my plastic tank, and it looks to me liked it is very dirty and almost a gel consistency.
Hopefully someone will respond with the info we need...I want to have mine flushed also....

Tommy

I put in the green a while ago but it leaked 2 or so days shortly after... then I found the dex bottle in the garage and filled it up... Im thinking by sat/sun ill be getting the 'low coolant' light again... my heater core hoses just spew it out if the pressure build up is to great.... one night it sounded like someone was just pouring it out of the container onto the ground...

soon to be fixed... later.

dex is kinda messy and gross looking to say the least. I havnt had that in my 99' ever since i bought it in 01. I wouldnt mix the green with dex at all. not even if the green says its ok. u'll just hav green geln sludge.

Buy 2 bottles of radiator flush(prestone works kick ass) and flush the dex all out. Drain all the old out and pour in the cleaner and top off with some clean H2O. Let it run as specified in the directions, longer if your old coolant was really dirty looking. Let it kool down and Then rinse, rinse, and rinse again.

You guys may want to read some threads on how to purge the air from the system, so when your ready to fill with new coolant you'll be redeye togo with little trouble. because it can be a b***h if u havnt figured it out as of yet.

Man, awesome question... I am trying to find out the exact same thing for my 2000 GT1.
I think Prestone now makes a "Dexcool safe" one; but I am not 100% certain. Is yours all gunked up too? I looked in my plastic tank, and it looks to me liked it is very dirty and almost a gel consistency.
Hopefully someone will respond with the info we need...I want to have mine flushed also....

Tommy
My 03 has only 24,000 miles on it, but didnt think it would hurt to flush out the Dexcool and put in the reg. green stuff..I have just heard to many bad things about Dexcool in ALL GM vehichles so i dont see why it would hurt to put the reg. green Prestone since the radiator is still aluminum..

dex is kinda messy and gross looking to say the least. I havnt had that in my 99' ever since i bought it in 01. I wouldnt mix the green with dex at all. not even if the green says its ok. u'll just hav green geln sludge.

Buy 2 bottles of radiator flush(prestone works kick ass) and flush the dex all out. Drain all the old out and pour in the cleaner and top off with some clean H2O. Let it run as specified in the directions, longer if your old coolant was really dirty looking. Let it kool down and Then rinse, rinse, and rinse again.

You guys may want to read some threads on how to purge the air from the system, so when your ready to fill with new coolant you'll be redeye togo with little trouble. because it can be a b***h if u havnt figured it out as of yet.
How do you drain it out of the radiator? Is there like a big screw at the bottom of the radiator?

I want to have mine thoroughly flushed too, but I was wondering if any type of extended warranty would be void if anything other than DexCool is used.
Probably I had better find out first......but I really want this crud purged out of my cooling system. It looks like gel, lol.... How the heck is that stuff doing any good ????
I can't see what G.M. was thinking when they used this crud........In all my cars. the ole' green stuff always worked well.

If anyone has any insight about warranty's being voided by using the green stuff, hopefully they'll share their knowledge. I know quite a few people would like to know. Thanks!

Tommy

Be careful mixing the two, as Dex-cool and ethylene glycol turn to gel when mixed. Make sure what you are adding says dex-cool safe, or you will just add to your problems. I suggest completely flushing the system with a flush kit until the system runs clear, then re-fill with Prestone in the yellow bottle. The yellow bottle Prestone has some silicates in it, which help prevent sludge build up, but not so much as to harm the aluminum and plastic cooling components.

Thanks for the info Richtazz. The other day I just happened to unscrew that cap, and when I saw the looks of that DexCool, I said to myself... "that stuff is coming out", lol.. I can't see how a gel can protect very good. If I can't flush that crud out here by myself, I'll have my dealership do it for me. (I live in an apartment complex..we are not supposed to work on cars here, lol)
So I won't be able to connect a garden hose to properly flush the entire cooling system. That's why I'll be stuck having the dealer do it, dammit....
Funny thing is, I already have that Prestone Flush Kit too! I bought it quite some time ago for my previous car; but I never used it because I couldn't figure out what hose was the "inlet" hose. I didn't want to cut the wrong hose...
The directions said to feel which hose gets warmer first....apparently that is the "inlet hose"; but I was reluctant to make any cuts...

it doesnt matter if you use yellow or green. last time my 99 was under warrnty they put in the green along with the dex and it got all fucked up. but after i flushed the syst everythings been fine , no sludge , just greeen.
And those kits dont always work right. I've just removed the radiator hose closest to the bottom and drained it from there and stuck the hose in the upper hose, really sucks they dont hav caps on the radiators anymore. anything to keep a guy from working on his own stuff.
Sludge is a problem of not having enough coolant and to much water, so the water rusts stuff inside and then it cooks down to a sludge. So make sure your coolant is the proper mix for your part of the country.
I try to keep mine good for -40 just to be safe. Its not likly to ever get that cold where i live, but I used to go -25 and it got colder than that once and froze everthing solid, causing major overheating(not good) not to mention geting frost bite from working on it in -30. buurrrr! Lol

Yikes..that is cold! Last night it was down in the upper teens, but wintertime is just coming here in Massachusetts so it will get much colder.
I do have one of those Prestone testers...the kind with that black rubber bulb that you squeeze and draw the coolant into the tester to see what the freeze point is. I checked mine two months ago, and it read -20 degrees. So it apparently has good freeze protection, but I still don't like the thickness of it though.... Next time my car is in the dealership, I think I'll have them power flush it out.

Your method sounds good.... I wish I could do that here, dammit.... but the management would freak out. I changed my own oil once, and I got a warning letter..lol ! Somebody squealed on me, lol; and said I was working on my car. Oh well, that is what living in an apartment complex is like.......

Tommy

Oops... I forgot to ask you, Xero... When you drained yours that way, does it get out all the crud and sludge from the heater core, and all of the hoses ? Or did you just drain the radiator ?
Years ago on my older Chevy, I used to open a plug on the block, and then stick the garden hose in the radiator, and flush away. Clear water would circulate all through the engine, heater core, and everywhere. But I don't think that plug is on our Pontiacs though.

Tommy

Tommy

Oops... I forgot to ask you, Xero... When you drained yours that way, does it get out all the crud and sludge from the heater core, and all of the hoses ? Or did you just drain the radiator ?
Years ago on my older Chevy, I used to open a plug on the block, and then stick the garden hose in the radiator, and flush away. Clear water would circulate all through the engine, heater core, and everywhere. But I don't think that plug is on our Pontiacs though.

Tommy

Tommy

Ya that sucks about apartments. I hav heard that from many people, some dont ever want to see even you hood up. And if you were getting antifreeze all over the road ways they would flpi, i'm sure.

I havnt ever really had sludge crap in my system to bad. But I would fill the radiator from the top hose, and drain from the bottom. After doing this 3-4 times and running the car for 20-30 min on each riseing/flushing it pretty much gets everthing out, even the heater core. I even hav run the car with the hoses disconnected to run out all the stuff within the block. Its just time consuming, I usualy spend a couple hours at least when flushing certain cars which hav no good drain plug. Grand prix's are a PITA tooo!

At least the dealer would use the bottom drain(you would think anyways), they hav the parts on hand usually if they break the radiator drain plug. And the quad 4's i think do hav a drain plug on the back of the block for draining it out.

Yup, these apartment complexes prohibit people from working on their cars. I can see their point too, because some people have been messy while changing their oil, and get oil all over the parking areas... plus they threw the used oil into the dumpsters too.... management flipped over that one, lol.... So I can understand why they now don't allow any type of work being performed on cars.
I guess I'll have my dealer flush that DexCool stuff out.... but, I'll bet they insist they re-fill with more DexCool crap. If that is the case, then I'll buy that new Prestone DexCool safe stuff... I guess it is supposed to be quite similar to DexCool, but won't gunk up the entire cooling system.
I'll ask the dealer beforehand if they will be willing to put Prestone in; no way is DexCool being put in again.....

My car will be going into the dealership soon, because they are replacing my factory Delco radio with a new one (warranty). I've got that damn volume control problem here, lol. So while the car is there, I'll ask about flushing out the cooling system.
Good thing I took out an extended two-year warranty... the damn Delco radios are expensive. But it actually sounds quite good...I have that one with the EQ and Cd player; plus the GT1 has that 8 speaker sound and it sounds fine to me. My boom-box days went away in the 1970's, lol.....
So I have enough bass here....

Nice chatting with you, Xero..... have a great Thanksgiving my friend..

Tommy

right on Tommy! that extended waranty is usualy a good thing if your not familar with the car.
The dealer should put the green prestone(non dex) in if you ask them too. It doesnt really hurt anything and last longer than Dex.

I try not to touch the radio volume knob if I can help it, i hav the wheel controls so "i dont even hav to lean up" Lol. One good thing GM put on thier cars & trucks. Ya mine has the eg/cd w/8 speakers, supoosed to hav a sub somewhere in my trunk, from what the sticker that was is the window showing features and what stuff cost, but I havnt seen it. Guess I never really look all that hard, if its not broke dont bother it. Lol.

You hav a festive Holiday your self Tommy.

gel sludge if dex and the green were mixed hmm.. I can only hope that Im lucky... cause when I put in the green it went pretty fast out of my system *heater core hoses leak* ... I did last weds... put in some dex in a bottle... gone already by friday .. didnt have anything else so I went to water again... was out this morning... filled another 1/2 a gal of water.... I can only guess with all these different mixes and long periods of water use that it'd be a good idea to get a flush while im at the kwik kar and they're replacing my hoses... I get paid this friday .. plan to buy a new IAC and see if that'll clear up my idle problem... its a pain at times to have to sit there and gas my car... people probly think im tryin to be a badass or something when really I just want the car to friggin start :loser:
with winter slowly coming along, I've been lucky for the cool temps.. no overheating.. but the heater in the morning is always slow to get warm.. then the coolant starts flowing and passes right on through the 2 hoses needing to be replaced.. and out onto the ground :banghead: .. mind you steam everywhere so people think 'what the hell :eek7: ?' .. just a huge white stream of evap smoke coming up :(

Oh man, that blows bigtime... Nothing worse than the damn cooling system leaking.. Well, wait a minute, yes there is.... the damn LIM problem, lol... I imagine I'll join that LIM club too someday...
Yup, sounds like a back flush of your cooling system would be a good bet at this point. If there is a mixture of Dex and Prestone, probably best to flush everything out and start clean by adding one or the other. I would tend to go with the ole' standby; the Prestone........

Take care Gir... Have a nice Thanksgiving!!
Tommy

Winters slowing coming hell! ITS HERE! burrr. i hate winter. laying on the floor is how I'm sick now, and i guess its not officially winter yet, but close enough for me, .. so is it over? Lol!

Gir, i here ya on the leaking, it sucks, only thing that sucks more, is no heater at all(had a few back in the day)
That antifreeze smoke is pretty nasty, had a heater core leak once, smoke out in the cabin. burn your eyes like pepper spray, will make you skin rash-up too if you get prolonged exposure.

According to recent TV ads Prestone is now safe to add to all anti freeze. From past experience, dexcool will get sludgey all by itself. I would definitely flush and go 100% with the known quantity.