Conflicting Dexcool Info And Year/Model

I have a '95 Blazer, 4.3 vortec "W" with 148,000 miles on it. The vehicle was manufactured 9-1994. There is no mention of Dexcool in my owners manual in any way, shape or form. The instructions directing the user to use Dexcool only are non-existent. There is no tag under the hood anywhere that mentions Dexcool. Since there was no info directing me to use Dexcool, I've simply never used it. If fact, I wasn't even aware of the Dexcool issue until a few months ago.

I'm going to have to change my intake gasket due to losing coolant with no visible leak under the vehicle. I do, however, have coolant puddling on the block in the valley just to the left and back of the egr valve (left when looking from front of vehicle at the block) I have no apparent coolant in the oil.

Once I've replaced the intake gasket, I intend to flush the cooling system and definitely won't be going back with Dexcool..... especially since I can't find a mention of it in my documentation.

I have read the class action ruling and it mentions class C vehicles model included 1995 Chevy Blazer. I have no class action claim and am not interested in that. I just want to know, does anyone have any idea if I even had Dexcool in my system to begin with? I'm confused on this. I mean, if the vehicle was intended for Dexcool only, there HAD to be mention of it in my owners manual and/or identifying tags under the hood somewhere. (which I repeat doesn't exist in my case)

Thanks in advance for any input or info.

i could be wrong but i thought dexcool was introduced in the ''96'' modle year
if you had started out with dex i would think you would have had sludge issues when you started using reg anti-freeze.

Dexcool was introduced sometime in the 95 model year. My old 95 Jimmy was built in 12/94 and it had a Dexcool label under the hood. My friend's 95 Jimmy was built in 6/95 and also has a Dexcool sticker. 1995 was a change over year for everything so it couldn't hurt to ask a dealer when in the 95 model year gm started using Dexcool. If your cooling system has never been serviced and it came with Dexcool originally, you would have a mess of brown/orange sludge in your radiator and where the intake is leaking. GM used poor quality gaskets that get eaten away by Dexcool much faster than std green coolant. Someone could have also changed your truck over to std green coolant. When you change the gaskets, flush the system a few times including the heater core.

Thanks guys for the responses.

I bought the vehicle new. While it was under warranty, the dealer did all the routine maintenance. After the warranty expired, I had a friend who was a mechanic who took care of her. Although doing minor repairs isn’t completely foreign to me, my mechanic was just too affordable not to let him do the dirty work. He is now retired and moved away and I am without a mechanic so I’m trying to do as much as I can myself. I came to this point after having a few unsatisfactory results in getting problems resolved with the Blazer. You take it to the shop, they diagnose the problem. They fix the problem. You pay them. The problem isn’t really resolved and you have to take it back. Anyway, I’m going to tackle the gasket job myself. The posts and detailed step by step instructions on this site gives me the confidence to tackle the job.

Anyway, when I needed to top off the system, I never used Dexcool. As I mentioned before, didn’t have any instructions to do so and didn’t know there was such a thing until a couple of months ago. I haven’t seen any sludge in the radiator. The puddling on the block looks and smells like nothing but straight coolant. Not gummy or anything, just normal consistency. I suppose my vehicle was manufactured before the use of Dexcool in the model. I’ll do a complete flush of the cooling system once the job is completed.

Thanks again for the feedback.

if you dont have a manual get one it will help you alot & is worth the $25
GOOD LUCK