Shop replaced my coolant with the green stuff...

I recently had a coolant leak that I thought was my waterpump... I replaced that.. and still had a leak.. couldn't find it at first but then located the freeze plug on the drivers side right above the motor mount..

Shop said they'd do it for ~$100... I figured that's not too bad.. and let them do it.

(during my changing of the water pump I developed a missfire (another issue) that I've been working on when I have time for the past 3 weeks.. I HAVEN'T been driving the truck)..

While working on this misfire issue. I happen to notice that my coolant is now -green-!! it plainly says on the front of the engine compartment to use ONLY DexCool...

This is a 95 4.3L CPI vortec... is there an issue with the dexcool being replaced with the green stuff .... I've heard bad things about this like it creating sludge...

I'd had to totally refill the radiator about 8 times with water since the leak began.. but is that enough to flush out all the dexcool to warrant being able to put the green stuff in!?!

I thought I'd read somewhere also about engines needing to have the 'right' type that they were manufactured for.. like the green stuff is 'too' acidic or something?

should I raise hell with this shop.. or thank them for getting me 'off' the horrible dexcool...

Thanks,
Tim

I would thank them, I've been running on the green stuff for almost 3 yrs on my 98 4.3L, aslong as it was flushed good its much better.

As long as the shop completely flushed the cooling system, including the heater core, before they changed it to green then it should be fine. If not, when Dexcool and regular green are mixed it creates a nasty acidic brown sludge that causes all sorts of problems.

Oh really? Crap

the green stuff is better than dex-cool. Gm has had a lot of problems with the dex-cool eating away at the head gaskets and if you take you car in to get a head gasket done they will probley put green stuff inplace of dex-cool. Dont worry its all good.

If you use the green ethylene glycol in a system that was designed for Dexcool, you're asking for trouble, and you'll get it, guaranteed! It creates expensive ongoing problems that will continue to haunt you until you completely flush ALL of the green coolant out and replace it with Dexcool. Always use the type of coolant that the vehicle was designed to use. Here is a great article that explains why NOT to change over from Dexcool to the Green ethylene glycol coolant.


http://free-auto-repair-advice.blogspot.com/search/label/Dex-Cool

If you use the green ethylene glycol in a system that was designed for Dexcool, you're asking for trouble, and you'll get it, guaranteed! It creates expensive ongoing problems that will continue to haunt you until you completely flush ALL of the green coolant out and replace it with Dexcool. Always use the type of coolant that the vehicle was designed to use. Here is a great article that explains why NOT to change over from Dexcool to the Green ethylene glycol coolant.


http://free-auto-repair-advice.blogspot.com/search/label/Dex-Cool
:iagree: The biggest problem ( if you want to call it that,) with Dex Cool is lack of attention/servicing of the product. Many owners see the old 5 yr/150K service interval and tend to "forget about it." I treat my Dex Cool in all my vehicles like I used to treat the old ethylene glycol and have not had any issues. Another part of the "problem" was poor quality gaskets/materials, and defective radiator caps which allowed air to infiltrate the cooling system. A new Stant brand cap solved that problem. Today's newer, modern engines are made with different metals and other products. They require a newer technology such as Dex Cool to operate properly. The old ethylene glycol is so 20th century :lol: time to leap into the 21st century with a new technology OAT based coolant to make sure all your engine components are protected.
Dex Cool is just another major advancement in automobile technology the same as bias ply tires were replaced with steel belted. The old style cap-top batteries to which you had to add acid/water, were replaced with "maintenance -free batteries" and asbestos brake pads were replaced by other materials, and regular headlights were replaced by halogen and now newer types of headlamps.