TOOK THE DEX COOL PLUNGE

[wapacz]

The vehicle has passed a pressure test on the cooling system combine that with no other symptoms of a blown head gasket. So the chances of it being a blown head gasket is pretty much 0.


Pretty much gm had some really bad gasket designs that combined with dexcool to cause a much larger problems. It took them longer than it should have to fix these problems but they finally got around to it. On the series 3 they redesigned the intake and I believe use an aluminum gasket. The case with this one was that the erg stove pipe would cook the old gaskets. The newer engines don't even have fluid running through the intake any more. Just look at the 2.4 ecotec, the 4.8, 5.3, 6.0 vortechs and the 3.5, 3.9 v6. How many stories of dexcool issues do you find with those. The answer to this is practically none.

 

[ZGRider]

Originally Posted By: wapacz
The vehicle has passed a pressure test on the cooling system combine that with no other symptoms of a blown head gasket. So the chances of it being a blown head gasket is pretty much 0.


Pretty much gm had some really bad gasket designs that combined with dexcool to cause a much larger problems. It took them longer than it should have to fix these problems but they finally got around to it. On the series 3 they redesigned the intake and I believe use an aluminum gasket. The case with this one was that the erg stove pipe would cook the old gaskets. The newer engines don't even have fluid running through the intake any more. Just look at the 2.4 ecotec, the 4.8, 5.3, 6.0 vortechs and the 3.5, 3.9 v6. How many stories of dexcool issues do you find with those. The answer to this is practically none.

Are you saying now that GM has "fixed" the Dexcool problems that the millions of bad IMGs failures in the past which cost owners millions of dollars was OK? You're saying that all that grief shouldn't have made previous owners leery of new GM vehicles and Dexcool? You're saying GM fixed the problems that never existed? First, its "Dexcool never caused the problems," then it's "but now it's fixed." You people sound like the current Administration in DC.

Dexcool is only a good product in a perfect environment and car engines are never a perfect environment. Dexcool has conclusively been shown to form iron oxide sludge in the presence of air in the cooling system and no type of new gaskets is ever going to permanently prevent that. In an imperfect environment, it is a bad product.

BTW, GM quit making their 3.8 V-6 recently, so I guess that the "gasket fix" was just temporary.

 

[thehkp7m13]

Originally Posted By: pbm
I don't believe in 'water evaporation from the coolant in the recovery tank'. I think you have another GM engine with faulty gaskets.


I thought they are all built that way.

 

[EagleFTE]

I have the identical problem with an earlier engine, 2000 4.3 vortec. No signs of coolant in the oil, no fluid on the garage floor ever, no scent of coolant cooking on the engine or heater core, no signs of anything wrong. About 8 onces of coolant just disaapears every two or three months. I've been "topping off" to the fill line with Prestone Dexcool / water. I posted on this forum in February on this same topic. Best advice I got was to try a Stant 10230 cap. Haven't got around to buying one yet (I guess I quit worrying about it). I may go buy one today and see if it works and let you know. By the way looking into my fill neck the radiator is perfectly clean and shiney and fluid is clean as can be so no crud is forming. But I'm sure if I didn't keep topping off and let it get low in the radiator it would be a different story and the bugers would form.

Can evaporation really be a valid explanation???? Maybe so.

It's a pain in the butt to have to buy a gallon jug to use a pint or two a year though. Does anyone sell coolant in smaller quantities?

 

[Drew99GT]

Eagle, a 2000 4.3L is one vehicle that is absolutely 100% prone to the intake manifold gasket failures. Both our 96 and 98 Blazers had to have the gaskets replaced.

I'd try pressure testing it, but even if it's seeping a little coolant into the oil, a pressure test could come out fine. The easiest thing to do is get a UOA done to check for coolant in the oil.

Or, if you have the means, get the updated GM metal framed or the Fel Pro Problem Solver gasket kit and get it fixed, then flush out the cooling system and use a non 2-EHA coolant like GO5 or Peak Global Lifetime.

As to Dexcool and it's issues, i do believe there is some "there there". Our 98 Blazer had to have the rad replaced since it got the dexmud. I've been religiously changing the rad caps every 2 years on all our GM Dex equipped vehicles and have no longer had any issues.

On our 07 Impala, instead of having the rad cap on the rad, it's mounted on a tall tube on the engine near the water pump so it is about 6 inches taller then any other point in the cooling system. I'm thinking they've redesigned a lot of their vehicles like this so air bleed/bubble concerns are much less. If it loses several ounces of coolant, everything in the cooling system short of the filler neck will still be full of coolant, unlike a traditional style cooling system.

 

[ZGRider]

Drew: I think your observation that the filler neck is the highest point in the cooling system shows that GM knows that air and Dexcool don't play well together. Why do they even bother? There are so many other good coolants they could use and not have to redesign the cooling system so extensively. Why do they stay with Dexcool after all the problems and bad publicity it has brought them?

I just don't get it. They must have some long-term, unbreakable contract with Havoline or something. Nobody in their right mind would continue to try and make Dexcool reliable and safe. Every time they think they have solved the issues, something else pops up.

New gaskets, more new gaskets, even more new gaskets, new radiator caps, new cooling system design (sealed overflow tank.) Another coolant system design (tall filler neck) When does it end? It's just plain arrogance IMAO

 

[EagleFTE]

GM, where do I start. How do I develop any sympathy for these people from top on down. Transmission sun shells that are [censored] for ten years and they know it and do nothing. Cost me $1500. Dexcool, bad gasket design for ten years and they do nothing. So they cry about loosing money and jobs and ask me for a bail out. I don't get it. I don't care if you are a janiter you kick down a door and say fix it. If you don't, don't cry to me. I've owned nothing but American but these people are messed up.

Anyway I don't know if I can see tearing things apart to replace gaskets after 10 years. What is the break even point? More inclined to ride it out. If it doesn't last due to a known bad design and they won't fix it don't go back.

 

[Pluto5]

Be sure to check the radiator cap; I had a similar coolant loss and it was a faulty cap.

 

[lucerne06]

for the past few days (especialy since it much colder out now in the northeast) I have checked the level everyday,twice a day to see what is happening,and if any air pockets that may have been trapped,filled up,and to top of the recovery tank.....What I have found is strangely enough...several drops of coolant on the outside neck of the plastic recovery tank,directly below the snap on cap on the neck.Sort of being hid under the plastic ring that keeps the cap from falling off the neck. And I have to believe this is coming from evaporation somehow???, cause the coolant is at the full cold mark which is a good 6 inches below the neck...so over a few months(especially in hot weather where it probably evaporates faster in the hot compartment), it's possible to lose those 3-4 ounces very discreetly. Also the inside top of the recovery tank always after sitting a while has large condensation drops stuck to the top inside of the recovery tank. JUST AN OBSERVATION AT THIS POINT.

 

[Drew99GT]

Originally Posted By: EagleFTE


Anyway I don't know if I can see tearing things apart to replace gaskets after 10 years. What is the break even point? More inclined to ride it out. If it doesn't last due to a known bad design and they won't fix it don't go back.


Get a UOA at a minimum to see if there's coolant in the oil. If there is, and you don't want to change the gaskets, give a stop leak product a try. I've had great success using them, and they were factory fill in many GMs, and now Subaru is using them to "solve" (more like band aid!) head gasket issues.

 

[lucerne06]

Have had TWO Uoa's done on the past two oil changes.Going back to last Dec 08. Nothing showed up. you can see them on here.Done by Blackstone.

https://bobistheoilguy.com/forums/posts/1596251/

 

[gmchevroletruck]

Originally Posted By: George7941
I have had my truck for over three years and the Dexcool level never goes down.

Dexcool gets blamed for everything, now for excessive evaporation!


+1

I've had mine for 3 years now as well, and it's up to 140k, haven't added any DexCool during my ownership (89k-140k) so far, level is dead on the same as it was. It's time for a change, but still, no leaks, no "evaporation". Not sure why this would be the case with yours. Obviously there is something they are missing.

 

[Herz]

Your lucky I had a loss of about 1 gallon a month. This is in a system I flushed every 2-3 years since I purchased the truck. Guess what?! My intake gasket and thermostat O-Ring went out. Bloody mess and the GASKETS disentigrated all around the coolant passages when I removed them.

It is pretty bad when the replacement ones state they are Dex-Cool proof. If they have to make gaskets that are specially designed for a certain anti-freeze you know there is a problem with dex-cool.

I also shall be removing the Dex from my parents silverado as soon as thier warranty expires.

 

[ZGRider]

Originally Posted By: defektes
Your lucky I had a loss of about 1 gallon a month. This is in a system I flushed every 2-3 years since I purchased the truck. Guess what?! My intake gasket and thermostat O-Ring went out. Bloody mess and the GASKETS disentigrated all around the coolant passages when I removed them.

It is pretty bad when the replacement ones state they are Dex-Cool proof. If they have to make gaskets that are specially designed for a certain anti-freeze you know there is a problem with dex-cool.

I also shall be removing the Dex from my parents silverado as soon as thier warranty expires.


No, No, No....That can't be right, all the Dex-worshippers here swear that as long as you change Dexcool every 2 or 3 years and no coolant circulates in the IMGs, there won't ever be any problems with Dexcool. You have to be wrong. Dexcool doesn't attack rubber or non-IMGs. Just because you ACTUALLY experienced this Dexcool disaster, it must have been something else. If we analyze it long enough, surely we can find some other reason for your disaster. You are speaking blasphemy and this the "Church of Dexcool Goodness" so don't try to bring any negative or evil accusations against the "all-mighty" omnipotent, holy Dexcool. Blame anything else (especially the maintainer, or GM) just not the devine Dexcool. "Thou shalt not take the lord-Dexcool's name in vain."

Amen...

 

[onion]

I dunno. The cleanest cooling system of any vehicle I've ever owned was the wife's '01 Lumina. Had 159,000 miles on it when I bought the thing in 2006, filled with the original dexcool. That system looked like new inside... you know, when I had to take it apart to replace the leaking intake gaskets.

When it works, it works spectacularly. Problem is that when it fails, it also FAILS SPECTACULARLY. I'll stick with my good ole' mediocre G05, changed out at a safe 3-year interval.

 

[mechanicx]

Originally Posted By: onion

I dunno. The cleanest cooling system of any vehicle I've ever owned was the wife's '01 Lumina. Had 159,000 miles on it when I bought the thing in 2006, filled with the original dexcool. That system looked like new inside... you know, when I had to take it apart to replace the leaking intake gaskets.

When it works, it works spectacularly. Problem is that when it fails, it also FAILS SPECTACULARLY. I'll stick with my good ole' mediocre G05, changed out at a safe 3-year interval.

Dexcool does protect very well as long as it doesn't get air in the system. I don't know if it's been mentioned on these forums before, i bet it has, but intolerance to air is the only real problem with dexcool. It isn't compatible with some plastics but those certain plastics aren't being used for gaskets. The thing is if you keep the dexcool topped up and you have the pressure cap on the resevior like the Lumina has then air won't get into the system and it will protect very well. I wouldn't trust dexcool if the pressure cap was on the radiator though.

 

[George7941]

I have never bought a lottery ticket in my life but perhaps I should buy one because I must be one lucky guy.

I have never experienced any problems with Dexcool despite using it for over a decade. Despite ZGRiders' predictions of disaster with usage of Dexcool, nothing unusual ever happens with my use of Dexcool - no sludge, no leaks, no evaporation, no nothing. The only logical explanation is that there must be some kind of 'force-field" around my vehicles that shields it against the various Dexcool-related disasters.

Must be the same 'force-field' around other Bitogers like SteveSRT8 and Oldmaninsc who also don't have problems with Dexcool despite extensive usage.

 

[bigmike]

I've never had a problem with it either. Going on 4 years with the factory fill. However, I am leaning towards flushing and filling with Peak Global Lifetime.

 

[Herz]

Just because you use dex-cool doesnt mean you will have problems. Its like smoking you have a increased risk of gasket cancer.

But you may get lucky and the car will die of natural causes.

 

[gmchevroletruck]

I wish you didn't have those issues, but I don't think I am lucky...I know several folks with DexCool in their vehicles, and they have no problems either...there is nothing inherently bad or worse than regular coolant, regarding DexCool specifically.

As far as the gaskets saying "DexCool approved", I wouldn't think of that as a negative. When it comes to specialty products, as in the case of DexCool, people ask all kinds of crazy questions, as if it's some alien product...I'm sure that is just a "stamp of approval" to ease the mind of folks who wonder about it, i.e. "well, these gaskets may be ok for regular antifreeze, but I have DEXCOOL!! Wonder if they thought of THAT?"...

It would appear that possibly the gaskets themselves, in your case, failed, but certainly that has nothing at all to do with DexCool specifically. It looks likely that, at some point, the vehicle may have been overheated by a previous owner? Another possible, and related scenario, would involve, a (previous to now) coolant leak elsewhere, say, the 3/8" metal tubing running from to the intake near the throttle body (they can leak there when they get older, and should be changed as often as a hose, no big deal), or a coolant leak from a cracking hose, etc...leading to the vehicle running hot, and contributing to disintegrating gaskets.

All in all, there has to be a logical explanation. I doubt you had a gasket made of cheese, or that you got a "bad batch" of DexCool. Certainly not belittling your concern, or saying you are illogical or unintelligent or anything at all like that...just, there must be more information out there somewhere, something happened, possibly with the previous owner if there was one, another driver, something.