GM to pay up in Dexcool repair cases

GM To Pay in Coolant Repair Cases
Detroit Free Press

By Justin Hyde

March 27, 2008

WASHINGTON – General Motors Corp. has agreed to pay as much as $800 each to millions of customers to settle lawsuits that it sold about 35 million vehicles with faulty coolant and engine parts.

The move announced by lawyers Wednesday would close one of the largest product-liability lawsuits faced by a U.S. automaker. GM declined to say how much it expected the settlement to cost, but the agreement gives payments to customers even if they bought the vehicles used.

The suits stem from GM's use of Dex-Cool, a coolant it first introduced in its vehicles in 1995 and sold in more than 35 million cars and trucks between 1995 and 2004. About 14 federal and state lawsuits seeking class-action status have been filed against GM over a variety of problems in V6 engines linked to Dex-Cool.

Thousands of customers have complained of problems ranging from small coolant leaks to complete radiator and engine failure. Court documents show that GM has received tens of thousands of repair requests linked to Dex-Cool and engine gaskets in the affected engines, and considered recalls for some models.

Under the settlement approved by a California judge last week, people who paid for Dex-Cool-related repairs on 3.1-, 3.4-, 3.8- or 4.3-liter V6 engines within seven years or 150,000 miles are eligible for some payment from GM. Repairs made within the first five years are eligible for up to $400, while sixth-year repairs could receive $100 and seventh-year repairs $50.

If the damage went beyond the engine's cooling systems – as many customers claimed – GM is to reimburse them up to $800. The company will also allow owners who made multiple repairs to apply for multiple repayments.

GM spokesman Tom Wilkinson said the company settled the case because the lawsuits were "time consuming and expensive." He said GM was unable to estimate how many consumers might apply for payments.

As part of the settlement, GM is to pay $18 million in lawyers' fees and expenses. The settlement covers 49 states, excluding Missouri, which has an identical settlement authorized by a different court.

Owners and customers who have paid for Dex-Cool-related repairs have until Oct. 27 to submit a claim. Further details of the settlement and instructions for applying for payments are available at www.dexcoolsettlement.com.

This should make a lot of minivan owners happy!

Is GM still using Dexcool in its new vehicles or have they switched back to the traditional green stuff?

Remind me why do they use Dexcool again?? Are they still the only ones?

Dex-Cool is less toxic and more environmentally friendly. It's also supposed to have extended life when compared to regular antifreeze. I believe it was developed specifically for GM.

Hmm... don't they still use dex cool or some other similar odd color long life coolant?

Lots of manufacturers are using extended life coolants these days... though I'm unsure how closely related they are to each other and to dex cool.

Interesting that the N* is not included in the settlement. Dex Cool has been killing those motors since the beginning.

I switched from Dex-Cool to green in my LS1 after my coolant level sensor was so badly corroded and gunked up from Dex-Cool it had to be replaced. I know there are those that will swear the benefits of Dex-Cool (like the lack of silicates) outweight the negatives, but for me, its been the exact opposite. My ex-wifes POS Aztec blew out the intake gasket around the coolant ports directly due to Dex-cool corroding the gasket. $1200 fix :mad: Even worse, she divorced me AFTER I paid for the fix :mad::mad::mad: Damn it!

Dex Cool :irk:

honestly you guys think there is anything I can do...


I belive dexcool is what killed my car 3.8L v6, bad intake leak, engine started knocking, motor died.


That is the reason why I got rid of my car.

I think it might have been 7 years(late 2007, forgot when my dad bought the car originally) and 82,000 miles.

The lawsuit should have covered LT1's waterpump and optisparks!!!!

I belive dexcool is what killed my car 3.8L v6, bad intake leak, engine started knocking, motor died.


Any coolant will do damage once it's in the oil, so if the car was run after the leak was discovered, it's a bit unfair to blame Dex-Cool.

I'd love to know how many Dex-Cool problems are releated to the use of tap water or coolant additives.

Any coolant will do damage once it's in the oil, so if the car was run after the leak was discovered, it's a bit unfair to blame Dex-Cool.

I'd love to know how many Dex-Cool problems are releated to the use of tap water or coolant additives.

What if it wasn't known that there was a leak and car ran fine until it started knocking.

I'd love to know how many Dex-Cool problems are releated to the use of tap water or coolant additives.

I know the 3400 grands am arent neways . The dexcool degrades the plastic intake seal , then leaks . Ive got to do this on my moms 2000 GA GT this week so she can sell it , grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr .

Does this mean I should flush any cars I have with Dex-Cool in them and replace it with the traditional green stuff?

From what I understand that's an even worse thing to do. The Dex-Cool has a reaction with the regular ethylene glycol and turns into sludge.

Does this mean I should flush any cars I have with Dex-Cool in them and replace it with the traditional green stuff?

Ideally yes... but it is really hard to make sure you get every little drop whatsoever, because like mentioned it mixes. My current car, sure might cost me a few extra $$$, but GM is going to be the only one that touches it. Until 5yr 100k, so if/when it ****s up. I let GM take care of it. I am just going to follow what they say to a T




FYI, alot of the V6 f-body guys are kind of happy. Because they have had to deal with this, or are actually dealing with this right now.

From what I understand that's an even worse thing to do. The Dex-Cool has a reaction with the regular ethylene glycol and turns into sludge.

There are some newer coolants that tolerate being mixed with other types, such as the yellow-colored Prestone Extended Life formulation.

Now the question is.... will this severely **** up GM? This isn't chump change, that is alot of cars...

What about L67 cars? I noticed they arent included which is rediculous. Their are a ton of these cars that have gasket failures also.

The better question is if DEXCOOL really caused any problems at all. For the couple of the ones in the lawsuit, how many are running around that haven't had any problems?

The better question is if DEXCOOL really caused any problems at all. For the couple of the ones in the lawsuit, how many are running around that haven't had any problems?

I can only speak for the 3400 , the dexcool deteriorates the intank manifold gasket . On a 3400 , its not if , it when your gonna have to replace it .

When my parents bought a new Impala, the salesman had nothing but positives for Dexcool. Last 100,000 miles, more enviro friendly, etc. Then when they take the Impala in for service, they do nothing but bad mouth it and tell us that Dexcool gunks up easily, fails coolant level sensors, fails seals, fails gaskets, and the it should be flushed out every 50,000 miles or so. Difficult to tell if the dealer is really trying to help, or capitalizing on the hype to make customers buy more service.

FWIW, I tore down the engine from my K2500 today (which was pulled out of service a couple of months ago due to a coolant leak that dumped the entire contents of the cooling system into the oil sump :eek: ). Looks like an intake gasket failed around the right-front crossover passage. I don't know if Dex-Cool is to blame, or if it's just the fault of the crappy Vortec intake gasket design.

Well, I have 2, 3.4 Liter powered vehicles, both had leaking intake gaskets.
One is an '01 Veture and the other an '03 Rendezvous.
In my opinion, Dexcool had little to do with it.
Both used a "plastic shim" gasket with thin silcon seals, and both "plastic" shims cracked at the coolant passages leaking coolant into the crankcase and down the rear of the motor.
The replacements are metal shim with thick rubber seals...way better!
I did the work myself so I'm probably SOL...;)

I lost the water pump right after I changed the coolant at 100K miles in my Malibu. The seal let loose about 10 miles after changing the fluid. I called a shop and he said it was pretty common, so I just bought another pump and put it on.

Now I'm at 200K miles and wonder what is going to happen when I change the fluid this time... My coolant sensor has started leaking also. Wonder if that is all corroded up?

I never had any trouble with Dex-Cool, but when I flushed my system I used distilled water.

But yeah I love when people say, "I just added some of the green stuff to my Dex Cool" and then they wonder why they have problems. I'm willing to bet that a lot of the problems were caused by dumbass mechanics?

"WOW!! You need new coolant, you 1999 GM vehicles is all orange!"
"Oh noes :( Flush my system plz"
**adds green stuff**

Would someone like my parents get the entire 1200 bucks back for the repair, or just a few bucks for an intake gasket?

in my opinion, Dexcool had little to do with it.
Both used a "plastic shim" gasket with thin silcon seals, and both "plastic" shims cracked at the coolant passages leaking coolant into the crankcase and down the rear of the motor.


That's the same design that the Vortec 5.0 and 5.7 used. When my gaskets first failed at 40,000 miles, the only available replacement parts were of the same (faulty) design. Well, maybe they were a bit better - this set lasted 60,000 miles :lol:... :think:... :mad:!

The first time the gaskets failed, it just dumped all the coolant to the outside of the motor; this second time around, it emptied the coolant into the intake valley and turned the coolant into mud (which is why I got the "opportunity" to build a stroker). I would have loved to catch the leak before it caused any damage, but my truck went from running fine to overheating in about 3 miles.

my LT1 has been running dexcool for the life of the car.




im not going to say anything else so i won't anger the car gods.

my LT1 has been running dexcool for the life of the car.

im not going to say anything else so i won't anger the car gods.

LT1s don't pass coolant through the intake manifold, and they don't have those stupid plastic gaskets, so the likelihood of a major Dex-Cool related problem in an LT1 is relatively low. Just make sure to use distilled water and you'll probably be just fine.

FWIW, I still run Dex-Cool in my Impala.

There are some newer coolants that tolerate being mixed with other types, such as the yellow-colored Prestone Extended Life formulation.
Ummm.......so our 2005 Ion was low on coolant last week and I added some of that universal prestone stuff, but it was green. Did I mess up?

So I wonder if they will pay for Fbody roof bubbles ever?

I had sludge all around my intake gasket when I pulled everything, it killed my radiator too... It was a mess.


FWIW I used distilled water on the coolant swap. I had plastic intake gasket as well. 3400 are known for intake gasket leaks, 3800 its not uncommon....


I wonder if my 3.5L VVT will fall under the category still....