I guess I'll drain the radiator a bit and put more straight coolant in to see if that does anything. Wish I knew what the deal was, driving around in a cold car kinda sucks.

Myles

 

FYI, I'm attending an autotech class at Dale Jackson career center in Lewisville texas (highschool auto-program), and last year we were 3rd in the nation, so my instructor knows his ****, ne ways if you have warranty on your car replace your orange coolant every 3 years, and keep an eye on it, if you dont have warranty and you have orange crap replace it with green, if you replace orange for green while on warranty you void your warranty. the orange stuff does not last 100,000 miles, and it breaks down and turns to sludge this will destroy your engine. trust me on this one the orange stuff is BAD

 

Well, I'm going to throw my experiences from working in a car shop out there and you guys can determine what's true or not. Dex-cool is suppose to last 100,000, but I've never seen it do so. It always seems to corrode badly after about 60K. Mixing orange and green will not turn it to sludge, but it will cause it corrode much quicker than normal. According to GM manuals, distilled water is preferred, but not required. If distilled water is not available, use clean, drinkable water. Personally, I don't see the advantage of the Dex-cool over the regular green coolant. But I also change my coolant every year, rather than allowing it to build up any particles that might cause it to corrode.

 

From everything I've read, Texaco put a lot of time and research into Dex-cool and corrosion inhibitors. Ford is now using a similiar type coolant and so is Daimler Chrysler. So obviously the guys like the stuff.
Corossion as I understand it is due to acidity of the mixture and any coolant is going to become acidic if it's not changed, or should I say.... "PH checked" on a regular basis.
Texaco also warns against mixing the green stuff with the orange but not because of sludge. Rather, they say it's because mixing will reduce the corossion resistance considerably. Dex is also easier on water pump bearings which seem to be a problem with every sbc I've ever owned. Just gotta keep the air out of the system.

-Mindgame

 

yeah I would believe you too........

Come on... Do you know more about DexCool or do the people who created it? Be realistic.

DexCool is a coolant that uses a corrosion protection package that does not have silicates or phosphates that had been used for decades before. The silicates and phosphates had worked well to prevent corrosion as long as they were replenished periodically but they often caused water pump seals to fail due to abrasion from flakes of silicate. If you look at any of the sites that are related to snowmobiles or helicopters with ROTAX engines. You will find that they swear by DexCool because it is the first coolant that hasn't caused their water pump seals to fail in flight. I dis-assembled the engine in my daily-driver Cavalier after 90,000 miles to see what was going on and I found that on this engine that had DexCool from day 1, the engine coolant passages were as clean as the day they were cast. Unlike every engine that I had taken apart before, -covered with white deposits, that I now know are silicates from the coolant.

Good luck with the old stuff but I wouldn't use it in a lawnmower.. In fact, my neighbor's Kubota has DexCool in it because apparently they feel it is a better coolant.

 

I've had many certified cooling system repair techs tell me they wouldn't get within 10 feet of Dexcool, mostly because of the sludgiing problems. I've had more than one tell me they added green coolant to orange and got sludge. Based on that and some of the research I have done on this, I'm staying away from Dexcool...its easier to replace my water pump a little more often than it is to risk having to replace my radiator/heater core. Have I seen it happen personally? No, I've never had a Dexcool equipped car. The warnings from others are enough to make me stay away though.

This is one example of MANY I have read about...

http://www.geocities.com/b_gillie/dexcool_problems.html

 

Well, I guess you are the expert......

Your research, who helped you with it? Can you show me some data? I might be convinced if you can refute the thousands of pages of data that I have seen supporting the product. Send it to dmacgillis@voyager.net. any time you like.

BTW, without data you are just another person with an opinion.

um, the guy with the website, ummm he has a lawsuit.... He probably would have a lawsuit about the color of the interior in his truck or the ride or something if he didn't have coolant to jack off about.

 

wow aren't we defensive today?

I don't care if you don't buy it. If you want to use Dexcool, have at it...your success/misfortune has no impact on my life. If I have saved even one person from making a mistake that could possibly cause them problems, then I'm ok with that. I'm not going to waste my time trying to explain something to you that you have obviously already decided is fact

BTW try doing a search on google for Dexcool and see how many sites you run into about Dexcool problems.

 

I already did that. The only one that has anything in it worth reading is the guy with the lawsuit. That pretty much blows his credibility right out of the water IMHO. Opinions or data? Which do you believe?

 

I personaly dont think it matters on the type of coolent you use. I think what matters is what kind of water you put in your car. If you are out in BFE and you take and put craped out water that taste like **** in your car your going to have problems no matter what. Just to test a theroy out on here, I went to Autozone and bought a gallon of orange and a bottle of green poored half a gallon of orange and half a gallon of green in a 5 gallon bucket. Guess what it didnt slug up instantly like someone had mentioned. Another thing I have heard the Orange **** is coroive on your gaskets and stuff... well if thats the case why the hell does GM send there cars out with it ? Personaly I think it has to do with what kind of water you put in your car. If you put **** dirty water of couse your gonna have problems its only commen sence. They say Orange last for 5 years ? Bull ****, they say the green last for 2 years maby... Check your water in a year and tell me what it looks like green or orange under the same circumstances and im sure they will look about the same. As far as mixing them... if you really want to know read what kind of chimicals are in them and than read up waht happends when those chimicals are mixed. Go to a Univirsity and talk to a Science Professer he can tell you what will happen and there will be your answer.

 

Being a GM tech for for over 8 years, and other shops for another 4, GM had some serious sludge problem withthe Dexcool coolant, most shown in the trucks... The problem which was mentioned eralier was not due to the Dexcool itself, but the radiator caps did not hold the pressure above 15 PSI, which caused the dexcool to sludge . Not just a little either, we are taking seroius sludge..

Dexcool does nto last 100k. No way. At least from my experience. Dexcool will not sludge if the pressure is good in the coolant system.

I would change the coolant every couple years, and if you see any sludge, make sure to have someone pressure test your coolant system. If there are any leaks, it could drop the pressure causing sludge buildup also. So any leak, even small can potentially create a sludge problem.. Good maintenance and checking the pressure a couple times a year will keep from having any buildup problems withthe Dexcool.

I did not use distilled water in a shop of course, but I use distilled water in every car i own
Kevin

 

"A tech told me" ... "my research" ... "lawsuits" ... etc. Where & when will it ever end? Surprised Daredevil hasn't been mentioned yet. Oops, I just did.

I use the Dex Orange coolant (still) and have had only once chg'd the water pump and that was awhile back.

Just recommend to inform techs when flushing that coolant is reverse flow...

I use the Orange stuff and I'm sticking to it. I'll be checking the cap this afternoon.

Tks to all for the positive notes mentioned.

 

Well then I'll be another person with an opinion (and quit sounding like a machine, where is your personality dude?)....I flushed Dex out of my Z28 and immediately changed to the green. Why? Because when I saw how nasty it was coming out I got pissed and believed everything I was hearing about the Dex. My rad cap is holding the correct pressure and all. System was bled correctly. My water pump still died at 65k mi with dex. Even with the 180* t-stat it would never go below 210*. I used a hose to blow out the water passages when I changed the pump and the amount of grime and crap was unreal.(BTW, I never had this problem on any of my other vehicles) After changing to a 50/50 mix green, it stays between 185 and 190* on the highway, will go up to 210* when at rest but will quickly come back down when the fans turn on.

Dex-cool probably is some good stuff, just not in my experiences. But just like anything else, it's design was compromised and still has it's flaws. Nothing is perfect. You have data for that.

Some people like it and others don't, it's just as simple as that.

 

http://www.imcool.com/articles/anitf...l-macs2001.htm


Here's an article on why it sludges up.

 

Perhaps I can contribute a little hard data to this discussion. I check the ph of my Dexcool about ever 3-6 mo. Fresh Dexcool mixed with distilled water has a ph of 8-9 (this is slightly alkaline, 7 is neutral). I notice that it gradually acidifies over time. I am told this is the radiator hoses curing process leaves residual sulfur and that they gradually acidify the water. Once the ph drops below 8 I add a little pure dexcool to bring it up to above 8 again. The stuff in my car continues to look like orang Coolaid so maybe I'm on to something here. Another test is to take a good digital DVM and put one lead on the block ground and another in the radiatir liquid. The resulting voltage should be under .5 volt. I notice this voltage rises as the liquid starts to acidify. I still change coolant at the 3 year mark just to be safe. I'm soon to change over to silicone hoses. It will be interesting to see if anything changes then.