The perils of "Dexcool"?....

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cfz2882

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-the reddish coolant GM came up with ~early '00s?Seems this stuff caused some problems with some of the cars that used it:corroding head gaskets,turning to gel and plugging radiators heater cores...My ;07 GMC canyon uses the stuff and so far no signs of any trouble with mine though some on the Colorado/canyon forum recommend swapping to "green"antifreeze ASAP...My LandRover came with dexcool,but P.O. had swapped to green before I got it-I had lots of trouble with cooling system parts made of glass reinforced nylon and exposed to coolant cracking and crumbling..thermostat housing,a couple hose "t"s-I have not had this nylon deteriation occur with "green" coolant...I think Jeep has a special"orange" coolant and one of the German mfgs has "blue"...Anyone have any bad Dexcool experiences?
 
Yes!

Mother had a 2008 Buick Century that we might still have had it not been for DexCool. It had the 3100 (?) V6 engine. Often the engine would just overheat some, which caused knocking. Turns out the coolant looked like and was the consistency of Metamucil. The dealer several times replaced the Dexcool but there was still that overheating. Buick was finally traded in on a Chevy Malibu that seems to have DexCool too but not any trouble. GM must have solved the problems by then.

I understand that the DexCool trouble occurs should the coolant be exposed to air, as might happen if you remove the radiator cap. In the case of your truck, maybe that did not happen and as long as no exposure to air, you may be fine.
 
Isn't it the case that the red or pink modern antifreeze is acid-based, whereas the older green stuff was ethylene-glycol?

I was told by my mechanic that the two types MUST NOT be mixed - else a muddy sludge is created.

I had also heard/read that some older cars radiators/seals/head gasket leaked when the acid-based modern stuff was used.
 
Green

I only use the green ethylene glycol, Flush out everything, good idea to flush out the systems every 3 or 4 years. BMW is blue, but its ethylene glycol, I use that in my BMWs, green in the other 11 cars, but most are from the 50s thru 70s, no aluminum components, good old cast iron block and heads, never a problem with leaky head gaskets or intake manifolds.
 
Replaced a coolant pump

on our 3.5 lire GM V6 2 years ago. Mechanic told me it failed because I mixed the Dexcool with Prestone green.
I din't know, he replaced it with green, and said not to leave it in past 30,000 miles. We didn't put but 8,000 miles on it last year.
I only added Dexcool to my 2003 3800 engine, and the coolant pump wore out at 111,000 miles.
My '98 3.1 litre V6 had a leaky intake shortly following a cooling pump change at 98,000 miles also.
 
I've been told by many mechanics that the orange stuff is garbage and you need to flush it more often than it says you need to to avoid the sludge. They've said you can change back to the green but you must flush the whole system very thoroughly to get all the orange out first before filling with the green.
 
I had a 2000 Sunfire that I got in 2004 that used it. Never had an issue with it, had that car until the end of 2015. I always thought that you couldn't use regular coolant in a dexcool vehicle because it would cause the radiator to leak or something.
 
It will not leak,

But there will be a buildup of what looks like Jolly Green Giant snot in there if DexCool combines with any other coolant. The gunk causes overheating and that shortens the life of the engine.
 
Too many technical

headaches with automobiles these days. You can buy now at several dealers with 0% for 70 month's, then have the thing break the bank later in repairs, or spend it leasing. At least with new, you're under warranty, and before the thing needs work done, your into another new car.
As a senior now, when I need to be somewhere, I want to get there, and not have to go to the repair shop.
Car share programs are becoming at least a bit popular also now.
Not driving daily or often enough also risks battery under charging. Then, there is the plug in options also.
 

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