kenmac
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Sure can't. I put red food coloring in my coolant so, I can see it in the tank
Mixing coolant
- Thread starter Wayne County Hose
- Start date
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Sure can't. I put red food coloring in my coolant so, I can see it in the tank
Midniteoyl
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LOL.. I've got Green Dye.. 
workinallthetime
Veteran Member
just dont take the chance, i was in the shop when gm switched from green to dexcrap, the early years saw all kinds of problems. thye even told us to use distilled water not tap water with dexcool. i can not count the grand am's, firebirds, and grand prix's ive seen with a muddy looking substance in the coolant resivor. i do think dex cool is a good product and have it in all my gm's but i think they made it into something you have to think about instead of just dumping what ever out of the barn into the system.
short story time....
we had a 7500 series kodiac dump truck that was eating up heater cores, the shop i worked at decided to go cheep and buy a "dex cool look alike" we had been using it for a couple years with no issues that we knew about until this kodiac. after the 3rd heater core i flushed the system and put real dex cool back in it. we saw the truck for all their maintence and never had another failure. Bad thing is how many other cars/trucks got jacked up on that coolant.
take into consideration what the coolant is doing, it not only helps cool the engine, it lubricates the water pump to some degree, and prevents electrolosis.
good luck, some things are not worth saving a couple bucks on
short story time....
we had a 7500 series kodiac dump truck that was eating up heater cores, the shop i worked at decided to go cheep and buy a "dex cool look alike" we had been using it for a couple years with no issues that we knew about until this kodiac. after the 3rd heater core i flushed the system and put real dex cool back in it. we saw the truck for all their maintence and never had another failure. Bad thing is how many other cars/trucks got jacked up on that coolant.
take into consideration what the coolant is doing, it not only helps cool the engine, it lubricates the water pump to some degree, and prevents electrolosis.
good luck, some things are not worth saving a couple bucks on
Cpjlube
Silver Member
From my experience Dex Cool worked well. Until the cooling system was allowed to get low. Most early Dex Cool Gms had an unpressurized overflow. So some evaporation occurred. When the actual cooling system went low, that's when I saw the coolant tend to gel up.
And as a side note. I was in a GMC dealership last month. On the TV in the service center they had a service recommendation for GMC pickup radiator service. 3years or 30,000 miles. I said to one of the service writers. " Hey, I thought the coolant was good for 5 years or 150,000 miles." He laughed and said "yeah, we found out that was a bad idea." Apparently the caveat is "or until dirty". Lol
Chuck
And as a side note. I was in a GMC dealership last month. On the TV in the service center they had a service recommendation for GMC pickup radiator service. 3years or 30,000 miles. I said to one of the service writers. " Hey, I thought the coolant was good for 5 years or 150,000 miles." He laughed and said "yeah, we found out that was a bad idea." Apparently the caveat is "or until dirty". Lol
Chuck
Midniteoyl
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Dexcool like head gaskets...
Cpjlube
Silver Member
If I was going to blame Dex Cool for anything, I would say Intake manifold gaskets. Ask any 3.4 liter owner.
Or should I say litre. Sorry. Old Trans Am thing.
Chuck
workinallthetime
Veteran Member
3.4 was a grown up 3.1 which grew up from a 2.8. alll had horrible intake manifold issues, nothing to do with dexcool. think i did over 100 of them in 6 months one year
CJONE
Veteran Member
I have changed enough intake gaskets AND intake manifolds on 5.7's AND 3.8l both for customers and my personal vehicles. The only thing they had in common was Dexcool. When I buy a GM the first thing I do is flush the system and put green back in. If it was new I would let it run a few years then switch but used it gets flushed as soon as I get it. Just picked up a like new 02 buick with 50k on it and has to use a pressure washer to blow the brown sludge off the surge tank walls. Not a Dexcool fan. CJ
oldyellr
Silver Member
You're right, CJONE, the problem only reared its ugly head after the introduction of Dexcool. Of course, the manufacturers will tell you Dexcool is less toxic and more environmentally friendly and specially formulated for modern engines.
CJONE
Veteran Member
He HE he, specially formulated to bring the MFG more $$$ in repair parts!! CJ
