GM Dexcool

[fbaurley]

Whats up with this stuff, Its supposed to be a long life coolant, but from what I hear it is more corrossive than regular antifreeze. Does it eat seals ? Any one with any info feel free to fill me in.

 

[MFalkinham]

My wife's Chevy Venture van has this stuff in it, and the label on the overflow tank says it will last for 150k miles. But the more I read about it on the 'Net, the more concerned I become. In some cases, it has apparently turned into a grey "Jello-like" substance before reaching that mileage, clogging radiators and consuming water pumps. So much for maintenance free... ...



- Mike

 

[nickleinonen]

i thought it was only good for 5 years, 120k kilometers... at least that is what my tahoe owners manual said [iirc... ] just don't mix the green coolent with the dexcool. then you will be replacing components that get gummed up and seals leaking...

 

[lmills]

If you mix the two coolants, I believe it causes the mixture to become thick and gel like. If i remember right, you are only supposed to use the dexcool antifreeze in approved applications. There was something about it being very corrosive on certain metals that were in older cooling systems. So if you run it in an older car, you might have issues. I however have friends that run it in their cars(70 nova &71 camaro) and neither of them have had issues over the past 2 years they have been running it.

 

[dpuckett]

I got the Havoline extended life orange stuff......

Is that bad, or are we talking about the genuine GM dexcool stuff, not just "dexcool approved?" I put it (Havoline) in my Ram because of the lack of silicates, and not wanting to clog the system with gunk. Sounds like I may have shot myself in the foot. 'Bout my luck...



Daniel

 

[MFalkinham]

I think as long as it was orange and "Dexcool compatible", you should be fine. I did the same thing a while back, and so far no problems.



- Mike

 

[dpuckett]

WHEEWWWW!!!