[developed]

Let's hear some experiences on why you are running what you do.

Is it Dex-Cool (or equivalent) or Regular Antifreeze?

 

[turtle488]

im not sure because my uncle just gives me gallons of pure antifreeze when i need it

 

[982.2sten]

be cause that's what came in it. Mines a 98. You can't put the regular in it after it's already had the Dex cool in it.

 

[developed]

be cause that's what came in it. Mines a 98. You can't put the regular in it after it's already had the Dex cool in it.

You can flush it out with a chemical cleaner the add regular antifreeeze.

My mechanic said the DexCool will cause corrosive type problems and suggested I change over. He has nothing to gain by telling me as we are ol buds - used to race motorcycles together.

 

[LOW-LIFE]

You can flush it out with a chemical cleaner the add regular antifreeeze.

My mechanic said the DexCool will cause corrosive type problems and suggested I change over. He has nothing to gain by telling me as we are ol buds - used to race motorcycles together.

no you cannot do that... yes teh dex cool does become corosive. so just flush it out and use something equivalant... you cannot put reg antifreeze in a dex cool vehicle cause it will eat the seals. and jack it all up.

 

[lilbluetruck98]

no you cannot do that... yes teh dex cool does become corosive. so just flush it out and use something equivalant... you cannot put reg antifreeze in a dex cool vehicle cause it will eat the seals. and jack it all up.

umm no if you leave the dex cool in there it will be a hell of alot worse on seals water pump radiator ect... dex cool is highly corosive and i as a mechanic have seen more problems with dex cool than the regular green stuff it has eaten the fins off water pumps gone through numerous gaskets and seals(especially 3.1 and 3.4 lower intakes) and yes you can switch to green coolant after running dex cool you cant mix the two together but if you flush the system completly once with just water and then with green coolant if will be fine

 

[95projectS-Dime]

be cause that's what came in it. Mines a 98. You can't put the regular in it after it's already had the Dex cool in it.

You can put regular in it , all you have to do is completly flush DEX COOL out , done been through it with GM and that is what they told me .

 

[doored454]

umm no if you leave the dex cool in there it will be a hell of alot worse on seals water pump radiator ect... dex cool is highly corosive and i as a mechanic have seen more problems with dex cool than the regular green stuff it has eaten the fins off water pumps gone through numerous gaskets and seals(especially 3.1 and 3.4 lower intakes) and yes you can switch to green coolant after running dex cool you cant mix the two together but if you flush the system completly once with just water and then with green coolant if will be fine

Yes, I deal with the same shit as you. We change the dex cool in 4.3's all the time at work, and 3.1/3.4's too.

 

[Toadz]

So it's recommended to switch over to the regular stuff? I'll probably be replacing my heater core soon and Dex-Cool is pretty expensive, I'd rather use the regular stuff, especially if it's better for it.

 

[wayfastwhitey]

you're supposed to use anti-freeze??? who knew? That must be why it's so damn hot here in Texas!

 

[developed]

you're supposed to use anti-freeze??? who knew? That must be why it's so damn hot here in Texas!

OK joker - which one are you using?

 

[wayfastwhitey]

OK joker - which one are you using?

actually neither...I run straight distilled water. Have been for years and years

 

[Dr. Nate]

actually neither...I run straight distilled water. Have been for years and years

In theory that is the best medium to use. However, Prestone makes a new "green" antifreeze that is safe to use with both kinds. I would suggest you flush, but you don't have to with this stuff. You could in theory just run this, then after a while flush it again and switch to the regular stuff.

Distilled water is popular down here with most of the track cars.

 

[GreatWhite00]

I use the pink stuff. It is a dex cool equal.

 

[aperry62]

I dont' know what year they started using that dex-crap but I've always used regular green coolant in mine. That stuff has been working great for years why would you change to another type of coolant(GM)?

 

[Dr. Nate]

I want to say it was 1998 when they started using it.

 

[superunknownmoto]

My 97 came with it from the factory.

 

[Dr. Nate]

My 97 came with it from the factory.

I stand corrected. Was it 1996 then?

 

[Zq-8_dawg]

I use dex cool, and I don't see a problem with it until you get lazy and don't change it every other year.

Also when mixing dex cool 50/50 use distilled water and not tap water. Tap water has alot of properties that lead to corrosion.

I have had my 2001 3.4L apart recently and there was no corrosion, the lower intake manifold gasket was fine although GM released a new updated gasket, which I used when everything went back together. (I only had it apart to add performance heads and manifolds.)

It basically comes down to the fact that the "dex cool is good for 5 years" is a bad statement and that people don't maintain their vehicles.

 

[wayfastwhitey]

I stand corrected. Was it 1996 then?

maybe...my '96 came factory with dexcool....dumped that crap out as soon as I got it home.