Just had the '96 flushed and noticed the coolant tank doesn't hit the bottom level mark for cool on the dip stick...altho there is coolant in the tank....called the mechanic and he said to pick up some Dex Cool and add a little to the tank. When I searched for a local dealer I hit a page withTONS of horror stories about Dex Cool....Any one here with that? and would adding 50/50 Dex Cool be better than 100%?
Advice appreciated

 

"flush the System" Due not use that Nasty Dex devastating fluid. It leaves a white destructive powder residue that can damage almost everything. Including hoses.
use the traditional glycol about 60% water/ 40% coolant. Add water wetter.

 

The DexCool issues really only involved certain engine families; mostly the 3.8L V6 and some 4.3L engines. Corvettes never had an issue with Dexcool that required any sort of recall or TSB's being issued for the 95 and later cars. And GM using poor quality gaskets didn't help either.

Like any other coolant, the key is paying attention to maintenance. Sure, Dexcool offers a 5-year protection level, but some people didn't so much as look at coolant levels or pay attention to recommended cooling system services. It really doesn't hurt to perform a cooling system flush and refill every 3 years.

And NEVER EVER mix Dexcool with the green ethlyene glycol coolant. That will quickly create a brown sludge that will be very hard to flush out.

The overflow tank in the front of the right side wheelwell has marks for COLD and HOT. With the engine cold, just keep the coolant level at the COLD mark. You can buy pre-mixed Dexcool but it's cheaper to buy a gallon of concentrate and mix it with some water to build a 50-50 mix. Also make sure that the coolant level in the expansion tank is at the base of the filler neck. Again with the engine cold, remove the pressure cap and check the level and add as needed.

 

I have used Dex-Cool in my 1996 LT4 since it was brand new. I have changed it every five years and added the supplement just like the owners manual says to do. Pretty clean looking when it is drained. I also remove the knock sensors on each side of the block to do a complete drain. Never have flushed it, just a complete drain and use distilled water not tap water.

 

I have a 2003 van with 370k miles, dex-cool change every 100k.
It has the original water pump and radiator!

 

BULL ****. We have a "lore" spreader, here.

Here is a radiator from my '96 Silverado, pic taken at ~240,000 miles/17 years after I hit a cow, punctured the radiator. All Dex, all it's life, more details HERE






Pretty freakin' amazing, for the miles/years huh!? See any "powder residue"??

Now....Here is the stock radiator out of my '92 Corvette, taken just a couple months ago. Radiator is 23 years old, ~160,000 miles....I run Dex Cool in it...





Nasty Dex devastating fluid.?? White destructive powder residue? WHERE IS IT?


Furthermore, I was Fleet Maintenance Manager of a 150+ unit vehicle fleet for ~15 years. I converted ALL our vehicles to Dex cool back in 1997. That includes heavy diesel machinery, gas engines, small equipment....even snowmobiles! Not only did we never have a issue related to Dexcool in those hundreds of thousands of hours of service, the Dexcool actually reduced some of the cooling system issues we had on regular coolant, previously.

*Don't Mix Dex and conventional coolant
*Use clean, distilled water
*Enjoy 5 maintenance free years of use.

 

TOM, you hit a friggen cow????...I would love to hear that story, were you drinking??.......WW

 

Never had any issues with Dex Cool.

The '96 Corvette shipped from the factory with it, and mine still uses it.
Just over 125,000 miles and looks like new.

2000 Silverado with over 130,000 miles and no issues.
The truck was totaled last year, so no longer own it.

 

Yeah. W/the truck...not the 'Vette (thank goodness)!

Driving in Southern ID to go camping/climbing at City of Rocks, and we were on a dirt road for...ever. All open range. Night fell, it got dark, and I mean DARK...no lights anywhere (boonies), and no moon. A car came up behinds us and passed us, we were going ~ 45mph on this dirt rd. Once the car got ahead of us, he was kicking up a huge dust rooster tail. I fell back, but then pressed on again in "less dust". Well a cow decided to cross the road after that first car passed it. It probably "decided" well before that, but begun it's effort as that car passed it. The cow was black. The night was black. I didn't see the cow until it was maybe 40' in front of me. My brake pads hit the rotors about 1/10th of a second before I hit the cow..just enough to ABS for an instant, then.....BOOOM! Man, we sent that cow flying, and he stove in the front of my truck. The cow was a gonner, and my truck was covered in...well lets just say it was a "sh!tty" situation.

I limped the truck to the Rock City, we all went to sleep in the truck. Next morning, I bought a new radiator, borrowed tools to swap the radiator, had to remove the fan b/c the front radiator support was pushed back so far, so no cooling fan, then tied the hood shut, and drove back to PC, UT. Incredible thing was, the AC still worked!

 

Never had a problem with the vett but it ate up my intake manifold on my 3800 bonniville

 

Read up Tom, write us up your epic BS 10,000 page hypothesis telling everyone how great Dex cool is. I can show you pictures to. my 110k SSEi i just tore down to replace my headgaskets there was white powder residue i scrapped off the radiator hose, thermostat housing and other parts. I have witnessed this same white powder in other cars that had Dex cool. PS GM is going through Dex cool legal battles. i guess this is un- true?

http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news0...m_dexcool.html

http://topclassactions.com/lawsuit-s...n-settlements/

http://gmauthority.com/blog/2011/03/...ol-settlement/

 

I've been using dexcool since I flushed my 92 in 1997, and never had an issue with it.

 

It is said if you recieve a air pocket this is what triggers the major destructive corrosion. Vettes are not exempt. Just the fact most vette owners are obsessively meticulous..

 

All the posters here are correct. Dex is good if you follow the rules. If you switch to Dex then a complete, and I mean complete flush is necessary. Very superior anti-corrosion properties. It doesn't turn to acid as it ages like glycol coolants.

Not all GM engineers are idiots. LOL

 

I provided significant evidence that the stuff works. What did YOU provide?? BULL ****. LORE. The perpetuation of rummor, misinformation, and ignorance. That is what you pedal, here. Take your garbage elsewhere.


Blah, blah, blah. Speaking of 10,000 pages of BS. Citing a failure here or there, is proof of nothing/ Why? B/c we don't know the history of the vehicle, what's been done to it, what coolants have been mixed etc. MY vehicles (as well as my 100's of fleet vehicles) HAVE a known history of all Dex cool use (proper use, BTW) and no (zero) failures or issues.


"It is said". You know what that is? That is misinformation spreading. That is what that is. It's also untrue. How do I know this? I know this b/c (AGAIN), experience w/machinery running dex cool for 1000's of hours....10's of 1000's of hours actually, WITH AIR POCKETS...and guess what? Nothing. No issues, no mysterious "white powder" (lol), no "major destruction" as our resident alarmist would like to pedal. Just 1000's of hours of maintenance free, trouble free operation. The problem that you're making up...it's not there.


AGAIN:
*Where is the "white powder" in my pics? WHERE IS IT, Admiral?
*Where is the "Sludge"? The "Brown stuff"? All the other "horrors" that ignoramus' blame on Dex cool? WHERE IS IT? I've provided real world, relatively controlled results. What have YOU provided? Misinformation and LORE.

 

I've recently flushed system with tap water, removing knock sensors.. Than i've filled with 50/50 prestone concentrate and distilled water, Aaron Jones, from prestone customer care, confirm me that this coolant is one of the right ones

 

Not matter what is used replace at specified intervals.

 

^That is the truth^

As luck would have it, I just pulled the radiator on our '05 CTS-V. It has leaked very slightly (maybe a quart every 3 months or so?) since we got the car 6 years ago, and an alternator issue and an AC leak motivated me to pull the radiator yesterday. Car is a "young" 10 years old, ~130k miles. Only had Dex cool in it.




Where is the "death and destruction"? The white powder? It's not there. That core is as good as new still.

Jmac popped the bottom tank off, installed a new O-ring, and clamped it back together. $65, and it's ready to rock again!

 

Your both right I have had it in many cars and trucks with no problem except with my 97 bonnieville sse it ate up my intake manifold. G. M. did know about this and did replace some or do a refund if you had proof and kept on there ***. I had the car from new and took care of it no sludge but the white powder was my ate up manifold.



383 if you still have the car and proof of what you paid for the manifold they will give you $400 but have to keep after them and do some research.

 

It sounds like the "white powder" is only prevalent on Bonneville SSE's. Why did the coolant eat up the manifold, but not the aluminum heads? Radiator? Water pump? What is the "white powder", and how does it "eat" aluminum? White powder is frequently left by conventional coolant -it is the silica....but I've yet to see any "white powder" left from Dex, in any kind of engine, from 600cc snowmobiles, to 13L, 530hp diesels.

My questions in this post aren't sarcastic...I'm all :