I once upon a time had an 04 Saturn and it began leaking from about every seal there was. Mechanic said the Dex Cool stuff that GM uses has a bad rep for turning into a strong base and causing corrosive damage. I recently purchased an 03 Avalanche and would like to go to regular coolant instead of Dex Cool. Is there anything special that I need to do? Or just drain and refill?
Drain and flush with water and drain again at least once, if you just drain the radiator you might still have a gallon or so left in hoses and engine block. There are few different types of coolants to choose if you dont like Dexcool, keep in mind not all orange/pink/red is Dexcool either.
My Corvette has had Dexcool for 17 years.
Bure BS.
Bure BS.
I'm not sure. I googled "dexcool corrosion" and found all sorts of stuff. Including several law suits over the stuff. Sounds like the 10yr life is overstated. The ph level drops to a strong base and starts eating away at gaskets long before that. Sounds like it's fine if you change to fresh every few years so I'm draining anyway and might as well move away from dexcool.
I know. You can Google aliens in New Mexico and get results also.
Your choice. Just make sure whatever you use is compatible with the metallic makeup of your cooling system.
Point is Dexcool is nasty crap, period. I hate the stuff for various reasons. If you do the swap make sure there is ZERO Dex left in the system. It will cause all sorts of issues if it gets mixed with anything except distilled water. I prefer the old regular green anti-freeze over the Dexcool. As soon as my LS1 gets rebuilt it'll never see Dex run through it again.
I had issues with Dexcool in my 98 Tahoe. I agree, why risk it. Just flush it really well and run regular coolant. I would never use it in a scratch built motor, and most builders wont either, which should tell you something too.
The issue with the dexcool is tap water or air.
Gm stated never let air enter the system.
Now that means if you have a leak and the level gets low for very long you are screwed.
I do not care for the stuff myself but if used for 3 years and replaced with new i never had issues.
Gm stated never let air enter the system.
Now that means if you have a leak and the level gets low for very long you are screwed.
I do not care for the stuff myself but if used for 3 years and replaced with new i never had issues.
