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Dexcool vs. "Green"


Timm

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Pro's and Con's for each.

 

Any high-mileage benefits?

 

dexcolor4.jpggreen.jpg

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Wow, those both look really nice. I might get my car painted Dexcool Orange, or Antifreeze Green. :smile:

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Its been discussed through and through, and I think the general consensus is that you should just stick with whatever it is your car originally came with and don't change it.

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I've got dexcool now, but I'm replacing my leaky water pump in a few days. I flushed the radiator and got fresh dexcool in about 8 months ago, but it's really sick and brown looking... I was probably going to do a coolant flush with my water pump change, and was thinking it might be better to switch to green. I keep hearing these stories of dexcool cloging up radiators and hoses... :confused:

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Its been discussed through and through, and I think the general consensus is that you should just stick with whatever it is your car originally came with and don't change it.

yep.

 

dont believe the crap you hear online. its not the cause of the problems. and if your dex is brown then its time for another flush. thats just how it looks when its dirty.

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Dexcool doesnt really help.. Both will keep it the same temp and neither will affect gaskets. Dexcool is more expensive so just go with the green stuff. I use water with RP purple ice in the track car and green/water mix in the daily.

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Flush whatever you have every two years.

 

My coolant never got dirty. In the life I've had the vehicle, I've flushed the coolant once. I had to refill it though when the water pump went, when the pot metal fitting blew, and had to put another gallon just recently when the radiator cap went out.

 

With all the problems one will run into with a 13+ year old w-body, who needs a coolant flush? :lol:

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Flush whatever you have every two years.

 

Yep... I just got my cylinder heads back from the machine shop, and one coolant port had to be built up in a big way because the original owner didn't keep up on coolant flushes.

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Its been discussed through and through, and I think the general consensus is that you should just stick with whatever it is your car originally came with and don't change it.

yep.

 

dont believe the crap you hear online. its not the cause of the problems. and if your dex is brown then its time for another flush. thats just how it looks when its dirty.

 

My coolant was fine until my idler pulley locked up and melted. Then belt came off. Got it into a subdivision, checkrd under the hood and saw my overflow tank under 1 inch from the top...

Ever since then, it's been brownish???

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Both will keep it the same temp and neither will affect gaskets.

 

Gaskets no.

 

But I HAVE seen a few water pump failures on Dexcool cars that have Green in them. Apparently the newer WP O-Rings don't like the silicates in the green stuff and get chewed up after a a while and start to leak.

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If it's brown, do a flush and put Dexcool back in.

 

The problem is GM advertises it as a lifetime solution, or something like it. Just change it regularly, and know that it's not supposed to be in there for the lifetime of the car.

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Cars and trucks originally equipped with dexcool have a inner block and head coating that the dexcool won't harm. Put green in and the silicates in it will slowly eat away at these coatings. Slow enough to not matter most likely though. Sometimes It turns brown and sludgy because it grows bacteria in it, where green ethylene glycol's makeup doesn't allow it to form, and exposure to much air accelerates this sludging. HTH

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dexcool has alcohol in it as well, so your bacteria theory is bullshit, it's back to microbiology and o-chem for you.

 

And silicone is a defoaming agent not a corrosive, we better make that back to basic chemistry for you.

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dexcool has alcohol in it as well, so your bacteria theory is bullshit, it's back to microbiology and o-chem for you.

 

And silicone is a defoaming agent not a corrosive, we better make that back to basic chemistry for you.

 

Tell it to the instructors at the GM training centers in Charlotte, not me. Just passing on info. They said silicates are to keep the system clean.

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Cool stuff!

chart.jpg

Also, almost everyone on this site needs to be punched in the face.

http://www.consumeraffairs.com/automotive/gm_dexcool.html

The're playing the blame game, and Dexcool is apparently to blame for just about anything that could possibly go wrong with a car.

Michael of Oglesby IL (05/08/08)

Simply put there is antifreeze in my engine oil due to degradation of the intake manifold and head gaskets by Dexcool Antifreeze.

 

950 dollar replacement of the intake manifold gasket resulted in a waste of money . The engine is ruined.

Albert of Bloomington IL (01/15/08)

dexcool ruined 1996 gmc jimmy engine.

:lol:

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Cool stuff!

chart.jpg

Also, almost everyone on this site needs to be punched in the face.

http://www.consumeraffairs.com/automotive/gm_dexcool.html

The're playing the blame game, and Dexcool is apparently to blame for just about anything that could possibly go wrong with a car.

 

Is there a real benefit to DexCool over the green stuff? Given those consumer reports, I'm a bit scared of what could happen with the Bonneville, especially the way I drive it.

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How do they keep selling dexcool then if it's allegedly causing so much trouble?

 

And what's up with these high repair costs? I replaced my intake and head gaskets for under $100. Maybe 4-5 hours labour.

 

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How do they keep selling dexcool then if it's allegedly causing so much trouble?

 

And what's up with these high repair costs? I replaced my intake and head gaskets for under $100.  Maybe 4-5 hours labour.

 

 

Not sure.

Here's another article.

 

http://www.sancarlosradiator.com/dex-cool_pics.htm

 

However, reading more about it, I've discovered that the cause of all this damage is the water you mix the DexCool with. Oh well...the Bonneville is under warranty till 96,000 miles (currently 54k).

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