Posting and coolant questions

[poofdirt]

About to post an engine question and have read the rules but not sure how it works here, for example...

 

I have belonged for years to a diesel truck forum that will pummel you about your face and head if you ask a question that was answered in the forum 6.3 years ago.

 

Early last year, I joined a great boating website and they punch you in the gut for robbing a thread by doing what the ^ diesel site does ^

 

I guess I'll take my chances here.

 

I just bought a 96 Cutlass 3100 and my Mechanic buddy of 30 years said to change the dexcool, stat, water pump and radiator cap right away, so I'm doing all in addition to a fuel filter and serp belt this weekend.

 

He said that the intake manifold gaskets are a problem. It looks like old tired coolant in the res. so what is the issue with the intake gasket?

 

Thanks and this looks like a great forum!

Edited August 22, 2012 by poofdirt

[ricklovin93]

gm used shitty plastic gaskets for the intake two piece intake manifolds, who knew constant heating and cooling would damage plastic lol

[poofdirt]

  ricklovin93 said:

gm used shitty plastic gaskets for the intake two piece intake manifolds, who knew constant heating and cooling would damage plastic lol

 

Is an upgrade available for the gaskets? If so I'd rather spend a day doing those at the same time.

[White93z34]

Generally we don't mind so much, no punches in the face. You can search and probably find something relevant but don't worry too much.

 

Long and short of it... starting in 1996 when GM rolled out Dexcool they neglected to test it with the existing gaskets that had previously ran green coolant, small detail but the material the intake gaskets were made of (Nylon 66) did not get along with the coolant and lead to the failures everyone still looses their minds over today.

 

I have a car that runs Dexcool, has run it its whole life, and I have had no dexcool related failures and the car sits at over 200,000 miles now. More over every single new GM today still runs it, and most manufacturers run a variant of it in their own brand new cars.

 

Changing coolant can lead to waterpump failure, seen that personally not like its a big deal on a 3100 car but something to consider. It gets used to one type then a foreign type gets introduced and the seals get compromised. I just run whatever the manufacturer called for. just my .02

[White93z34]

  poofdirt said:

Is an upgrade available for the gaskets? If so I'd rather spend a day doing those at the same time.

 

as of now Fel-pro makes some "perma dry plus" (or something like that) gaskets that are really decent. I've installed a set, they are metal with rubber inserts. no plastic. Nice product.

[RobertISaar]

  White93z34 said:

as of now Fel-pro makes some "perma dry plus" (or something like that) gaskets that are really decent. I've installed a set, they are metal with rubber inserts. no plastic. Nice product.

 

X2

 

if nothing else, WOT-Tech sells them.

[Addicted To Boost]

It's my understanding that Dexcool is acidic and the green ethylene-glycol has silicates in that are abrasive. The yellow coolant is non acidic and has no silicates in it- I switched over to this in my 04 GP from Dex. Ford has been using the yellow coolant for several years now with no issues.

[ScoobyDoo82]

Would it be a wise idea to switch my GP over to that yellow coolant?

[Addicted To Boost]

I would. Good time to thoroughly flush out your cooling system too.

[ScoobyDoo82]

I've been wanting to flush the coolant anyway. I'll probably replace the hoses and t-stat while I'm at it.

[poofdirt]

Nice car, but coolant must be from Olds Plant from build date. Full of CRUD! Have H2O pump, stat, radiator cap, etc. all new on hand but they can wait. Flushed for about an hour thru 4 or 5 stat cycles and I need to flush a couple times more before new parts go in.

 

 

My wife wants to know why I am replacing a good water pump, is it broke?

[RobertISaar]

sadly, that's a familiar sight to me.

 

if your radiator neck looks like that, imagine what might be stuck in the water pump.

[poofdirt]

  RobertISaar said:

sadly, that's a familiar sight to me.

 

if your radiator neck looks like that, imagine what might be stuck in the water pump.

 

And the smallest passages like the radiator!

[chrisflstf]

The dealer has the best lower intake manifold gaskets. They are aluminum framed with silicone seals - about $70. I would change the upper intake manifold also that has the later style stove pipe fitting so the plastic doesnt crack/deform due to heat