Dexcool

Do you really need to use Dexcool in a 2004 3.8l GP? If you change coolant regularly. I have heard lots of bad comments about Dexcool....Thanks

Dexcool is horrible. Flush your coolant system and run the regular crap.

You don’t need to use it. Opinions are basically split 50/50 on whether or not to use it. I personally have never had an issue with it. IMHO GM in their infinite wisdom went to the stuff because of the promise of extended life and reduced water pump wear. Personally I don’t believe the stuff meets either criterion. If you change your fluid out every 3-4 years you can use any compatible coolant you like. Just be aware that if you do switch from Dexcool, you’ll need to flush your radiator like 3 times to get all the chunks out.

Get a Tee and a foot of heater hose then install it inline with your heater hose and run water from the garden hose through it till it comes out 100% clear.

Took 20 gallons for my car.

Definatly swap out the dex-crap for regular green
Dexcool eats seals and gets gunked up real easy

I run the non-dexcool but its the extended life stuff.

Dexcool only eats certain seals and this does not apply to a 2004 car. Dexcool has a bad rep due to people letting systems run low on coolant which causes it to sludge up.

I have run Dex in all of my cars and have since 1995. I rinse and refill every 3 or 4 years as well as make sure my system is air tight and has no leaks. My last vehicle was a 92 chevy pickup I sold with 225K on it that ran dexcool for over 200K miles (switched to it in 95) and it was spotless throughout.

There are many quality silicate free coolants out there that are all fine. I would NOT run "the regular green crap" as its loaded with silicates.

I think many people here like the PEAK global lifetime antifreeze.

so much misinformation...

dexcool only goes bad when there is a leak in the system and it is exposed to air or the system has not been properly burped. the only reason dexcool doesn anything bad is because it oxidizes and then turns goopy. if you make sure there is not air in the system this will never happen.

No, there's no reason you need to run Dex-Cool in a 3.8. The bigger issue is going to be finding a conventional coolant anymore, they're becoming more and more rare. The vast majority of the extended life coolants on the shelf are pretty much the same thing as Dex.

Strange you don't hear all those bad things about Presone All Make/All Models even though it's the same thing, isn't it? People get their mind made up about something and the facts don't matter.

Easiest thing to do is stick with Dex and just make sure there's no air in the system. Air = rust = sludge. It's really too bad Dex is orange, people see the orange rust sludge and assume that the Dex gelled up.

If you want to switch coolants, I would suggest G-05. It's similar to Dex, but has a low dose of silicates in it. Those silicates pretty much cover the weaknesses of the OAT coolants.

Originally Posted by Scimmia

Strange you don't hear all those bad things about Presone All Make/All Models even though it's the same thing, isn't it? People get their mind made up about something and the facts don't matter.

Very true, very true.

Wasnt dexcool changed at some point?

don't seem to have any issues with my dexcool, but the idea of perception that Scimmia mentions is so true. I have a friend that will NOT buy goodyear tires because his dad bought a pair that were "faulty" back in the 50's or 60's. because of that, he beleives goodyear tires are ****.

how do you properly "burp" the system

open the bleeder valve above the thremostat housing

then let the car run till the themostat opens, ( like 10 min)

you will see the air bubble come out of the bleeder, and once the air bubbles stop it should just be coolant slowing coming out

then tighten the back down and your down

BIO248 is correct.
My car had 138,000 miles, and 10 years on it before it even ever had the radiator cap removed, FROM THE FACTORY. When I pulled the intake to change the LIM gaskets, inside the heads and intake mainfold were PERFERCT, not a bit of corrsion anywhere. The Dexcrap works. It;s the manifolds gaskets that are design faulty, not the coolant.

Dean

Ive heard a lot of people say dexcool was crap but never hear why it is. Can someone explain?

It sludges when exposed to air or when mixed with the green coolant.

I would say the reason dex got such a bad rep was because around the same time GM introduced it they also introduced new intake and intake gasket designs which ended up leaking. People never checked their coolant, ran systems low and as Matt said it sludges when exposed to air.

Leaky gaskets + coolant that tends to sludge with air + ignorant people who never check their fluid levels = disaster.
Dex in a properly maintained system = excellent.