Ok Guys,
I have read enough here and on the Web to realize I need to purge my van of this devils (Oops, I mean DexCool) coolant. My question is the what is the best way to do it ??? I assume a good flushing and refill is in order at least.
What is a good flush Product ?? What coolant to refill with ??
All opinions are more than welcome, so bring it on !!! Please !!
Thanks in Advance,
Jeff
So long as it is changed every 5 years/100k miles and the system is kept AIR FREE (meaning regular checks of expansion tank fluid level and rad cap function) there is nothing wrong with DexCool.
Doc
The best and only way to fully extract all of the Dexcool:
Is to use a powered anti-freeze exchanger, one that waits for the engine to reach full operating temperature before beginning it's exchange cycle. Not a powered cold exchange.
Gravity exchangers are the next best thing, but if the new coolant reservoir isn't filled to the top, and isn't much higher than the vehicle, it will not do a good job on the heater core. So you get a mixture of mud in a few hundred miles.
One other way is to: Remove the block drain plugs above the oil pan mating surface, remove all the hoses, blow out the heater core with about 10 pounds of air, to get all the coolant out of the engine. Then make a mess all over!
I hope this helps?
Refinish King
Several years ago I had a transmission cooler blow inside a radiator so I had to flush both the transmission and the cooling system out. The way I flushed the cooling system was to run the motor to operating temperature then shut it off. I removed the top hose from the radiator and connected a pipe to it that went to a large recovery tank in front of the car. I then ran the motor at a fast idle, around 1200 RPM and kept the radiator full so the motor could keep drawing water from it. Also the heater was set to the highest setting. I did this for about 20 minutes and then closed the system and added antifreeze again. Off course the radiator was replaced prior to all of this. Did the same to the transmission only prior to the cooling system repair.
Brian
I have heard that Dexcool is responsible for eating the gasket on the rear of the intake manifold on small blocks. Is this true? I know this is a common failure. Can it be avoided by switching coolant early in the life of the truck? Mike
Dexcool has gotten a bad rap because most people didn't change it often enough. The original recommendations were very optimistic and turned out to be troublesome. If you change it every 3 years, regardless of mileage, it is a good product. Your water pump should last longer than with the green stuff. Also, use distilled water to make up your 50/50 mix BEFORE pouring it into the radiator. Make sure you bleed the air out of the high points in the system if required.
Randy
The problem is the gasket itself, NOT the Dex.
Doc
The gaskets fail because of the engine's bi-metal parts:
The parts expand and contract at a different rate, and hence. The gaskets abrade and fail. There is an updated gasket set from Victor-Reinz that looks fail proof, I've installed a few sets. But, only time will tell.
The Fel/Pro gasket set doesn't impress me at all!
The Dexcool has been associated with earlier water pump failure, earlier heater hose disconnect failures, as I'm told. No accurate or definitive data available. I just don't like something that resembles feces in the overflow tank at 40,000 miles!
Refinish King
PS The green shit looks like shit in the recovery tank at that mileage if you don't maintain it too!
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