Ruling is near on GM engine coolant

[NOS2006]

I don't think it's acceptable for a 7 years old vehicle with only 75K miles to have massive coolant leaks.

I agree, much less a vehicle that's 8 years old at 55K miles to throw a bearing.

[ellives]

You said:

Last year I had to spend ~1K on replacing hoses on my 98 Chevy cargo van. It had only 75K miles at the time, way too early for that kind of problem IMO.

I said:

A thousand bucks to replace hoses? Get another mechanic.

You're whining about changing hoses on a 7 year old vehicle? How long do you think they SHOULD last?

You said:

Longer than that.

I said:

OK. How much longer? Pick a number.

You said:

I don't think it's acceptable for a 7 years old vehicle with only 75K miles to have massive coolant leaks.

I'm talking about the hoses since you complained about having to change the hoses on a 7 year old car. No where did you explain WHY the hoses had to be changed nor have you stated what "massive" coolant leaks are. You never said whether you changed the coolant even at the 5 year recommended interval. I'm commenting about the hoses because I honestly have no idea what the expectation of hose life is but 7 years seems like a reasonable duration.

[Mike The Canadian]

Somebody topped it off with the green stuff.

Niether my dad or I have messed with the coolant. All we do by ourselves is windshield wiper, and I dont think you could mistake that thing for the coolant resevoir. We dont like to touch under the hood, because of warranty issues, i was going to do plugs and wires, but then they'll void the warranty....

But like I said, the coolant in the buick just keeps getting worse, same with the piston slap, and the temperature gauge goes higher than it used to. The only thing done by us is a K&N filter, which has NOTHING to do with coolant. If it were up to me, i'd flush the system and switch to the green, that would mean no intake manifold gasket problems, no clogged cooling systems...

still wouldnt solve my piston slap, which I believed caused no problems, but my auto teacher (formerly a mechanic, hurt his back) told me he used to have a car with piston slap and it is a problem. Also, if it werent a problem, I dont believe it would be getting worse.

Whatever, we'll bitch at the dealership, the'yll probably try to rebuild the engine then f@#k it up. lol, if we get lucky and they dont, i'm totally happy with the car, infact i'm already happy with the car, i'm just pissed that the engine is destined to f@#k up, one way or the other.

[rkmdogs]

05 ? Muddy dex kool ? have not seen that  yet

Well let me add some fuel to the fire.

I have a 1995 Caprice 9C1 that I got with 140,000 miles on it. It needed

lots of TLC, which it got.

It had clear, green coolant in it.

Down the road, it needed a major tune and other replacements, which it got.

In the process, and as a preventative maintainence move, I had the cooling

system pressure flushed, drained and refilled with Dex-Cool, because of all

the positive things that I had heard about it.

Well late this spring, I started having problems getting heat in the car, and

did not think too much about it, since 80% of the time we run using the A/C.

But then the temp guage started to go up, so I checked the system. The

coolant level was down about a quart, and the whole inside of the resevoir

tank is coated in a brown goo!

I have never used the "tablets" just the liquid. Checked it again this past

week-end, and it is worse!----- and the fluid level was down about a pint.

Now there has been no eveidence of any coolant leaks, on the ground nor in

the engine compartment.

Since this car is a 9C1 with the LT1 engine, I have "lifetime" green silicone

coolant hoses. There is no signs of wetness, anywhere. So, if I have a

system leak, which is supposed to be the culprit causing the "sludging"

condition, I can't find it!

BUT........ I am going to have the system pressure flushed-- again, and refill

with green coolant, and hope my problems go away, without having any

permanent damage.

My current mileage is 190,000, but all of these observed conditons have occurred in less than 10,000 miles!

I will no longer advocate the use of Dex-Cool!!!!!

[76ChevyTrucker]

I've heard this battle go back and forth, back and forth, like people who go back and forth about the merits/detriments of synthetic oils vs dino juice (regular oil). I've got Dex-Cool in both of my newer vehicles, I've had no problems, the hoses were replaced at 105,000-miles, along with the coolant (kinda hard to not replace the coolant when you yank ALL the hoses off)...no problems, don't count on having problems....to each their own.

[Brandon Lutz]

05 ? Muddy dex kool ? have not seen that  yet

If you mix Dex Cool with the green stuff it will sludge up. Also, if excess air somehow gets into the cooling system, carrying with it dirt particles, this will also cause the Dexcool to sludge up.

The best thing to do with a Dex Cool vehicle if you want to keep the Dex Cool in it clean is to keep a quart of Dex Cool mix in the overflow jug, and make sure the coolant level is always a the proper level. Never add just plain water to bring the level back up. Always pour in a 50/50 mixture.

That is what my buddy Shane reccomends, and my 03 S-10 doesnt have any Dex Cool issues. I also flush my radiator ever 50 to 75k per his reccomendation.

[Mike The Canadian]

Some more fuel to the fire.

Car was diagnosed with a leaking intake manifold gasket

we took it to a car clinic and they saw visible evidence of leakage. There is OIL! in the coolant!

The mechanic said that the car was in amazing condition, other than the leak.

So the dealership lied to us, no we're going to go bitch at them.

The mechanic told us to go show them where it's a bit wet, and put scoop up some coolant with my hand and show them.

The guy told us he changes like 15 gaskets a week! Thanks GM!

I bet they lost any future sales from my parents. Not me, but i'm sure my parents are pissed.

[Cortazzo]

My 95 S-10 had terrible problems with the cooling system. Head gasket replacement, bad water pump, cracked radiator, overheated several times. I changed the coolant repeatedly due to sludging, I flushed the thing out probably a dozen times in the 8 years I owned it, including the work that was done. When I traded it, it was well on the way to needing another head gasket done. By this time I had also accumulated about 180k miles and chalked the problems up to age. My mechanic even recommened that I switch to green coolant, but I told him Dex-Cool was what it came with, Dex-Cool was what it will keep. It was a great truck other than the cooling system problems, so I really don't hold anything against GM.

I had a 96 Jimmy that had similar waterpump and head gasket problems, i like the truck and the torque of the 4.3, but it was a POS with numberous problems in the few years I had it (from 60k-85k miles). I know a lot of GM engines from the mid to late 90s had head gasket problems, i wonder if it WAS from the dexcool??

[ellives]

Or lack thereof or mixed with something other than....

I had a 96 Jimmy that had similar waterpump and head gasket problems, i like the truck and the torque of the 4.3, but it was a POS with numberous problems in the few years I had it (from 60k-85k miles).  I know a lot of GM engines from the mid to late 90s had head gasket problems, i wonder if it WAS from the dexcool??

[I hope GMRULES again]

Got a letter in the mail yesterday from GM Canada saying that its time for my 2001 car to have its Dexcool changed. There was a one page letter explaining why and even a nice colored insert paper describing how the cooling system works. At least they are trying to be pro active about this now but I'm sure most people will just throw it in the garbage and not get it done.

[ellives]

.... thus the problem. They should send the letters with "return receipt requested" so they can wave it in the customer's face when they come back later and bitch.

Got a letter in the mail yesterday from GM Canada saying that its time for my 2001 car to have its Dexcool changed. There was a one page letter explaining why and even a nice colored insert paper describing  how the cooling system works. At least they are trying to be pro active about this now but I'm sure most people will just throw it in the garbage and not get it done.

[NOS2006]

Any idea if there's a conclusion coming up real soon?