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#1
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Dex-Cool or extended life coolant question
I've got the cooling system drained on my '72 Esprit and there was evidence of old, acidy coolant having been in there too long. This got me thinking about any possible advantages to switching to an extended life coolant like Dex-Cool or any of the other aftermarket compatible types. What do you guys think?
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#2
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I use it with distilled water and water wetter. Since I have aluminum heads and radiator figure it can't hurt
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#3
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I put this in my Ducati when new a couple years ago and couldn't believe how freakin amazing it was. I use it now in my 92 GTA and will be in my 69 Firebird. It's pricey but it's the real deal:
https://www.motul.com/gb/en/products...%5Brange%5D=21
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1969 Pontiac Firebird |
#4
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I use nothing but Dexcool, it's kind to aluminum parts...
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1978 Black & Gold T/A [complete 70 Ram Air III (carb to pan) PQ and 12 bolt], fully loaded, deluxe, WS6, T-Top car - 1972 Formula 455HO Ram Air numbers matching Julep Green - 1971 T/A 455, 320 CFM Eheads, RP cam, Doug's headers, Fuel injection, TKX 5 Spd. 12 Bolt 3.73, 4 wheel disc. All A/C cars |
#5
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Not sure about the newer "redesigned" dexcool but the older stuff ate aluminum and gaskets like crazy..
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http://www.fquick.com/garages/viewga...ewimg&id=74990 "You people have stood in my way long enough. I'm going to clown college." -Homer Simpson |
#6
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I don't know that I agree with that. The reason for Dex-Cool in the first place was because of aluminum radiators in GM cars.
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1978 Black & Gold T/A [complete 70 Ram Air III (carb to pan) PQ and 12 bolt], fully loaded, deluxe, WS6, T-Top car - 1972 Formula 455HO Ram Air numbers matching Julep Green - 1971 T/A 455, 320 CFM Eheads, RP cam, Doug's headers, Fuel injection, TKX 5 Spd. 12 Bolt 3.73, 4 wheel disc. All A/C cars |
#7
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Dex-cool has widely reported issues with older gaskets. I started using extended life 15 years ago, no issues.
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#8
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I've replaced numerous head and intake gaskets on late 90's and 2000's GM vehicles thanks to Dexcool. Many of the vehicles had the coolant replaced well before GM's recommended 5 years/150,000 miles. It eats gaskets like its candy.
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#9
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Oddly enough, I did have it in a '78 Scout for 6-7 years and didn't "seem" to have a prob...Although very few miles those years, maybe 4K.
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#10
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That is what I always heard and talking to an engine rebuilder, he didn't like that stuff either. I've got a '97 Lumina I changed intake gaskets on and flushed it with water and then refilled with good old green antifreeze.
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1973 Formula 400 4 spd 04C build date Norwood assembly plant. |
#11
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That's why they came up with it but it didn't work out so well. Lot of problems with it when it 1st came out and some miles got put on cars.
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http://www.fquick.com/garages/viewga...ewimg&id=74990 "You people have stood in my way long enough. I'm going to clown college." -Homer Simpson |
#12
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I have no reason to defend Dex-Cool but my own view was that Dex-Cool came about at the same time GM was using a poorly designed intake gasket.
AFAIK, the problems went away when the intake gaskets were redesigned. I had such a failure in my first vehicle with Dex-Cool, '97 GMC Safari van that I bought new and kept for 13 years. I ignored the problem for years, just kept adding Dex-Cool when needed. Finally got the intake gasket replaced when I saw coolant in the oil pan. Can't be sure, but a few years later that 4.3 V6 spun multiple rod and main bearings at 170K miles and I believe that failure was caused because I ignored the internal coolant leak for so many years. Intake gaskets were replaced with the "new and improved" version and never lost coolant again until the bearing failure. I have Dex-Cool in my '04 GP GTP, supercharged 3.8, also owned since new Oct '03. It got changed after 5 years and again after 11-3/4 years. Have never had to refill coolant in between those change intervals. Still has original water pump, radiator, and radiator hoses. I replaced the T-Stat some years ago. Has 130k miles now. I guess the question is, was the original intake gasket material incompatible with Dex-Cool or was the material and gasket design poorly selected regardless of the coolant they might have used. Still, I don't think I would use Dex-Cool in any older engine. If you are running a copper core radiator and/or heater core, I would stick with the traditional coolant. Some useful info here. https://blog.hemmings.com/index.php/...of-antifreeze/ |
#13
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Quote:
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#14
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Quote:
Fel Pro was the 1st to offer better metal gaskets w/rubber seals.
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If you cant drive from gas pump to gas pump across the map, its not a street car. http://s207.photobucket.com/albums/b...hop/?start=100 |
#15
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Yes, those gaskets were a terrible design and failed left and right. Head gaskets also had a problem with failures due to erosion around the coolant ports.
I saw several cars where dexcool had eroded the aluminum so bad, intakes and heads had to be replaced along with pinholes in the rads and heater cores. Nasty problem. Seems that the redesigned stuff is better theses days tho.
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http://www.fquick.com/garages/viewga...ewimg&id=74990 "You people have stood in my way long enough. I'm going to clown college." -Homer Simpson |
#16
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Do they even MAKE the 'old green stuff' anymore? I thought it was all a newer blend that works across the board? For the most part. I think I heard that in like 2012 or 2014 they came out with another blend, that is made for certain alloys, but it too is supposed to be backward compatible?
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. 1970 GTO Judge Tribute Pro-Tour Project 535 IA2 http://forums.maxperformanceinc.com/...d.php?t=760624 1971 Trans Am 463, 315cfm E-head Sniper XFlow EFI, TKO600 extreme, 9", GW suspension, Baer brakes, pro tour car https://forums.maxperformanceinc.com...ght=procharger Theme Song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7zKAS...ature=youtu.be |
#17
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Quote:
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1973 Formula 400 4 spd 04C build date Norwood assembly plant. |
#18
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We use the old green stuff at work. We get it in 55gallon drums
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http://www.fquick.com/garages/viewga...ewimg&id=74990 "You people have stood in my way long enough. I'm going to clown college." -Homer Simpson |
#19
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Bought my wife a 20,000 mile '97 Cadillac Sedan Deville D'elegance back in 2000. It done everything but wipe your butt. Babied that car. It had the north star. It blew the passenger side head gasket at 70,000 miles. Dealer wanted $6,000.00 to fix it. Got a friend of mine that owns a German made only garage to repair it for $1800.00. Dumped that Cadillac quick as I could for a supercharged Buick Ultra. After reading about Dex-Cool antifreeze here, I wonder if that was the problem?
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Ol' man Smith Pigeon Forge, Tn. Grand Rod Run Spring 2012 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DUIuGvWWthA http://s223.photobucket.com/user/fas...d%20Run%202012 Son video'd this... http://s223.photobucket.com/user/fas...a.mp4.html?o=0 |
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