I want to remove the DEX COOL and replace it with Prestone Yellow

[GXPinSeattle]

I want to flush the DEX COOL from the Solstice GXP (2007 model) and replace it with Prestone Universal Antifreeze coolant.

I'm presuming this would void my car's warranty even tho DEX COOL has destroyed two of my car's engines in 10 years, wouldn't it? In that case, should I risk doing it knowing that I will more than likely have to take on the financial burden for any engine problems that arise later (if that even happens)?

Seriously.. I just don't want that stuff destroying my head gaskets and fittings..

[Small Dealer]

From the 2007 Solstice owner's manual:

Notice: Using coolant other than DEX-COOL® can cause premature engine, heater core, or radiator corrosion. In addition, the engine coolant may require changing sooner, at the first maintenance service after each 30,000 miles (50 000 km) or 24 months, whichever occurs first. Any repairs would not be covered by the vehicle warranty. Always use DEX-COOL® (silicate-free) coolant in the vehicle.

As this mentions, the warranty would not be voided as you presume, just that coolant related failures would not be covered, should they occur.

It is your car and do as you wish. If you do change, make sure you search around here on site for some tips on filling the cooling system and bleeding out air. Search some threads that have posts from MomsSol.

[JRinKY]

GXPinSeattle : I want to flush the DEX COOL from the Solstice GXP (2007 model) and replace it with Prestone Universal Antifreeze coolant. I'm presuming this would void my car's warranty even tho DEX COOL has destroyed two of my car's engines in 10 years, wouldn't it? In that case, should I risk doing it knowing that I will more than likely have to take on the financial burden for any engine problems that arise later (if that even happens)? Seriously.. I just don't want that stuff destroying my head gaskets and fittings..

To answer your question: No, you should not do this. The risk involved is far greater than the reward. What you should do is to make very sure that only Dex-Cool is used when topping-up the coolant.

For one owner to have two engines damaged within 10 years seems to be way beyond the range of normal probability. There are many thousands of vehicles operating successfully with Dex-Cool.

I would also look for a common thread between the failures. Perhaps whoever mainains your vehicles is doing it incorrectly, or is using the wrong materials.

[wspohn]

Originally Posted by GXPinSeattle I want to flush the DEX COOL from the Solstice GXP (2007 model) and replace it with Prestone Universal Antifreeze coolant. I'm presuming this would void my car's warranty even tho DEX COOL has destroyed two of my car's engines in 10 years, wouldn't it? In that case, should I risk doing it knowing that I will more than likely have to take on the financial burden for any engine problems that arise later (if that even happens)? Seriously.. I just don't want that stuff destroying my head gaskets and fittings..

Why don't you call the dealer instead of assuming that something will void the warranty. If their answer is yes, then make your call. Personally, I wouldn't care that much about the issue as long as warranty was good, and would change the fluids if it still bugged me once it had lapsed.

Why would anything give up a warranty for something that might or might not happen, but even if it did, it would be paid for by GM? Doesn't make sense to me, but maybe I'm missing something......

[bradatucf]

I used to own a 99 old bravada with that votec v6. I had the DEX COOL flushed 2 times in 1.5 years because of it getting thick (no heat in the SUV and it was over heating) which cost me about $350 a pop. Then it over heated again and the engine died. The replacement engine I ran the green stuff for another 4 yr until the clunkers for cash came along.

My suggestion would be only change if you have heating or over heating issues. Also if you do have issues with the DEX COOL getting thick, replace the water pump asap. Because it slipped my mind (at the time) and the dealer didn't mention it as well.

Just my 2 cents.

[MGar]

Dex-Cool is known to thicken up when it encounters air under pressure & heat. This means you likely have a head gasket, or something else popped causing the thickening & overheating.

[jwvess00]

Hi there!

I hate DeathCool.

We too had a '99 Bravada. That garbage coolant cost me an intake manifold gasket (not a difficult replacement) and a heater core. I've done a lot of mechanical work over the years. Pulling the engine and transmission in my Blazer doesn't bother me, for instance. However, changing that heater core was an unholy b**** of a job that I never want to do again.

DeathCool does not like to mix with air in the system, and it first turns to sludge, then it eats parts. As I get the chance to replace the coolant in vehicles that I own with DeathCool, it will be replaced with regular green ethylene glycol. Sure, I'll lose the 100k mile life, but who cares when you have to drain it to fix whatever it eats before then anyway? It's not like servicing the cooling system is that hard.

[NormSky]

How is the coolant subjected to air when it's a sealed system? Sounds like you guys have other problems.

Norm

[doglas]

google dex-cool class action lawsuit, i got a few bucks back from them, what the problem was, is that the dex-cool wasn't compatible to the seals that went into some of there cars(actually quite a few cars) once these seals were replaced the problem stopped, the newer gm cars don't use these seals anymore, thus no more problems with dex-cool.
the car that i had (impala) had all the sludge stuff, & i flushed it out about a half dozen times, to have it always come back. turned out to be the head gaskets turning to mush, due to dex.
but i think that class action "time window" is over now. it was available in canada as well as the u.s.
actually, kind of funny, is that i live in canada, when i first heard of this "class action" i sent them a note to add me in, (the u.s. guys) then i realized i was suppose to add myself to the canadian list, not the u.s. one.
so i sent them a note as well, turns out the u.s gm sent me a cheque for the court action, & then 4 month later i got another cheque from the canadian counter parts.....should i send it back??

[NormSky]

It must have been head gaskets on one engine design were the problem. It reminds me that the cure was a bottle of stock leak as there is no coolant flowing through the intake manifolds. It's not the coolant as I've owned a new GM vehicle on average every year since 1997 but never the smaller V6.

" Welcome to yesterday. Who ever wrote that had his head stuck up his imported a$$! And I like The Deroit Free Press. I've been trying to find the straight scoop to the settlement since I read this in Rueters at least 6 weeks ago and haven't had any luck. Okay it aint that Dexcool is a bad product. Dig deeper and you'll read about it. It's the F'ing design of the 3.1/3.4 intake gasket. What else could it be? GM still uses Dexcool in 100% of everything so if it was such a gasket eater than why haven't they switched back to the green? No V-8 or 3800 motors in the settlement either. 3800s leak because the plastic intake plenums crack. V-8's leak because the intake manifolds crack. Take a look at your heater cores and radiators. Hey those aint the old and expensive brass and copper units. New style plastic and aluminum. Not a drop of solder anywhere. Look at the money they are paying out. What a joke! The only people getting rich from this are the lawyers. I'd say they didn't have much of a case to begin with. If they did than people would be making money instead of taking it in the shorts. You know those intake gaskets were made by FelPro. It finally took a team of GM engineers concerned about this issue to get FP to kick out the GM spec parts to cure the problem. Go back to last FelPro HG gasket thread. Still think FP knows how to design a gasket? I dont think so.I'll post a few copy and pastes of the TSBs.Really if Dexcool was so bad wouldn't GM be sueing Texaco? __________________Eric Fisher OEM Parts Specialist www.gbodyparts.com252-332-8787e-mail me at turbofish38@hotmail.com"

Source: GM To Pay Up In Dexcool Repair Cases - TurboBuicks.com

[jwvess00]

Hi there!

The 3100/3400 V6s weren't the only ones eating intake gaskets. The 4.3V6 in S-series trucks/SUVs had their share of intake gasket failures. I had to replace the one on our Bavada's 4.3V6, and Dad swapped out the gaskets on Mom's '96 Lumina (3100V6). That 4.3V6 had other design problems (the goofy distributor cap and CSFI injector / poppet valve design disaster come to mind) but DeathCool murdering the heater core and intake gaskets was the biggest pain to fix.

Air can get into the system from a minor problem -- in the Bravada's case, it was a leaking radiator cap allowing it to pull air in with the coolant when the system pulled coolant from the recovery bottle. On that truck, the system would then air-lock the heater core and you'd lose heat. Purge the air from the system and it would be fine again until the cap leaked enough. Repeat for a bit, then you find DeathCool has eaten both your intake gaskets and the heater core. Yuk.

Why should something as minor as a leaking cap lead to a system failure when alternative materials exist that don't have this problem?

As an aside, does the yellow stuff exhibit the same clabbering as DeathCool?