Dex-cool Or Red Antifreeze

[xc80002]

I had a roofer over looking at some hail damage on my roof and he commented in my 08 silverado. He had a 09. He had 115k on his 05 and said his dex-cool jelled up in the heads and fried his motor. He drained it out of his 09 and put in the green. Has anyone ever heard of this before?

[thearborbarber]

Never heard of anything like that before.

[txab]

Have heard stories on older vehicles. Main thing is to NEVER mix any other coolant with Dex. If you ever develop a leak, fix it. Running with low coolant allows air into the system and that's not a good thing for Dex.

 

Dex is good stuff. Don't believe the 150k thing or whatever it is. Change it before it wears out and you'll be fine. I've got an '04 with Dex, changed it a while back. No jelling. Flushed it thoroughly. Installed fresh Dex.

 

Your roofer probably didn't maintain his truck very well.

[Nytemare]

Have heard stories on older vehicles. Main thing is to NEVER mix any other coolant with Dex. If you ever develop a leak, fix it. Running with low coolant allows air into the system and that's not a good thing for Dex.

 

Dex is good stuff. Don't believe the 150k thing or whatever it is. Change it before it wears out and you'll be fine. I've got an '04 with Dex, changed it a while back. No jelling. Flushed it thoroughly. Installed fresh Dex.

 

Your roofer probably didn't maintain his truck very well.

+1

[rodram]

I agree, there is nothing wrong with DexCool .... the worst thing you can do to DexCool is mix it with other coolant (like the green stuff... Prestone or whatever...)

 

.. and then, like all antifreeze coolant, you need to change out and thoroughly flush before the DexCool drops in pH and becomes acidic

[jrod332]

Mixing DexCool with regular antifreeze will cause it to gel up just like he said. Also the color doesnt matter. I know DexCool comes in a few colors.

[WaterGuy]

I agree, there is nothing wrong with DexCool .... the worst thing you can do to DexCool is mix it with other coolant (like the green stuff... Prestone or whatever...)

 

.. and then, like all antifreeze coolant, you need to change out and thoroughly flush before the DexCool drops in pH and becomes acidic

What have you been using to test the ph?

What are the "good" numbers to see to be in the safe zone?

[rodram]

I asked my mechanic that and he said they just use some pH paper strips (... is it called litmus paper???) and compare it to a color chart after dipping in the coolant ... apparently the color chart just says good, marginal, or change.... they check at every oil change

 

I have read in other places that ideal pH is about 9.5 to 10.5; recommend change/flush at 9.0; consider unacceptable at 8.3 ....

... others may have some other references with slightly different numbers

... I have never actually taken a pH meter and tested mine myself

 

... watch out for 'quicklube' places that tell you it's time to flush.... first they may just be trying to upsell you something you don't need; and then second, they quite likely won't have the equipment or take the time to actually pressure flush your entire system out adequately.... drain and fill is not enough the flush your system out.

[xc80002]

how long or how many miles are you guys changing it at.

[Nytemare]

I asked my mechanic that and he said they just use some pH paper strips (... is it called litmus paper???) and compare it to a color chart after dipping in the coolant ... apparently the color chart just says good, marginal, or change.... they check at every oil change

 

I have read in other places that ideal pH is about 9.5 to 10.5; recommend change/flush at 9.0; consider unacceptable at 8.3 ....

... others may have some other references with slightly different numbers

... I have never actually taken a pH meter and tested mine myself

 

... watch out for 'quicklube' places that tell you it's time to flush.... first they may just be trying to upsell you something you don't need; and then second, they quite likely won't have the equipment or take the time to actually pressure flush your entire system out adequately.... drain and fill is not enough the flush your system out.

 

 

yup...10.2 is ideal...and should be kept at or around this at all times.

 

You can test using pH strips, or old fashioned pH testing kit with litmus paper (white stuff, not the pink and blue you used in high school chem class) and a card to show you the colors of different pH levels. They're dirt cheap, and come with enough strips to test the system once a week for a year. They will get you in a .5 pH range ...so you will be reading 10-10.5

 

I change it when the pH drops below 9.5 or the freezing point drops below -30*C, or a little bit of sludge starts to form.

[grampadirt]

Have a question for you guys...what year did GM start using the Dex-Cool? Is it better at cooling than the green stuff?

[jrod332]

GM started using dexcool in 95 and newer. I believe they cool just the same.

 

http://www.getahelmet.com/jeeps/maint/dexcool/

[Stevens03]

Dex-cool cools better than regular from what I've read. Mixing it has been the issue but as more and more vehicles have it factory installed, it's not as much of a problem anymore. People were just ignorant and mixed the two types causing all the issues.

 

[grampadirt]

GM started using dexcool in 95 and newer. I believe they cool just the same.

 

http://www.getahelmet.com/jeeps/maint/dexcool/

 

 

Interesting reading,I like the fact that it's bio-degradeable.My '95 could've had Dex-Cool in it when built? For sure wifey's '99 Burb has it

[dlstewart01]

Dex-Cool is less toxic. I had a dog get into some once, just gave him a tummy ache.

 

Your roofer needs to stick to roofing till he learns more in the automotive field.

 

I have used Dex-Cool since 1995 with out issues, and one of the vehicles had over 250,000 miles.