Greetings… Am wondering, for those of you who have a Post-1996 General Motors vehicle, with Dexcool antifreeze in the coolant system (the pink antifreeze), do you have more than normal problems with the cooling system? Thanks!
I used to have a lot of problems with the heater core clogging in my 1996 Impala SS. When I flushed it, I would always get chunks of orange junk out of it. I have heard that GM put some kind of stopleak in at the factory, but I didn’t care enough to research it. It probably clogged up 4-5 times.
Nothing I can directly blame the coolant for, though.
I had dexcool from the factory in my 96 Z28 and never had any problems. I had the car for 8 years and 65k miles. I changed it after 5 years and it came out clear with no sludge or rust.
I switched my other cars to dexcool also. The 71 Corvette was switched 3 years ago and the 83 Cadillac 2 years ago. No problems and the coolant is clean.
I understand GM had problems with some trucks. The rad caps would not seal and let air in. The air reacted with the coolant and created sludge that blocked coolant passages.
This is more of a survey than a factual question, so I’ll move it to the IMHO forum.
bibliophage
moderator GQ
Just had to replace both intake manifold gaskets on a 98 Chevy Malibu V6 3.2?L. I’ve heard this is a combination problem between the Dexcool and bad materials in the gaskets. It was a very expensive fix. The car has been a total pain in the ass since the warranty ran out.