Dex-Cool or not?
 

Alright, did some searching for flush procedures here and found a few posts regarding the evils of Dex - and a few others that say it's recommended, along with my Haynes manual. So, what's ya'll opinion on using it on a 98 Silverado? I do see the orange sediment in my reservoir so I know it's been used on this truck before. The truck smells of coolant but I see no real leaks. My water pump weep hole is on the top of the pump (right? that's what it looks like...) and there's no leaking from it. However, I stuck my finger on the underside of the pump and came away with orange gunk. Is there another weep hole or is it a seal, or? Truck does not seem to be overheating... yet...

Whatcha'll think?

RE: Dex-Cool or not?
 

Oh btw, I got the 5.0...

RE: Dex-Cool or not?
 

My truck is supposed to use DEX but I changed it to regular Antifreeze supposedly the dex has some added stuff for the water pump once the factory water pump is gone Id say it doesnt matter......Ive always converted my gm products to regular Antifreeze and never had a problem

RE: Dex-Cool or not?
 

The recommendation is: if there's DexCool in there now, you should use that. There have been "horror stories" when folks mix.

I've had good luck using AntiFreeze that's "DexCool compatible" ("mixes with any"), expecially if you're worried about DexCool destroying gaskets.

RE: Dex-Cool or not?
 

Well, thanks for all the input. I'm gonna go for it - it says Dex, it's gettin' Dex. I'm headed out to change the water pump, belt, hose, and do a flush.

Again, many, many thanks. Cheers! [sm=partyparty.gif]

RE: Dex-Cool or not?
 

The coolant smell is probably the lower intake manifold gasket leaking. These engines are famous for it. I would use Prestones version of Dex-cool......

RE: Dex-Cool or not?
 

Alrighty - got the water pump, lower hose, clamps, and cap changed in a few hours. Flipped the pump over and weep hole was definitely, um, well WEEPING :) Wasn't too tough a job, for those of you that haven't done it. My first water pump was my 68 Camaro 327 oh, about 20 years ago, and really wasn't that much different from what I can remember. Damn, wish I still had that car...

Anyway, I used Prestone Dex. I'm sure I'll still be smelling coolant since plenty of it spilled as I was working but I'm pretty satisfied with the project. Caught it just in time.

Again, cheers to ya'll. I'm enjoying a Newcastle in your honor :)

RE: Dex-Cool or not?
 

None of my gm vehicles will ever run dex cool again.On my 98 1500 I changed intake gaskets twice in 100,000 and three water pumps in that time. After ditching the dex cool and putting on another 97,000 I haven't had to change the intakes or water pump again. I believe it is all due to the dexcool, take the radiator cap off a vehicle with dex cool if it is more than a few years old it will more then likely have a orange gel of dex cool on it.

RE: Dex-Cool or not?
 

Good work [sm=smiley20.gif]

[sm=jawdrop.gif]should have kept that one ...

RE: Dex-Cool or not?
 

A lot of folks feel the same. See this link for one example.