coolant swap???

[96ProCompTahoe]

alright, still have the dexcool in my hoe and have been debating on switching to the usual green antifreeze, but have heard mixed information..

i've heard its bad to put the green coolant in because it lacks the lubricant that dexcool has in it, but dexcool causes problems. (even though i haven't had any yet)

so if i were to swap it how do you get all the dexcool crap out of the system?

who's switched and are there any actual tech write-ups about this?

 

[GMCYukalade]

I always heard.. don't take that stuff out, don't put no water in with it etc etc etc - when i first had my water-pump go out, i replaced it, put a gallon of dexcool in, filled rest up with water and went on - no problems yet, and that was a good 40,000 miles ago

 

[96ProCompTahoe]

i had to add a little to it when i bought it and just used the premixed dexcool (only thing i could find). so far no problems....

 

[JP422]

once again.. I revive an old thread...

as far as this issue goes... I had the intake manifold gasket go (common)... around 75k miles. I heard that the Dexcool can weaken the gasket (sure nough, damage on the gasket was around the coolant passage). I replaced the gasket myself using oem dealer parts... but went w/ the green coolant this time. Also changed water pump, and thermostat at same time. I did a flush by draining as much coolant as possible... then inserting a garden hose into the radiator hose... untill the water turned clear. Also uses a bottle of some coolant flush.

Now 90k miles later, coolant still looks clean, and no manifold leaks....

 

[treepete]

dexcool used to suk has been reformulated yet id just use a peak or prestone extend life brand and the minimal amt of remaining dex will not be a issue!!!!!!

 

[treepete]

think of it as changing oil, you will NEVER get every oz out!! so just do simple flush and fill with what coolant you choose! p.s. green is still best as far as im concerned and will do NO harm to your truck if you chose green!! signed Jimminy, petes main wrench

 

[John Redcorn]

I just got my 99 tahoe monday and it still has dexcool in it, I might put in green in a while.

The way I flushed all the dexcool out on my grand prix after some upper intake and lower intake gasket problems was to drain the radiator then unhook the upper radiator hose from the radiator and point it down at the ground, I stuck a running garden hose in the radiator filler neck, started the car up, turned the heater on and ran it until it was pure clear water flowing out the upper hose.

(then I drove it for almost a week with just water and some acid-based flush. then I flushed all the acid out the same way.)