Low Coolant

[fsher]

1998 6 spd.
I am losing coolant, but show no leaks outside of car. I have read horror stories about Dex-Cool coolant. I have owned this car for 3 months, so don;t know what coolant is currently in. At the moment the car is in at dealer to read Service Vehicle Soon light which has also been coming on.
Any suggestions?
Fred

 

[Tuna]

Unless a previous owner has replaced the coolant, it should have DexCool installed. Since DexCool is supposed to be changed every 5 years, the cooling system should have been flushed and serviced at least 2 years ago. If not, it's definitely time to have it serviced.

Have the coolant system pressure tested while it's at the dealer. Slow leaks may not show outside the car and burned head gaskets will allow the coolant to go out the tail pipes - which might be why you have the Service Vehicle Soon light. If coolant is getting into the oil, it will definitely ruin the oil and ruin the engine.

DexCool does not like to have air in the system so if your car is losing coolant, then it definitely has a problem and will only get worse. Get it checked out.

BTW, I have DexCool in all my cars and I'm very happy with it.

 

[gkurtz]

Can I use dexCool in my 92 if I flush the system and replace the green stuff? Is anything sensitive in the cooling system that will cause a problem?

 

[fsher]

Tuna,
Great info, thank you very much, I'll check this out.
Fred

 

[Grizzly]

Changing Coolant

Can I use dexCool in my 92 if I flush the system and replace the green stuff? Is anything sensitive in the cooling system that will cause a problem?

I think the real issue is not to mix them. I don't like to mix brands of fluids and have been trying to standardize on something the entire fleet can use, so I went back to regular (green) coolant.

 

[Tuna]

If switching to DexCool from the 'green stuff' and you want all the 'long-life' benefits of DexCool, the system needs to be flushed completely of all the green stuff. I flushed mine 3 times with nothing but water and with some driving between before converting to DexCool and that was back in 99. In 2003, when I had the motor upgraded, I had them refill it with DexCool. No problems.

BTW, you can mix DexCool and the green stuff but you lose the long life capability. DexCool is supposed to last 5 years in the ideal system. The green stuff calls for replacement every 2 years.

As I posted earlier, DexCool does not like to have air in the system as this tends to make it turn to sludge. So, I check my coolant everytime I change the oil just - just to be sure everything is still okay.

Sorry for hi-jacking the thread.

 

[bluecoupe]

I had a problem like that on my 2001 Impala. Loosing antifreeze but no leak. It was a gasket. I think it was under the intake manifold but not a head gasket. Not a big job. Had it back the same day.

 

[fsher]

Thanks much for the reply.
Dealer wants to much to check it out. There is white smoke noticed coming out. I'm not letting the dealer check it out. They want to many hours and I really don;t think they know what their doing. I agree, sounds like a gasket, but who knows. Only had the car 3 months and only has 21K miles and running great. I'm taking back to where I bought it and making them deal with it for a day or so and then decide who to take it to. Lot of trust involved.
Fred
Fred

 

[atmmac]

my 97 has 25k miles on it and i dont think the coolants ever been changed.... With such low mileagae i didnt really think it would be a problem.

 

[Tuna]

my 97 has 25k miles on it and i dont think the coolants ever been changed.... With such low mileagae i didnt really think it would be a problem.

For some things, age is more controlling than mileage.