StrokerAce03

iTrader: (7)

Big on that!
Do not use tap water in the radiator; only distilled. I've heard the minerals and **** in tap water will cause bad corrosion problems. I've only used distilled and Dexcool-compatible Prestone in my truck. The only reason I've even messed with it was because I blew a coolant line due to a faulty butt splice when I did the tb bypass and sprayed coolant all over the damn place.

TurboGibbs

iTrader: (6)

I was told by a radiator comapany that I contacted when I used to sell auto parts that the aluminum parts mixed with cast iron parts cause a strong ionic charge that eats away at the aluminum. I called them after having a customer with a Ford Aerostar van that had 5 heater cores (aluminum) go out within 2 years. The heater cores came from 3 different manufacturers, one being a ford replacement. The radiator company (I can't remember which one) told me to always use deionized(demineralized) water with the coolant mix. The customer did not have any problems after using the deionized water to my knowledge. My assumption is that the old 100% cast iron engines and brass radiators did not have a problem with tap water. This all occured with the green antifreeze.

Kano

iTrader: (3)

hell, I even used it to flush mine out

budhayes3

iTrader: (19)

I buy the 50/50 pre-mixed Dexcool whenever I'm doing a flush, cam swap, whatever. This way, I don't have to worry about mixing the right amount and I have distilled water. The minerals that are in tap water will create issues, and from what I've read, alot of the Dexcool issues can be traced back to being mixed with water out of a hose. I also remember that they changed the molecular structure of DexCool a few years back after the 4.3 cooling systems were turning to mud. I ran my Dexcool in my truck for about 4 or 5 years before I finally drained it out to do my cam, and it looked brand new coming out. All of the coolant passages that I could see looked good too. You'll be fine either way if you do it right. If you really want to go green, just make sure that you get the Dex flushed out of the system good.

CHEVY6000VHO

iTrader: (2)

You get a little too touchy guy. I myself do most of all my mechanical work.
Though if it's a warranty issue....I save myself the money and time and just let the GM certified techs do the work.
I never said your mechanic or yourself are not knowledgeable.
I just don't think a flush will stop a leak unless some sort of temporary stop leak junk was placed in the coolant as well.
It's just not heard of. I guess it could be possible, but it was probably one of those one in a million.
In my opinion, Dexcool will work fine. I will be flushing it at 50,000 mi anyways. Though Dexcool will go back in.
You statement on that your mechanic or you, whichever it is knows more than GM knows.......well maybe more than most GM mechanics, but I was talking about the actual GM engineers.
If your more intelligent than them, go get a job in that department. I'm sure that they have been waiting for you.

Jim

TurboGibbs

iTrader: (6)

If you read what I said...I did not claim to know more than GM. You seem to be hung up on that.
There are always flaws in factory designs because they don't know everything. If they were perfect there wouldn't be such a thing know as factory recalls. My reasoning to why there were never any recalls is due to the factory isn't forced to recall unless it is a drivabilty/saftey issue. That is why most all the recalls are on seat belts, air bags, brakes & drivetrain, etc. There was multiple problems with dexcool in the first few years but I will say that I haven't heard or seen any problems on vehicles made in the last 5 years or so; basically any LSX series engines seem to do better. Maybe it is the formulation of the dexcool?

I gave a 100 % factual ocuranace along with my opinion of what might have caused the problem. That is what this technical forum is for, for people to share their experiences and knowlege to help each other out. If you want to be narrow minded and not open to suggestions or ideas then maybe you ought to watch some more CNN.