Woody35
Active Member
you guys are worrying me now. Dex Cool cant be too bad since its in most GM vehicles
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Doing Coolant Flush on 97
- Thread starter Woody35
- Start date
Matt Bachand
Depends on the 6.5
Have you ever heard anything bad or even questionable about green antifreeze?
Woody35
Active Member
no not at all but i figure if i clean the radiator out and flush the system enough it should get rid of all the crap that is in there. plus i dont need to this again for another 5 years
Matt Bachand
Depends on the 6.5
Chances are you'll need a heater core or water pump or something before the next antifreeze flush is due...
Whatver color antifreeze you choose you'll be ok.
Woody35
Active Member
im just waitng for that awful smell of coolant in the cab and i have to change the heater core. but so far this truck hasnt shown its age
SmithvilleD
Active Member
Coolant flush
I've heard the same from someone that works in a radiator shop.
It's worth it to use deionized, reverse osmosis, or distilled water. Relatively little added cost & it preserves some of the antifreeze's anti-corrosion additives that would otherwise be used up on dissolved ions & organics common in most common tap water.
If you're willing to put in a little more time, it's often worth it to pull the rad. Both to flush it internally more thoroughly, & remove any weed seeds/debris that tends to collect in the rad behind the oil & trans coolers. With the rad out, you can also do a better job of removing debris from the AC condensor as you can shoot water &/or air pressure from both sides.
Water Wetter does improve the heat transfer ability of the coolant. Can't recall for certain if it acts as a surfactant or what, but regardless, I've seen it measurably lower cylinder head exit temps in an asphalt oval track car.
The car's cooling system was marginal when ambient air temps >90. Adding Water Wetter to a 50/50 water/antifreeze mix helped. Pure water/no antifreeze & Water Wetter helped even more. I gather beyond increasing the coolant's boiling point, adding the most common antifreeze chemistries to water actually lessens the mix's heat transfer ability a bit.
The regular Water Wetter includes some corrosion inhibitors & can be used in situations where you're not running antifreeze. There's also a Water Wetter labeled for diesels that can be more cost effective in larger cooling systems as long as they're running antifreeze. It's a 15 oz bottle that treats up to 60 quarts, but doesn't include the corrosion inhibitors - the assumption is your antifreeze is providing adequate corrosion inhibitors.
I've heard the same from someone that works in a radiator shop.
It's worth it to use deionized, reverse osmosis, or distilled water. Relatively little added cost & it preserves some of the antifreeze's anti-corrosion additives that would otherwise be used up on dissolved ions & organics common in most common tap water.
If you're willing to put in a little more time, it's often worth it to pull the rad. Both to flush it internally more thoroughly, & remove any weed seeds/debris that tends to collect in the rad behind the oil & trans coolers. With the rad out, you can also do a better job of removing debris from the AC condensor as you can shoot water &/or air pressure from both sides.
Water Wetter does improve the heat transfer ability of the coolant. Can't recall for certain if it acts as a surfactant or what, but regardless, I've seen it measurably lower cylinder head exit temps in an asphalt oval track car.
The car's cooling system was marginal when ambient air temps >90. Adding Water Wetter to a 50/50 water/antifreeze mix helped. Pure water/no antifreeze & Water Wetter helped even more. I gather beyond increasing the coolant's boiling point, adding the most common antifreeze chemistries to water actually lessens the mix's heat transfer ability a bit.
The regular Water Wetter includes some corrosion inhibitors & can be used in situations where you're not running antifreeze. There's also a Water Wetter labeled for diesels that can be more cost effective in larger cooling systems as long as they're running antifreeze. It's a 15 oz bottle that treats up to 60 quarts, but doesn't include the corrosion inhibitors - the assumption is your antifreeze is providing adequate corrosion inhibitors.
Turbine Doc
Just Another Diesel Guy
With DEX to properly maintain it correctly you have to periodically check the PH or it can become acidic and corrode things, green is good, and DEX is fine you can't mix the 2, I even hesitate to blend in the newer "works with all" coolants, my 98 runs just fine & dandy with DEX,. We don't know how many have not fully flushed system (not just the rad) of the green or the DEX and the remnants of either don't play well together.
I don't buy DEX at dealer too much $$$, thus far from 2000 when I bought my 6.5, generic auto store or Texaco bottled (OEM of DEX) DEX has been used, if you look at the history of DEX kind of like the history of the 6.5, a few "horror stories" promulgated by lots if internet hype, remember DEX became in fashion about the time web forums became a major source of information.
So now with the speed of internet "All DEX is bad", maybe; maybe not; just as much internet stuff says it's okay, so I'm not convinced myself DEX = failure in all cases, I suspect more to it than most "I failed because of DEX stories" provide.
I don't buy DEX at dealer too much $$$, thus far from 2000 when I bought my 6.5, generic auto store or Texaco bottled (OEM of DEX) DEX has been used, if you look at the history of DEX kind of like the history of the 6.5, a few "horror stories" promulgated by lots if internet hype, remember DEX became in fashion about the time web forums became a major source of information.
So now with the speed of internet "All DEX is bad", maybe; maybe not; just as much internet stuff says it's okay, so I'm not convinced myself DEX = failure in all cases, I suspect more to it than most "I failed because of DEX stories" provide.
Woody35
Active Member
if you google 6.5 GM diesel all you get is horror story after horror story of i snapped a crank or it stalled and it didnt restart. or my favorite just trade in the 6.5 for a cummins:icon_bs:. i actually tempted to get rid of my 6.5 after i got it because of this and all the stuff people were telling me but i stuck with my truck and im glad.
and im sure the Dex Cool is the same way. once you understand it and regulary check up on it and change it when it needs to be changed it will work fine.
Matt Bachand
Depends on the 6.5
I agree with you across the board here.
Distilled water is a necessity IIRC. Wasn't Dexcool one of the first, if not THE first to go 100,000 w/out maintenance?
Woody35
Active Member
yeah im going with distilled water. as far as first coolant no idea. im what some people call a little young. dont remember because i was 8 when my truck was built in 96 and i have a sticker that says dex cool 5 years or 150,00 miles
Matt Bachand
Depends on the 6.5
Don't sweat it. Really not a huge deal what color you use.
Truth of the matter is, whatever antifreeze you put it will probably outlast the truck, green or orange.
Woody35
Active Member
so im going to get the coolant flush kit from napa and it comes with all the plastic fittings and clamps. my question is the engine inlet hose where you put the T fitting for the garden hose is pretty big so do you guys know if they offer a bigger fitting and clamps.