ant21b

At what milage or after how many years should I change the dex cool and flush the radiator on my 02 vert.

TVROguy

The manual says 5 years or 150 kmiles (whichever comes first). But it also cautions changing sooner if other that DEX-COOL coolant was used. My 99 was used when I bought it (62 Kmiles), so I have no idea how well it was maintained ... so, I changed oil & filter, air filter and coolant immediately and had a reputable shop do a good inspection of everything else for me.

chuck1026

Speaking of this... when you get to the 5/150K, how do you DIY?!? Is there a good "how-to" on here?

rcknusa

Here are the instructions from another thread. This is good!

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/show...ifreeze+change

Good luck.

willyfastz

I would say get it out as soon as possible, and put the yellowish green Preston back in it. There was a law suit with GM over all the damage that Dex-cool is causing.

davekp78

Besides being bad advice, what specifically are the details of this "law suit"?

RedC5

http://www.autoblog.com/2006/05/23/g...action-status/

Rogue Leader

Dexcool works fine I've used it in my Vette and many other vehicles including ones that werent originally equipped for many many years. The big issues is it DOES NOT mix with regular antifreeze at all and has an adverse chemical reaction that cause all sorts of problems.

willyfastz

Do a search, and you can call it bad advice if you want, I've seen the plugged head gasket water holes, and heater cores. It seems to eat the plastis intake gaskets on the 3800's as well.

ant21b

Its perfectly fine to use dex cool just don't mix it with other anti freeze and add only distilled water. Its people not following these instructions that causes problems.

chuck1026

Dexcool only "disagrees" with a few GM vehicles... my S10 Blazer is one of them... my 1996 had issues with sludging. The 2004 does not yet... I have the "non-vented" radiator cap and have the coolant tank filled to full hot when cold. The trick is to keep the air out of the system.

The C5's are fine

bandit_99

I'll answer this a diferent way- I think the best time to change it would be while doing a H&C swap.

Bill Dearborn

I have serviced 3 of my vehicles that have had Dexcool installed and have not seen anything wrong in the cooling systems. Since I don't pay attention to my wife's car she went 6 years before the Dexcool in her Saturn was changed and it looked almost like it did the day GM put it in on the assembly line.

Bill

Mark S.

I did mine at the 4 year mark (at the dealership)...I have 14,000 miles on the ODO...I didn't want to stretch it to 5 years.

vettenuts

Bingo. There are papers written on this subject, and air in the system and poor center drop radiator caps were the issue. Keeping the system full is the key.