[ritous1]

I got my 99' used back in 04' and didn't change the coolant until recently so I guess some of this is my own fault, but this stuff is eating through everything and it's driving me mad :banghead:

In March while on the way to the beach I pulled over at a rest stop and noticed a strong smell of coolant. I thought, there's lots of cars around, it could be anyone. Well as I returned from the restroom I saw an orange river flowing from my van...we're not talking a slow leak here. Anyways, $1000 and 2 days later the local chevy dealer had replaced my head gaskets, and I was leak free. Needless to say, I never made it to the beach. Of course gm recommended a flush but also wanted an insane amount to do it so I decided to wait. Fastfoward to late June I start to smell the distinct aroma of burning coolant....again. Atleast this time I'm in my home town with access to some tools. I poke around and find a crack in one of the radiator tanks and a leaky seal on the same tank. No biggie....It only took me half a day and about $250, but I flushed the system, replaced the radiator and changed the oil. Once again I was leak free and thinking I didn't have anything to worry about for a while............wrong! Today while leaving work, you guessed it, I smell that oh so familiar smell. I stopped by my storage unit to check it out, and what do you know, there''s a leak from the water pump gasket.....!!!

 

[ritous1]

thought it worth mentioning, the mileage is only 109K. Are there any other problems I can expect related to corrosion from old coolant?

 

[Matrixx]

Hi ritous1

That's what it does for sure. Your next problem will be the Heater Control Valve. You might want to have a good look at the seam where they join with that unit, mine blew right apart (at the seam).

Might I suggest you replace the radiator cap as well. The OEM ones don't last very long before they get faulty.

I'm sorry to hear about your problems R1. Hopefully everything will get straighten out soon.

 

[brickyard]

I have also had problems with my 98 Astro and coolant. That Dexcool is murder! I also had problems with the intake gaskets. That darn Dexcool actually ate away at the intake manafold and it was corroded. I was fortunate enough they were able to repair it by sending it out and having the corrosion filled with lead so there was a complete surface to seal the intake manifold gaskets. At least that's what was explained to me. Hopefully you won't have that problem and by now you have removed that Dexcool and put something else in like the Prestone that works with all makes and models. It cost me $700 and was mostly labor. Good thing I didn't need a new intake manifold or that would have almost doubled the price.

 

[webcat]

I was just reading up on DEX cool the other day and someone mentioned that even if you flush your
system you will never be able to get it all removed and so they said your not suppose to put the green prestone in after flushing !
Please somebody correct me if i'm wrong , if i'm wrong i will be going green!

 

[evil_motors]

Yeah we were taught to never ever put green where orange has been. It messes things up. But hey you need not worry anymore they reformulated the dexcool which is now perfectly safe. or you could use the chamelion kind that is sort of yellowish tinted and can be mixed with either kind and is safe. But yes you almost never get everything out of a system unless you have a power flushing machine but then you risk damaging the engine or radiator.

 

[jeff's93astro]

you should be fine going from dexcool to the green. I've not done it to any astros but i've changed a bunch from the orange to the green you just gotta make sure you flush the system very well. all the ones i've done i break loose both upper and lower radiator hoses and take thermostat out and flush water through everything till it ran clear and put a new thermostat in never had any leaks nor that sluge that the dexcool leaves in the rad after its been in there a long time

 

[astro355]

you should be fine going from dexcool to the green. I've not done it to any astros but i've changed a bunch from the orange to the green you just gotta make sure you flush the system very well. all the ones i've done i break loose both upper and lower radiator hoses and take thermostat out and flush water through everything till it ran clear and put a new thermostat in never had any leaks nor that sluge that the dexcool leaves in the rad after its been in there a long time

Yeah, I have to agree here. I done this with a lot of cars with no problems. I guess you just have to be thorough with it.

 

[evil_motors]

you still do not get all of it out. but you should get most out. the only vehicles i have seen with dexcool problems were the first 5 years of dexcool.. but you should have had it changed by now. The newer dexcool has no problems.

 

[webcat]

you still do not get all of it out. but you should get most out. the only vehicles i have seen with dexcool problems were the first 5 years of dexcool.. but you should have had it changed by now. The newer dexcool has no problems.

What year van did the new dexcool start in?

 

[evil_motors]

I could maybe try to look it up but if i remember it was about 4 or 5 years after the original dexcool came out..

 

[nielswheels]

I went to Jiffy Lube last week and told them I wanted to replace my coolant and they put in some yellow looking stuff. They said it was the same as the red stuff. I had them first flush it with water then do the same with the new stuff. It does seem to run a little warmer. I hope this new coolant works good and wont damage the engine in any way.

 

[evil_motors]

That coolant is chamelion coolant. it is compatible with all systems. The lube places use it because they only have to carry one kind of coolant instead of 3 or 4. It probably is running warmer because the mixture isnt the same as what you had before. That and Jiffy lube is about the worst place you can get stuff like that done. I dont know about you but i dont really like 16 year olds working on my car. But that may just be the jiffy lube where i live. Anyways the new stuff hasnt been out long enough to know what long term effects there are but if you get it flushed every 2 years like you should then i believe it will be fine.

 

['cudapaul]

I believe that it was around 1996.
I have a 1997 Astro cargo van that came with Dexcool (or Deathcool, as I have had heard) from the factory.

 

[astro355]

That coolant is chamelion coolant. it is compatible with all systems. The lube places use it because they only have to carry one kind of coolant instead of 3 or 4. It probably is running warmer because the mixture isnt the same as what you had before. That and Jiffy lube is about the worst place you can get stuff like that done. I dont know about you but i dont really like 16 year olds working on my car. But that may just be the jiffy lube where i live. Anyways the new stuff hasnt been out long enough to know what long term effects there are but if you get it flushed every 2 years like you should then i believe it will be fine.

The 3 Jiffy Lubes we have here are the same way. Not only are they kids, except for a few, they don't know much about cars either.

 

[Matrixx]

Hi nielswheels

Personally, I don't like mixing any coolant of any kind (but that's just me). I run the Prestone Long Life (5 yrs.) and have for about 9 years now without any problems.

You might want to consider getting yours flushed out and changed over as well, as this is an area that affects so many parts if something doesn't mix right. Just a thought.

 

[astro355]

Hi nielswheels

Personally, I don't like mixing any coolant of any kind (but that's just me). I run the Prestone Long Life (5 yrs.) and have for about 9 years now without any problems.

You might want to consider getting yours flushed out and changed over as well, as this is an area that affects so many parts if something doesn't mix right. Just a thought.

The yellow stuff is supposed to mix with dexcool. But as already mentioned, it has not been out for a very long time and who knows what possible problems may arise down the road.

x infinity on the flushing.

 

[brickyard]

I was just reading up on DEX cool the other day and someone mentioned that even if you flush your
system you will never be able to get it all removed and so they said your not suppose to put the green prestone in after flushing !
Please somebody correct me if i'm wrong , if i'm wrong i will be going green!

The current formulation of Prestone says on the bottle it is safe for all coolant types. I used it with Dexcool before my manifold job was done and now it has all green coolant in it. It should work fine from what I know and have experienced but I don't have any long term information. My Astro actually runs cooler now that it has been fixed, at least according to the temp. gauge in the dash. It was probably loosing to much coolant from the intake manifold leaks to keep the engine cool.

I guess it depends on how much you trust Prestone to believe their product works with all coolants. It seems to have been fine for me.