Bought Myself a Lemon

 
titleist1
Member
Posts: 5226
Joined: Wed. Nov. 14, 2007 4:06 pm

Post by titleist1 » Tue. Sep. 29, 2015 9:13 am

Replaced a head gasket on the high school beater car back in the day....Ran better than it had in years in spite of a few leftovers!! :D

Like Melvin from Doc Hollywood said....I always have parts left over after a job, not sure why that is...... :?


 
User avatar
Rob R.
Site Moderator
Posts: 17980
Joined: Fri. Dec. 28, 2007 4:26 pm
Location: Chazy, NY
Stoker Coal Boiler: EFM 520
Hand Fed Coal Stove: Chubby Jr

Post by Rob R. » Tue. Sep. 29, 2015 10:47 am

Which type of antifreeze came in your car originally?

Good idea flushing the system. Any oil residue in it? Cascade dishwashing detergent or Simple Green works well for removing oil.

 
User avatar
Richard S.
Mayor
Posts: 15183
Joined: Fri. Oct. 01, 2004 8:35 pm
Location: NEPA
Stoker Coal Boiler: Van Wert VA1200
Coal Size/Type: Buckwheat/Anthracite

Post by Richard S. » Tue. Sep. 29, 2015 11:53 am

Rob R. wrote:Which type of antifreeze came in your car originally?
Dex cool, AFAIK it doesn't matter as long as you aren't mixing them. The dex cool is supposed to last longer AS long as it doesn't get low and break down. Apprently this may br to blame for lot of the intake gasket failures. There is actually lawsuits over it. Think I'm just going with the regular.

There was no oil in it before or now, I already flushed the engine itself with a hose. I didn't see any oil at all. Everything that came out of it looked really good.

Taking it for short test drive, had to do red neck alignment with string and tape as it was off enough you could see it by eye. Got it close enough, I'll take it to shop once I've run it for while and everything has settled. .

 
User avatar
davidmcbeth3
Member
Posts: 8505
Joined: Sun. Jun. 14, 2009 2:31 pm
Coal Size/Type: nut/pea/anthra

Post by davidmcbeth3 » Tue. Sep. 29, 2015 2:26 pm

Richard S. wrote:Almost forgot, I have no clue what that wire is for I posted earlier. I'm assuming it's extra.

I also have mystery vacuum line, I was banging on the strut and it fell off the back of the engine. WTF!

It's smaller diameter hard plastic, identical in every way accept the shape of one that goes from the intake to before the throttle body. Both of those are accounted for on both engines so it's not that one. I don't remember it, I've looked and can't find anywhere it would go. I've also looked over some diagrams, parts for sale etc and can't find it. I think it may be from another car and was laying on the new engine, presumably behind the exhaust manifold where you couldn't see it. I did find some washers and other pieces laying on the engine block.
Extra parts? I don't know why they make mechanical devices with all these extra parts. I find them all the time. Luckily not too many things use vacuum hose anymore. Maybe EGR value?

What's worse is when you start finding extra parts on yourself !

 
User avatar
SMITTY
Member
Posts: 12520
Joined: Sun. Dec. 11, 2005 12:43 pm
Location: West-Central Mass
Stoker Coal Boiler: EFM 520 Highboy
Coal Size/Type: Rice / Blaschak anthracite
Other Heating: Oil fired Burnham boiler

Post by SMITTY » Wed. Sep. 30, 2015 10:30 am

DON'T use Dexcool ... because years down the road when you might need to top it off, somebody will mix it with green stuff and totally ruin your day. Keep it simple. Green worked for 100 years. GM only decided to change it so there would be less used cars on the road to compete with them. Think about it. They're in the business of selling cars - not making them last forever. ;)

Somebody put Dexcool in my Jimmy before I bought it ....

 
User avatar
windyhill4.2
Member
Posts: 6072
Joined: Fri. Nov. 22, 2013 2:17 pm
Location: Jonestown,Pa.17038
Stoker Coal Boiler: 1960 EFM520 installed in truck box
Hand Fed Coal Stove: Crane 404 with variable blower
Coal Size/Type: 404-nut, 520 rice ,anthracite for both

Post by windyhill4.2 » Wed. Sep. 30, 2015 11:37 am

Smitty,any issues with the yellow stuff ?,it is compatible with any color.

 
User avatar
coaledsweat
Site Moderator
Posts: 13763
Joined: Fri. Oct. 27, 2006 2:05 pm
Location: Guilford, Connecticut
Stoker Coal Boiler: Axeman Anderson 260M
Coal Size/Type: Pea

Post by coaledsweat » Wed. Sep. 30, 2015 12:28 pm

I would avoid Dexcool, it will bite you sooner or later.


 
User avatar
SMITTY
Member
Posts: 12520
Joined: Sun. Dec. 11, 2005 12:43 pm
Location: West-Central Mass
Stoker Coal Boiler: EFM 520 Highboy
Coal Size/Type: Rice / Blaschak anthracite
Other Heating: Oil fired Burnham boiler

Post by SMITTY » Wed. Sep. 30, 2015 8:33 pm

windyhill4.2 wrote:Smitty,any issues with the yellow stuff ?,it is compatible with any color.
As far as I know, Dexcool is the only one to watch out for. Figures ... since it's the brainchild of GM. :roll:

 
User avatar
gaw
Member
Posts: 4437
Joined: Fri. Jan. 26, 2007 2:51 am
Location: Parts Unknown
Stoker Coal Boiler: Keystoker KA-6
Coal Size/Type: Rice from Schuylkill County

Post by gaw » Fri. Oct. 02, 2015 5:02 pm

No need to fear the Dexcool. I never had a problem that I could say was a result of the Dexcool. I have four GM vehicles all using it. The pictures are of the water pump inlet and the block drain plugs of a big block Chevy after 19 years of Dexcool changed every five years. All hoses were original but have been replaced this year because I thought 19 was a bit old.
20150503_102126.jpg

Water pump inlet from lower hose

.JPG | 168.9KB | 20150503_102126.jpg
20150503_102334.jpg

Block drain plugs

.JPG | 71.4KB | 20150503_102334.jpg
If you look at the MSDSs for Dexcool and the “good old” green stuff you will see that they are the same stuff with the exception of the dye color and the additives which make up 1 – 5% of the antifreeze. :shock: Dexcool’s corrosion inhibitors last longer but also take longer to become effective. It is a bit of a tradeoff. I believe I read somewhere that they are better with aluminum also. The downside as some have found out is that the two additive packages are not necessarily compatible. :sick:

Attachments

Dexcool Antifreeze.pdf
.PDF | 30.9KB | Dexcool Antifreeze.pdf
Napa Antifreeze Coolant.pdf
.PDF | 113.1KB | Napa Antifreeze Coolant.pdf

 
hank2
Member
Posts: 846
Joined: Sat. Dec. 10, 2011 4:07 pm
Location: Berks County
Hand Fed Coal Stove: DS Machine 1400 WH ciculator; 1880's small cannon in reserve
Coal Size/Type: Nut
Other Heating: small New Yorker oil fired boiler; mostly used for domestic HW

Post by hank2 » Sat. Oct. 03, 2015 11:26 pm

I never had trouble I could blame on Dex-cool in a '92 Buick or '01 Olds or an '08 Silverado. Changing it out completely every 5 years is a must. I know that you only want to mix the concentrate with distilled water. Any air pockets in the cooling system or ever topping off with anything else are bad news.

Supposedly, GM went with different gasket materials around 2008 or later and told everyone that the Dex-cool formula had changed. Some even claim that it will hold up a lot longer than 5 years. I believe that Ford and probably some other manufacturers are using their own versions of Dex-cool, now.

Even so, if I was refilling after a complete tear down or drain out I would use one of the long life universal versions of the green or yellow stuff. I know that you need to flush the entire cooling system and heater very thoroughly to go from Dex-cool to other types (or vice versa).
GM had a lengthy service bulletin with complicated flush instructions for any vehicle that had any other coolant added to Dex-cool.

Smitty, that was one nasty radiator!

 
User avatar
Richard S.
Mayor
Posts: 15183
Joined: Fri. Oct. 01, 2004 8:35 pm
Location: NEPA
Stoker Coal Boiler: Van Wert VA1200
Coal Size/Type: Buckwheat/Anthracite

Post by Richard S. » Sun. Oct. 04, 2015 3:58 am

Going with the Dex cool. I did a initial flush with some stuff I picked up from NAPA, directions said to run it for 20 minutes. No mention for longer so I figured I'd better not use longer. All kinds of interesting stuff was coming out. Ran about 10 gallons of water through it before it went clear, ran it around the "block" and it was still running orange/muddy. Repeated that 2 more times and it was still taking a while to run clear.

Went and got some Prestone flush/clean, that said you could run it for 3 days for 3 to 6 hours. I'm getting ready to drain it this morning.

 
User avatar
Richard S.
Mayor
Posts: 15183
Joined: Fri. Oct. 01, 2004 8:35 pm
Location: NEPA
Stoker Coal Boiler: Van Wert VA1200
Coal Size/Type: Buckwheat/Anthracite

Post by Richard S. » Thu. Oct. 08, 2015 9:30 am

Looking pretty clean, I know looking into the radiator itself it looks spotless however that is where the pressure from the hose was. I think I must of ran 25 or 30 gallons through it in total. final step was too blow the lines out with the compressor and ran some distilled water, blew them out again and filled with the dex cool.

I have a very slight transmission fluid leak, 99% sure it's coming from fill tube. It was actually in the wrong position from the tranny change and rubbing against the brake power booster. It's where it''s supposed to be now.

Looks like it just pops out and put a new gasket in it?

 
User avatar
Rob R.
Site Moderator
Posts: 17980
Joined: Fri. Dec. 28, 2007 4:26 pm
Location: Chazy, NY
Stoker Coal Boiler: EFM 520
Hand Fed Coal Stove: Chubby Jr

Post by Rob R. » Thu. Oct. 08, 2015 9:35 am

Yep. Should have a gasket/oring on the tube.

 
User avatar
SWPaDon
Member
Posts: 9857
Joined: Sun. Nov. 24, 2013 12:05 pm
Location: Southwest Pa.
Hand Fed Coal Furnace: Clayton 1600M
Coal Size/Type: Bituminous
Other Heating: Oil furnace

Post by SWPaDon » Thu. Oct. 08, 2015 10:07 pm

I didn't take pictures :oops: , but I just changed the coolant in my 2012 Chevy Sonic ( 50,100 miles). It had a dark colored film in the botton of the coolant bottle on the car. I flushed the engine, radiator, heater core, and coolant bottle seperately, with distilled water, then refilled with Prestone premixed Dexcool compatible coolant. It was red coolant.

Richard, glad to hear yours came out ckean. And I hope you get the tranny leak fixed.

 
User avatar
SMITTY
Member
Posts: 12520
Joined: Sun. Dec. 11, 2005 12:43 pm
Location: West-Central Mass
Stoker Coal Boiler: EFM 520 Highboy
Coal Size/Type: Rice / Blaschak anthracite
Other Heating: Oil fired Burnham boiler

Post by SMITTY » Thu. Oct. 08, 2015 10:23 pm

I prefer not to send any more money to GM (via licensing fees for Dexcool), but to each his own. ;)

Pretty much any coolant regardless of color today is good for 5 years/150k miles, as far as I know. I only buy Prestone, so YMMV with other brands.


Post Reply

Return to “Cars, Trucks, Motorcycles & Aviation”