Bought Myself a Lemon
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!!
Like Melvin from Doc Hollywood said....I always have parts left over after a job, not sure why that is......
Like Melvin from Doc Hollywood said....I always have parts left over after a job, not sure why that is......
- Rob R.
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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.
Good idea flushing the system. Any oil residue in it? Cascade dishwashing detergent or Simple Green works well for removing oil.
- Richard S.
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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.Rob R. wrote:Which type of antifreeze came in your car originally?
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. .
- davidmcbeth3
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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?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.
What's worse is when you start finding extra parts on yourself !
- SMITTY
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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 ....
Somebody put Dexcool in my Jimmy before I bought it ....
- windyhill4.2
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Smitty,any issues with the yellow stuff ?,it is compatible with any color.
- coaledsweat
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I would avoid Dexcool, it will bite you sooner or later.
- SMITTY
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As far as I know, Dexcool is the only one to watch out for. Figures ... since it's the brainchild of GM.windyhill4.2 wrote:Smitty,any issues with the yellow stuff ?,it is compatible with any color.
- gaw
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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.
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. 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. Attachments
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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!
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!
- Richard S.
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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.
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.
- Richard S.
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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?
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?
- SWPaDon
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I didn't take pictures , 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.
Richard, glad to hear yours came out ckean. And I hope you get the tranny leak fixed.
- SMITTY
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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.
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.