I've just finsihed watching a video about Dexcool.
GM?s Jay Dankovich and Equilon Enterprises? (Texaco) Stede Granger directed a 2-year study of thousands of dexcool cooled vehicles. Their presentation is a 14-minute video that is now being circulated to technicians at GM dealers nationwide. In fact, if you REALLY want to see it you can buy the video for only $10 (plus S&H). Call MSX International of Auburn Hills, Michigan at 800-393-4831. Ask for the DEX-COOL video: ?Understanding Radiator Cap and Cooling System Contamination.? Part number: RADCAPK.
Let me brief you on some interesting (To me at least) points.
1. Keep the cooling system filled. In fact, fill the reservoir bottle to ?Hot? level when the system is cold. Problems arise when a system?s coolant level is not maintained. (Fleet vehicles receiving regular maintenance, and with reservoirs kept slightly above normal, do not show signs of contamination. This even applies to the specific ?problem? vehicles.)
2. The coolant problems found in this survey were caused by system contamination, and not due to the breakdown of DEX-COOL.
3. Check and keep the pressure cap clean and functioning. A contaminated and/or malfunctioning cap causes low coolant levels, which in turn causes overheating and a greater loss of coolant: the notorious vicious cycle. No matter what the vehicle, if the cooling system acts suspiciously, test the pressure cap.
4. On the ST vehicle models mentioned in the GM DEX-COOL video, you ?must? replace all suspect radiator caps, especially those with a Drop-Center design, with a Stant Model 10230 or 11230 (Spring-Center type).
5. Make sure that the coolant is at a 50-50 mix. Often, the flush water was not being removed from the engine block. Consequently, when a 50-50 mix is added to the system the resultant mixture could approach 30-70. Like any fluid that has been diluted beyond its recommended levels, the lowered level of inhibitors will not be able to protect the coolant system effectively. Low levels of inhibitors can cause pitting on aluminum surfaces and general corrosion of cooling system metals.A safe method of achieving a true 50-50 mix is to first determine the actual capacity of the system (use the owner?s manual). Then add 50% of ?that? amount of undiluted DEX-COOL (or any coolant), and top it off with water.
7. Mixing a ?green? coolant with DEX-COOL reduces the batch?s change interval to 2 years or 30,000 miles, but will otherwise cause no damage to the engine. In order to change back to DEX-COOL however, the cooling system must first be thoroughly drained and flushed.
8. Bacteria cannot live in a hot, Ethylene Glycol environment and is therefore not a threat to DEX-COOL.
9. While there have been intake gasket failures on CK Series, V8 powered vehicles for various reasons, DEX-COOL has never been found as a cause.
10. Use a refractometer to check the condition of DEX-COOL. Its inhibitor package is strong enough that if the batch still provides proper freeze protection, it is probably still providing proper corrosion protection as well.
11. DEX-COOL can handle the minerals in hard water better than silicated conventional chemistry coolants. Drinkable water is suitable for top off. This is news to me, of course. I would however, stay with distilled as its a more consistant product.
12. In ST Blazer applications where the radiator cap is mounted at an angle to the ground, the vehicle is more susceptible to radiator cap contamination and its related problems. The Stant 10230 is a wise choice for these vehicles.
Now, sure, most of this is GM related, But series 2 and other Rovers use Dexcool, and many people on here have GM products.
GM?s Jay Dankovich and Equilon Enterprises? (Texaco) Stede Granger directed a 2-year study of thousands of dexcool cooled vehicles. Their presentation is a 14-minute video that is now being circulated to technicians at GM dealers nationwide. In fact, if you REALLY want to see it you can buy the video for only $10 (plus S&H). Call MSX International of Auburn Hills, Michigan at 800-393-4831. Ask for the DEX-COOL video: ?Understanding Radiator Cap and Cooling System Contamination.? Part number: RADCAPK.
Let me brief you on some interesting (To me at least) points.
1. Keep the cooling system filled. In fact, fill the reservoir bottle to ?Hot? level when the system is cold. Problems arise when a system?s coolant level is not maintained. (Fleet vehicles receiving regular maintenance, and with reservoirs kept slightly above normal, do not show signs of contamination. This even applies to the specific ?problem? vehicles.)
2. The coolant problems found in this survey were caused by system contamination, and not due to the breakdown of DEX-COOL.
3. Check and keep the pressure cap clean and functioning. A contaminated and/or malfunctioning cap causes low coolant levels, which in turn causes overheating and a greater loss of coolant: the notorious vicious cycle. No matter what the vehicle, if the cooling system acts suspiciously, test the pressure cap.
4. On the ST vehicle models mentioned in the GM DEX-COOL video, you ?must? replace all suspect radiator caps, especially those with a Drop-Center design, with a Stant Model 10230 or 11230 (Spring-Center type).
5. Make sure that the coolant is at a 50-50 mix. Often, the flush water was not being removed from the engine block. Consequently, when a 50-50 mix is added to the system the resultant mixture could approach 30-70. Like any fluid that has been diluted beyond its recommended levels, the lowered level of inhibitors will not be able to protect the coolant system effectively. Low levels of inhibitors can cause pitting on aluminum surfaces and general corrosion of cooling system metals.A safe method of achieving a true 50-50 mix is to first determine the actual capacity of the system (use the owner?s manual). Then add 50% of ?that? amount of undiluted DEX-COOL (or any coolant), and top it off with water.
7. Mixing a ?green? coolant with DEX-COOL reduces the batch?s change interval to 2 years or 30,000 miles, but will otherwise cause no damage to the engine. In order to change back to DEX-COOL however, the cooling system must first be thoroughly drained and flushed.
8. Bacteria cannot live in a hot, Ethylene Glycol environment and is therefore not a threat to DEX-COOL.
9. While there have been intake gasket failures on CK Series, V8 powered vehicles for various reasons, DEX-COOL has never been found as a cause.
10. Use a refractometer to check the condition of DEX-COOL. Its inhibitor package is strong enough that if the batch still provides proper freeze protection, it is probably still providing proper corrosion protection as well.
11. DEX-COOL can handle the minerals in hard water better than silicated conventional chemistry coolants. Drinkable water is suitable for top off. This is news to me, of course. I would however, stay with distilled as its a more consistant product.
12. In ST Blazer applications where the radiator cap is mounted at an angle to the ground, the vehicle is more susceptible to radiator cap contamination and its related problems. The Stant 10230 is a wise choice for these vehicles.
Now, sure, most of this is GM related, But series 2 and other Rovers use Dexcool, and many people on here have GM products.