Ed's warning is right on.  My other van is a '98 Pontiac Montana running on
Dexcool.  I took a look at the pink stuff in the expansion tank and it had
little brown spots floating around in it.  I called my friendly local
Pontiac service mgr. and asked what he knew.  He finally admitted that there
were problems.  He says his "fix" is to power flush the cooling systems and
add a "non-GM" coolant additive to the system when they refill with Dexcool.

John Lauterbach
Macon, GA
'84 DL running on Sierra and Bars Leak
----- Original Message -----
From: "Ed @ Automotive Consulting" <EdVF1000R@AOL.COM>
To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Sent: Saturday, December 09, 2000 10:57 PM
Subject: Dexcool

> Hey folks - As a GM dealer tech (Saturn/Chevrolet) for the last 6 years,
my
> experience with dexcool is thus:
>   It fails. Early,often. It gums up heater cores and radiators. Lasts
nowhere
> near 100k as advertised, usually it goes away around 20-25k miles. It gets
> floaters in it and turns a sick brownish color.
>   GM has issued a couple of TSBs on this, saying the fix was to replace
the
> dexcool with more dexcool after a thorough flush.
>    According to GM, dexcool should never be used in cooling systems
> containing any soldered joints (I.E. brass radiators or heater cores)
because
> the organic acid base attacks the soldered joints.  This to me says
> "underdeveloped product" .
>     I, personally, would never use dexcool in anything, as i have never
seen
> it last over 45,000 miles, ever, in any application. I have seen an
average
> of 6 cars a day five days a week for 6 years.....
>    Just my 2 cents, and YMMV. - Ed