How often is the anti-freeze supposed to be changes. I used to change it every 20,000 miles on my '95 Camry. With that, I used to also change the thermostat. Is this still done on newer cars?
I have still got the original factory coolant in my daughter's 2002 Echo and it still is good with no cooling system problems in 8 years. If you do add or change coolant, be sure to get the original Toyota long life coolant. Mixining coolant types or brands can get into real problems. For example, GM Dexcool coolant is at least partially responsible for severe engine damage in thousands of their V6 engines for the last 15 years. (Google Dexcool and see the horror stories if you need more convincing). It is just not worth trying to save a few bucks on coolant by trying a non-Toyota brand. If money is a factor, it is better to just keep the original factory coolant in your car.
I have still got the original factory coolant in my daughter's 2002 Echo and it still is good with no cooling system problems in 8 years. If you do add or change coolant, be sure to get the original Toyota long life coolant. Mixining coolant types or brands can get into real problems. For example, GM Dexcool coolant is at least partially responsible for severe engine damage in thousands of their V6 engines for the last 15 years. (Google Dexcool and see the horror stories if you need more convincing). It is just not worth trying to save a few bucks on coolant by trying a non-Toyota brand. If money is a factor, it is better to just keep the original factory coolant in your car.
....just curious, what happened to those GM v6's? My dads silverado v6 when it worked, we would have to constantly refill the reservoir
....just curious, what happened to those GM v6's? My dads silverado v6 when it worked, we would have to constantly refill the reservoir
GM Dexcool coolant is at least partially responsible for a large number of cooling system problems in a number of failure modes. The failures include the coolant disolving plastic gaskets, such as the intake gasket in V6s; corrosion of the engine block and any components the coolant touches and sludge build up which hardens and blocks off the collant passages and radiator leading to overheating, etc.
You can "google" Dexcool and read many accounts of problems and proposed solutions. Repairs generally range from $800 to $3500. There was a class action lawsuit by the Missouri Attorney General a few years back which resulted in an out-of-court settlement where GM did not acknowledge any design problems with the Dexcool or engines.
I had a 95 Buick Park Avenue (which was $32,000 new) that went through the sludge-up failure mode and I junked it rather than spend another dime ($3500) on it. I would not buy another GM product and I don't see how they stay in business with their lack of making things right with their customers, or at least me.
I was given a 2002 Buick Century with 32,000 miles this year and in reasearching known problems with the car I stumbled into the motherload of "Dexcool" problems on the internet. From what I can determine I will probably flush and fill the car coolant with Prestone Dexcool which is supposed to be compatible with Dexcool, but not have all the problems with the original Dexcool. Even so I don't expect the car to last much over 50,000 miles without major engine expenses. I expect the cost of repairs will exceed the value of the car and I will end up junking this Buick prematurely too.
GM started putting Dexcool in their cars as far back as 1995 and I think they still might be using it. If everything is ideal and nothing goes wrong with a car (i.e. like low coolant level or overheatiing) some people have gotten reasonable service life from cars with Dexcool. The thing is that it is hard to keep a GM car with Dexacool "ideal" in the real world. GM says consumers should check the coolant level every gas fillup. I check it daily and their cars still crap out with cooling system problems.
Last edited by Exit9; 09-04-2010 at 09:30 AM.
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now i know why prestone stop selling the dexcool coolant
I think it was GM, Texaco and Havolene that developed the original plastic gasket eating sludge making Dexcool. Prestone is the good guy that came along later and tried to fix the mess the original three made. Prestone has a Dexcool website and they list who sells their product. Auto Zone, Sears, K-mart and many other stores sell the Prestone Dexcool.
off topic but if i put the prestone dexcool in my parents highlander, should i flush it out or does it not matter? it was the red long life coolant and dexcool was red...the parts guy told me it would work.
off topic but if i put the prestone dexcool in my parents highlander, should i flush it out or does it not matter? it was the red long life coolant and dexcool was red...the parts guy told me it would work.
From what i have read, the general rule of thumb is to stick with the coolant type that originally came in the car. The Japanese cars use coolant formulations that work well and they are quite different from Dexcool chemically. I wouldn't use Dexcool unless it was a GM car that came with that in it originally, and then I would use Prestone Dexcool. Dexcool is something you should try to avoid using if at all possible (i.e. don't put it in any other car brand but GM.)
Trying to switch a Dexcool car over to conventional antifreeze is also risky, as many reports say the coolant system may sludge up if you do that. You basically need to get every drop of Dexcool out of the cooling system to change to regular coolant, and that is almost an impossible task with todays GM coolant systems. Also you have to avoid getting air trapped in the cooling system with original Dexcool or corrosion sets in. There are air purge caps in some GM coolant systems and also the front end of the car is often raised high in order to "burp" the coolant system of entrapped air. Sometimes coolant hoses are temporarily disconnected for the same purpose - burping the air out of the coolant system. I have read a GM technical service bulletin (on the internet) on coolant changing with Dexcool. There are a lot of things that need to be done that an average person wouldn't know about.
I think I am going to have a mechanic with a coolant exchange machine change my GM Dexcool car from original Dexcool to the Prestone Dexcool and see how that goes. I am also first going to have my car coolant system pressure tested to see if the original Dexcool coolant has eaten away the plastic intake manifold gasket yet. If so then I am looking at about an $800 shop repair bill for removing and replacing the plastic intake manifold gasket.
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off topic but if i put the prestone dexcool in my parents highlander, should i flush it out or does it not matter? it was the red long life coolant and dexcool was red...the parts guy told me it would work.
From what i have read, the general rule of thumb is to stick with the coolant type that originally came in the car. The Japanese cars use coolant formulations that work well and they are quite different from Dexcool chemically. I wouldn't use Dexcool unless it was a GM car that came with that in it originally, and then I would use Prestone Dexcool. Dexcool is something you should try to avoid using if at all possible (i.e. don't put it in any other car brand but GM.)
Trying to switch a Dexcool car over to conventional antifreeze is also risky, as many reports say the coolant system may sludge up if you do that. You basically need to get every drop of Dexcool out of the cooling system to change to regular coolant, and that is almost an impossible task with todays GM coolant systems. Also you have to avoid getting air trapped in the cooling system with original Dexcool or corrosion sets in. There are air purge caps in some GM coolant systems and also the front end of the car is often raised high in order to "burp" the coolant system of entrapped air. Sometimes coolant hoses are temporarily disconnected for the same purpose - burping the air out of the coolant system. I have read a GM technical service bulletin (on the internet) on coolant changing with Dexcool. There are a lot of things that need to be done that an average person wouldn't know about.
I think I am going to have a mechanic with a coolant exchange machine change my GM Dexcool car from original Dexcool to the Prestone Dexcool and see how that goes. I am also first going to have my car coolant system pressure tested to see if the original Dexcool coolant has eaten away the plastic intake manifold gasket yet. If so then I am looking at about an $800 shop repair bill for removing and replacing the plastic intake manifold gasket.
off topic but if i put the prestone dexcool in my parents highlander, should i flush it out or does it not matter? it was the red long life coolant and dexcool was red...the parts guy told me it would work.
From what i have read, the general rule of thumb is to stick with the coolant type that originally came in the car. The Japanese cars use coolant formulations that work well and they are quite different from Dexcool chemically. I wouldn't use Dexcool unless it was a GM car that came with that in it originally, and then I would use Prestone Dexcool. Dexcool is something you should try to avoid using if at all possible (i.e. don't put it in any other car brand but GM.)
Trying to switch a Dexcool car over to conventional antifreeze is also risky, as many reports say the coolant system may sludge up if you do that. You basically need to get every drop of Dexcool out of the cooling system to change to regular coolant, and that is almost an impossible task with todays GM coolant systems. Also you have to avoid getting air trapped in the cooling system with original Dexcool or corrosion sets in. There are air purge caps in some GM coolant systems and also the front end of the car is often raised high in order to "burp" the coolant system of entrapped air. Sometimes coolant hoses are temporarily disconnected for the same purpose - burping the air out of the coolant system. I have read a GM technical service bulletin (on the internet) on coolant changing with Dexcool. There are a lot of things that need to be done that an average person wouldn't know about.
I think I am going to have a mechanic with a coolant exchange machine change my GM Dexcool car from original Dexcool to the Prestone Dexcool and see how that goes. I am also first going to have my car coolant system pressure tested to see if the original Dexcool coolant has eaten away the plastic intake manifold gasket yet. If so then I am looking at about an $800 shop repair bill for removing and replacing the plastic intake manifold gasket.
GM Dexcool coolant is at least partially responsible for a large number of cooling system problems in a number of failure modes. The failures include the coolant disolving plastic gaskets, such as the intake gasket in V6s; corrosion of the engine block and any components the coolant touches and sludge build up which hardens and blocks off the collant passages and radiator leading to overheating, etc.
You can "google" Dexcool and read many accounts of problems and proposed solutions. Repairs generally range from $800 to $3500. There was a class action lawsuit by the Missouri Attorney General a few years back which resulted in an out-of-court settlement where GM did not acknowledge any design problems with the Dexcool or engines.
I had a 95 Buick Park Avenue (which was $32,000 new) that went through the sludge-up failure mode and I junked it rather than spend another dime ($3500) on it. I would not buy another GM product and I don't see how they stay in business with their lack of making things right with their customers, or at least me.
I was given a 2002 Buick Century with 32,000 miles this year and in reasearching known problems with the car I stumbled into the motherload of "Dexcool" problems on the internet. From what I can determine I will probably flush and fill the car coolant with Prestone Dexcool which is supposed to be compatible with Dexcool, but not have all the problems with the original Dexcool. Even so I don't expect the car to last much over 50,000 miles without major engine expenses. I expect the cost of repairs will exceed the value of the car and I will end up junking this Buick prematurely too.
GM started putting Dexcool in their cars as far back as 1995 and I think they still might be using it. If everything is ideal and nothing goes wrong with a car (i.e. like low coolant level or overheatiing) some people have gotten reasonable service life from cars with Dexcool. The thing is that it is hard to keep a GM car with Dexacool "ideal" in the real world. GM says consumers should check the coolant level every gas fillup. I check it daily and their cars still crap out with cooling system problems.
oh my! that doesnt sound good my dads truck does say "low coolant" all the time but and the truck is not running Is it because of that MY friend who looked at the truck top to bottom and literally everything over a course of a few weeks, said that everything mechanical was working fine but the ECU had to be reprogrammed for $100 at the dealer......I put quick start into the intake, the engine did start to run so maybe he's right. Im just thinking of any other possibilities
Thanks for the explanation
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2009 Toyota Corolla
my dads truck does say "low coolant" all the time
MY friend who looked at the truck top to bottom and literally everything over a course of a few weeks, said that everything mechanical was working fine but the ECU had to be reprogrammed for $100 at the dealer......I put quick start into the intake, the engine did start to run so maybe he's right. Im just thinking of any other possibilities
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