![]() Very, very, very rarely have I seen it actually be a bad sensor… although it usually gets the blame first. I’m leaning toward the radiator because once I get some air flow across it, the coolant temp gets back to normal.Īlso, the A/C is sometimes working great and blowing really cold and other times it is just slightly cold. So thoughts on what might be the issue, radiator, thermostat, sensor, water pump, something else? I’m pretty sure it’s not the sensor because sensors don’t fail in this manner (they fail either high or low). In fact, driving through the mountains this summer going up inclines, the car would tend to start overheating. So the radiator may not be operating at full capacity. Now when the coolant system was flushed, I am not completely sure that all that ‘mud’ was flushed out of the radiator. This caused the coolant to turn into ‘mud’ within the radiator and eventually the head gasket failed completely and I had to have that replaced along with putting in ethylene glycol to replace the DexCool. It originally had that crappy DexCool in it that then ate away at the cheap plastic head gasket causing oil to leak into the coolant system. These are less than a year old and are both operating as expected.Ī little history on the engine. I had the cooling fan assembly replaced last year after one of the fans failed. The coolant temperature seems to go up when the car is idling but when moving it starts to go back down to normal. It is still fluctuating however after the converter replacement. I recently had the check engine light on with the P0420 code which indicates a bad catalytic converter, I had that replaced and I was hoping that maybe the lack of exhaust flow through the converter was causing the overheating. Going from 200 degrees up to 240 sometimes 260 degrees. ![]() The coolant temperature started fluctuating recently. The car has 180K+ miles on the original engine. I've had a bunch of experiences, but there's plenty I have not first hand messed with.I have a 2002 Chevy Impala with the 3.4L engine. I'm curious, outside of gasket failure, what has DEX done to cause thousands of dollars of damage? If there is something I missed in my knowledge of the topic, I'm all ears (well, I guess in this case eyes). Again, I've seen the same gasket failures at the same mileage on cars with the green stuff. I speculate DEX was more of a scape goat at that point. Both manufacturers had the same problems. Nylon + ANY Coolant = BAD idea.įrom what I understand GM struggled with the gasket failure issues, they went between a couple gasket manufacturers (Fel Pro and Mr Gasket) to make the nylon gaskets. The claims of destroying nylon gaskets, I have seen the SAME gasket failure in cars that NEVER ran DEX. One WELL maintained car is a single owner '94 Formula Firebird (ran DEX from the factory WITH the crappy formula, routine flushes, no problems, currently about 70,000 miles).ĥ. I know a LOT of cars running DEX (some poorly maintained), zero issues related to DEX. Odds are there is not much difference in the chemical composition of DEX vs the current green stuff.Ĥ. All the ones I see in the stores now state they work with "any color anti-freeze". Not that EVERYTHING the manufacturer recommends is 100%, but they recommend it.ģ. I've done my reading on it to my satisfaction of what I need to know.Ģ. Here are the reasons I am willing to "chance" it:ġ. It has cost me easily over a thousand dollars thanks to that genius design.If you problems with Dex are in relation to nylon gaskets, then your problem is with the nylon gaskets. If you plan to flush it, that would be the time to switch to the green stuff if you are more comfortable with that over Dex (the green anti-freeze will not harm these engines either).ĭex is fine now? Why would you give this garbage another chance. Give the cooling system a proper flush, and I think you will be fine. So far, from what I hear, THAT is the fix. Fel-Pro makes an aluminum replacement gasket. I can tell you what IS the cause of LIM gaskets braking, they are nylon and the nylon cannot tolerate the high fluid temps. I've done enough lower intake gaskets on a couple of car that NEVER ran Dex (my 3100 powered Grand Am never had Dex in it and the gaskets went bad twice, roughly 80,000-100,000 miles). ![]() I got news for all those who feel Dex is to blame, it's NOT Dex. People believe Dex is why the lower intake gaskets break apart. Recommend you buy the Prestone with Dex (I flushed my Monte and my wife's Impala, refilled with Prestone with Dex).Ĥ. Like any fluid in the car (even the good ol' green Anti-Freeze), the coolant should be flushed.ģ.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |