100% agree, I was just talking in terms of the LIM gaskets. DEX or any other antifreeze product for cars does exactly what you mentioned is is far more valuable to the engine then straight water.

 

Isn't that something, when you worked there was there a dennis novak in sales? I know he was there in the 80's but not sure how much before that. I'd ask if you knew my mechanic but I don't think he was there in the 70's.

 

Something else about the gaskets, I asked my mechanic why did gm design nylon gaskets in the first place, it was a dumb idea. He didn't have to much to say except they learned from there mistake and redesigned them, probably why the series 3's had aluminum, we had that conversation 1 year ago when he had to tear into mine to replace the nylon gaskets with the aluminum gaskets.

 

Well the 5yr. 150,000 mile i would never wait that long. I was told if the DEX, starts to turn brown in the coolant bottle that's the right time to change it out. I had mind flushed out at around 37,000 miles, i am now at 45, 800 in its still very orange looking .So when you see brown in the bottle time to change, if you see dark brown or it almost looks black with a smell, that's when the problems arise.

 

I changed the Dex out of my 3400 after my uncle told me it can cause problems. I figured that since he builds cars he knows what he's talking about. LOL

 

I still have it in my monte, I'll just have to make a habit of every few years get it flushed out. As long as it doesn't gum up my system I'm not going to let it worry me to much, especially as much problems as people have when they mix dexcool and the old green coolant.

 

Well, I'm pretty sure you aren't supposed to mix them. You have to completely flush the system before putting in regular coolant. After that, I've read that you can't go back to Dex. How true that is, I don't know.

 

Keep something in mind... GM does not actually make their gaskets. They have companies like FelPro or Mr. Gasket make them to specific specs and put their name on them (which just means the gaskets meet their requested specs). The thing I don't know, in their respective specs, did they specify the backing material (in this case, nylon).

In all honesty, it does not matter if you put green stuff in a DEX car without a full flush, but as I understand, you don't want to put DEX in a non-DEX car (reason, I don't know, there might not be a reason). DEX as I understand is an additive pre-added to the anti-freeze you buy (why the different color, not sure). If you mix the two, it may discolor your antifreeze, but beyond that, it will function fine with no ill side effects.
Heck, go to your parts store, look at the back of almost all Anti-Freeze bottles. Most, if not all will say "Compatible with any color Anti-Freeze", meaning it can be mixed with DEX. Guess what color anti-freeze is in all those bottles with that message.... Green....

Properly maintained, DEX is not the issue.

 

I don't think it's Dex-Cool. At one point I blaimed it on Dex-Cool too, but I don't feel that way anymore. My parents had a 3800 Bonneville and the intakes failed as usual...

That being said, my 3500 Monte has over 175K on it, and i've never had a gasket issue. I think the problem is with the gaskets, not the coolant. I've run Dex-Cool and nothing but Dex-Cool since new.

The other thing I will say is, change Dex-Cool as often as regular. I don't trust or follow the 5yr 150K claim. I change about every 25-30K.

 

They're plastic gaskets, I think anything will really deteriorate them.. That's why so many people go with aluminum. Mine have fortunately lasted to date, with a little over 91k miles on my car.

I know they'll go sometime soon, hopefully later than sooner.. but I already have the gaskets to do the job either way