GM has reached settlement in a class action lawsuit stemming from alleged defects in Dex-Cool, the GM developed coolant used in GM vehicles since the mid-1990’s. Under the terms of the settlement, those who owned certain V-6 powered GM vehicles may be eligible for payments as large as $800 each.
The settlement applies to as many as 35 million customers and is considered one of the largest products liability lawsuits against any automaker.
Dex-Cool was blamed for cooling system failures, including leaks and clogged radiators.
Under the provisions of the settlement, only those who have paid for Dex-Cool related repairs will receive payments. The amount to be paid will depend on the age of the vehicle at the time of repairs, with the largest sums paid to those whose vehicles were closest to new in age at the time of the repairs. Those who made multiple repairs will be able to claim multiple payments.
The settlement applies only to those who purchased GM vehicles with 3.1, 3.4. 3.8, and 4.3 liter V-6 engines within 7 years and 150,000 miles of new.
General Motors has previously claimed that Dex-Cool, the first of the organic acid technology based coolants (OAT) used by a major auto manufacturer, was not responsible for the various problems attributed to it by some vehicle owners. It has taken the position that problems attributed to Dex-Cool were the result of improper vehicle maintenance by owners are commingling Dex-Cool with non OAT coolants.GM’s spokesperson indicated that GM elected to reach the settlement because pending lawsuits were “time consuming and expensive.”
The settlement applies to residents of all states except Missouri. Missouri residents are covered by a separate, but similar, settlement.
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-----The orginal Mr.Goodwrench on the JBO since 11/99-----
The only time I have seen clogged cooling systems in these engines was when stop leak was used at the factory. MIxing Pink with green sure does make a mess.
I suppose the coolant leaking refers to the lower manifold gasket. It was simply a crap part. Once replaced with a decent part and the owner advised that proper heat cycling of the engine is important, the issue would not return. Even still, GM would replace the gasket out of warranty. For those who didn't notice their low coolant level I say, too bad. At least open your damn hood once in a while, or have the dealer check when they are changing the oil.
I would never leave Dexcool in a car for more than 4 years. I don't care what they say.
Craig Lewis wrote:I would never leave Dexcool in a car for more than 4 minutes..
sorry. not a fan. i've opened cooling systems with 20k using dexcool, and it had more gunk built up (looked like an odd mix of calcium and little tiny black beads) than an old truck that hadnt had its coolant flushed in over 300k. none of my cars will EVER see dexcool again.
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Sooo.... are they still going to use dex cool or whats the whole story behind this? I've never had an issue with this and i've owned my 99 for 6 years now and no issues.
I have never seen the black beads. I have not opened a cooling system myself in a while though or maybe I didn't look close enough. I have found Gunk! I was convinced someone had put green in my pink in my last car. I looked into it with the people that are supposed to know. Not a dealer anyway. I was assured it was simply stop leak. Not much better I'll admit. They could have been blowing smoke. So to speak.
I can't say that I'm a "fan". My understanding was that dexcool's biggest flaw was that it turned costic with time. The last shop I worked at did replace all coolants with green as standard practice. I would say most techs I have met feel the same way as you do.
On a side note,
I just had a 3100 equiped W-body towed away with lower manifold gasket pooched having never seen the pink. POS car!!!! 160,000km.
Craig Lewis wrote:
On a side note,
I just had a 3100 equiped W-body towed away with lower manifold gasket pooched having never seen the pink. POS car!!!! 160,000km.
heh heh... having never seen the pink...
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when I was an advisor for a chevy dealership we've seen so many of those intake leaks with the 3.4 especially I was surprised they didn't have a recall on them. but this is good news for quite a few people.
**changes are here**
I had a Chevy Beretta that blew out intake gaskets twice within 30,000 miles... it was a 96, first year with DexCool... but they were bad in 94/95 too... The 3100/3400 was a poor design on the intake to heads and the intake gaskets were junk.
Dan Trump
2004 Cavalier LS Sport - Victory Red
Cody@RD Fabs wrote:Sooo.... are they still going to use dex cool or whats the whole story behind this? I've never had an issue with this and i've owned my 99 for 6 years now and no issues.
I guess you have one of those ULTRA RARE 3.1/3.4/3.8/4.3lt. 1999 J bodies!
Now does it make sense that your 2.2/2.4 didn't have an issue?
I worked on projects for Ford when they were experimenting with using Dexcool and it had big issues.
The big problem is not "black beads", "gel" or "gunk". Rather, its Dexcool's need to eat through plastic, rubber, and silcone seals and components.
I have repaired many 3.8s that were sucking up antifreeze because the intake manifold and gaskets were eaten away. On test engines, it was eating the printed-on silicone seals on their head gaskets.
My personal coolant preference is Gold (G05) coolant.
Its the same as green coolant except it has no silicas, which are abrasive that increase bearing (waterpump) and seal (waterpump) wear.
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Funny how my dads 96 K1500 with a 4.3 hasnt had a coolant leak yet. Finaly flushed out the cooling system a few years ago and put Dexcool back in. The intake gaskets that failed were a @!#$ part to begin with. Even with the old green stuff they would have still leaked.
A big problem with the 3800 was the EGR tube burning through the manifold. But even the old 3800 series I engines had coolant leaks.
Thanks Mr G bc the mother in law owns a 98 malibu with the 3.1 and in 07 she had the intake man gasket replaced due to it was leaking for some time,which I had located the leak,which I had to add dex several times due to the low coolant light popping up.I finally located the leak and pinpointed and she took it to a local gm dlr to have repaired.At the time the low coolant was not really super low (empty) just a little to keep it above the coolant level sensor in the resevoir.At least she can recoup some money for the cost of repair.Thx
