http://www.dexcoolsettlement.com
is the site for info on the Dex-Cool settlement.

Bogus lawsuit based on a complete lack of knowledge of why the intake gaskets actually failed...

For all the vehicles in GM history, as far as I know there was one head gasket that for whatever reason didn't work out with Dex-cool. They were all covered under factory warranty and outside of original factory 36/36,000 a special policy covered them up to (I think) 100,000 miles.

So from that, apparently some lawyer thinks that Dex-Cool can ruin plastic.

I've posted before, it was thermal expansion of an aluminum head on an iron block tightened with steel bolts that crushed the gaskets after continuous heat cycling.

The GM intake gasket failures were stopped by the introduction of a new (still plastic) gasket with anti-crush steel pills located on 2 sides of each of the 4 corner bolts. The new gaskets dont fail.

Any settlement on the issue is simply to avoid legal expense...just like most other settlements in this litigous society we call home...

Mike

So this is basically a bad design, or maybe a bad combination of components that cause the issue, not the Dex-Cool itself? Who actually makes Dex-Cool?

Mike,

I have to say you are wrong on this one. Victor/Rienz, who is one of the worlds largest gasket mfg and the supplier of gaskets for the company I work for. They provided us tech data a couple of years ago, when making a design change to help cure this problem. They even had to change the compound of the bead seal on these gaskets.

ALL mfg of those intake gaskets have changed the plastic material to a different compound or gone to aluminum coated gasket, because of the acid that is created when using Dex-cool in an engine with iron block & alum heads.

Granted, a crush limiter was added with the new design, but even GM now uses a different plastic

I have heard of many techs who have put conventional anti-freeze back in and have zero problems.

GM will never admit this or it would bankrupt them.

The, Governor / Dan Logan

I've seen the service end through-out the whole ordeal. Every different gasket they came out with (yes the materials changed along the way as well) continued to fail.

The revision prior to what is current had the new fancy plastic and everything else...but they still failed until they put in the crush limiters.

The coolant doesn't go bad until there is a leak present which causes a low enough level to super-oxygenate the mixture which does indeed turn the coolant bad (acidic). It is the presence of Oxygen which causes corrosion. As we know, 2 dis-similar metals and an acidic mixture creates a battery. Chrysler used to have a problem with bad coolant creating voltage which screwed up PCM signals...those cars used green coolant...I don't know how Chrysler resolved the problem as it was early in my career, but I never heard about any class-action Green Coolant lawsuit.

I have NEVER seen a problem with a dex-cool system that did not have a leak somewhere that was allowed to go too long. If it isn't a current leak and the coolant is bad, it is because something happened in the vehicle's history and the cooling system was never cleaned thoroughly enough.

Same thing happens with green coolant.

Mike

Correct.

I forget which company, but it's one of the major coolant manufacturers.

So for a quick summary.

Coolant leaks are the cause of bad coolant, not the effect of it.

So I guess I can see why a company analyzing the coolant in a vehicle with a gasket failure would always find bad coolant...

I have sold the gaskets with the crush limiters and they still come back defective. The only gaskets that I have seen that don't leak again are the metal design ones. I know of many shops here in Saginaw that will only use those now. They were using the plastic ones with the metal sleaves and they used the new torque procedures GM came out with and they still failed. Like Governor said the manufactures blamed it on the Dex Cool turning to acid. I personally try to only sell the metal ones. They come in a kit with other gaskets needed for the job and are just a little more money.

And as for who makes DexCool all of mine comes in Prestone bottles, and that is the only kind I have ever seen that specifically says Dex-Cool.

I agree, i have personaly used both designs, plastic w/ sleeves, and coated alum, the coated alum ones are the only ones i have had yet to come back when useing dexcool for the fill, but i have used the plastic ones w/ green coolant and have NOT had a problem w/ them. i was told at an auto seminare, that Dex cool is made from a citric acid base, (kinda like rv anitfrreze) to be friendly to the enviroment..any truth to that?

Dexcool is the same Ethylene-Glycol based fluid as green coolant but it has an extended-life additive package. The "environmentally friendly" Sierra antifreeze is the one you are thinking of with the non-toxic Propylene-Glycol base. Propylene glycol is sold in healthfood stores and is also used as an evaporation regulator for things like Cigar Humidors

Jay and Fastwon- Have you been only using aftermarket gaskets? I cannot speak for any of those...never seen them.
But the latest GM ones are fine. I have yet to see a production vehicle with an intake leak since they were released.

Mike

We have had no problems with any replacement gaskets and we have done many of them. Most people who have problems do not believe in maintance,just blame the maker if something goes wrong cause you are ignorant. I have 150,000 on my 2000 Grand Am GT and have never has a leak. It was flushed and treated a few times in the last 8 years.
What happens to anything you squeeze between 2 other things tightly and heat and cool it. It flattens and abrades and saws back and forth until you can see the tracks.
I put many leaking intake gaskets on way before dexcool or plastic gaskets. The plastic is superior by far cause it leaks zero fluids for many years. Every other gasket will have a slow leak from day one. Maybe it will never fail,(many do)but it will always leak.
People forget we battle mother nature every day and she always wins. Keeping a zero leak gasket for 100,000 miles of abuse is a good job by the makers.
Our tennis shoes wear out every year but who sues Nike?

When did they come out with the new gaskets? I know I have been selling them for the 2004 and 2005's. Plus what about the 3.8 liter motors? They have had problems with those since the dexcool came out too. I sell alot of those each week too.

I know this will upset some,as being a Tec. in delearships and non oem repair shops I have seen too many tec.s that do not follow correct proseedures[useally no or high torq.]. Then wonder why the fix dos'nt work.

Yeah...There's hacks in all walks of life....Procedures are important.

The problem with the 3.8L is the EGR pipe in the lower plenum melting the upper plenum. GM sells a new lower plenum, and aftermarket has come out with a way to replace the tube with a smaller one like the new GM part has. Nothing to do with Dex-Cool (again).

Dex-Cool, and all of the newer OEM coolants are all non-silicate based coolants, they are not
the same as the old green coolant we know and love.
There has also been some talk of the sealant tablets that were installed in the early use of Dex-Cool
that were not compatible, though that is only rumor.
And as I've found regarding the 2.8/3.1/3.4 intakes you are referring to, the original designs split
along the o-ring grooves, which gives creedance to the TSB's relating to this problem.
Using the new versions of these gaskets(Fel-Pro) have held up very well.

As far as the last part, I still see 3.4l v-6's with weeping intakes(06-07's) ocasionally,
so I personally think they have work to do.

I only said that Dex-Cool has the same active ingredient as Green coolant (Ethylene Glycol) which is the "anti-freeze" base to which the recipe is formulated around.

The sealant tabs that GM uses are 100% organic vegetable matter. Not likely that there is any truth to that rumor.

As for gasket "weeping"... This does not constitue a leak. Simply having enough moisture to attract some dust that sticks to it one time, in itself is not a problem. Did you know that water evaporates through rubber radiator and heater hoses? The vaporized water molecules can fit through pores in the rubber and the coolant cannot. I know there's more than one type of rubber, and I'm sure that this is more true on some than others.

Mike