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In Appreciation of John Hinckley -
Re: When did the DEX-COOLRrequirement Begin
I will say from my experence the G-05 will find a leak if there is a marginal seal somewhere in your cooling system. It's the salts in the old green that keeps that from happening but when I switched in my 67 there was some seepage (wet) in a place around the intake manifold water outlet.
I just can't bring myself to use those stop leak tablets that are discussed here because they can't be good for aluminum radiators.Comment
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In Appreciation of John HinckleyComment
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Re: When did the DEX-COOLRrequirement Begin
i believe what those pellets are are ginger root.Comment
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Re: When did the DEX-COOLRrequirement Begin
Can you but the pellets in the aftermarket or what is the GM part #?Comment
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Re: When did the DEX-COOLRrequirement Begin
some more info. In answer to some of the cooling system issues that are commonplace in these forums I think that rather than complaining about the (Supposed) shortcomings of the engines it's best to provide solutions to the problems.
The GM coolant supplement pellets are made by the same company that markets the BarsLeak brand. The powdered BarsLeak gold is the same as the GM supplement. The BarsLeak in the jar with the brown liquid has the same material for sealant as the GM supplement but includes the soluable oil (brown liquid) to make it easier to pour in.
The water pump does not need any sort of lubricant....
There are other sorts of sealers and brands on the market. I personally only recommend the conventional BarsLeak, BarsLeak Gold or the GM coolant supplement based on the extremely successful testing I have done in the past with those products.
The ingredient in the coolant supplement is ground up ginger root and walnut shells. The fibers in the ginger root mat in a leak and swell when exposed to the air on the other side of the leak to seal it. The other sealers that use metallic components (such as BarsLeak Liquid Aluminum or the Solder Seal sealant) are definitely NOT recommended. The GM sealant and/or the BarsLeak brand is better because of the ability of the sealant to seal any coolant seepages without doing any other harm to the system. The main focus of the recommendation to use the supplement is to
protect against any internal seepages that would put coolant into the oil and be invisible otherwise. The ground up ginger root has proven to be one of the best imaginable cooling system sealers through the process of elimination. It just works better than anything else currently known and is basically harmless to the cooling system otherwise.
The use of cooling system sealers is widespread in the automotive industry and elsewhere. Most makers install the supplement at the factory.Comment
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Re: When did the DEX-COOLRrequirement Begin
Clem,
Thanks for the information about the ginger root, it's always good to know what these products consist of, at least I know the cooling system will not be damaged if I ever decide to use these products.Comment
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Re: When did the DEX-COOLRrequirement Begin
I am not familiar with the cooling system on 1992 and newer (LT1 & LT4) Corvettes, but I am familiar with it on 1994 to 1996 full size Chevrolets (LT1 & L99). In the full size Chevrolets there is a plastic flow restrictor in the hose to the heater core. That restrictor commonly becomes plugged with the resultant loss of heat to the passenger cabin. The cause of this blockage is those sealing pellets -- which Chevrolet put into these cooling systems at the car assembly plant. Even the 1994 & 1995 cooling systems which had green anti freeze got that sealant. I don't regard that as "basically harmless to the cooling system."
I have G05 in both my Caprices. They were built with Green coolant, but the State of North Carolina converted them to Dex-Cool before I got them. I did the conversion to G05 with NO sealant. No leaks in daily operation for over a decade and several hundred thousand miles. The bottom line, however, is they are your car(s) -- do what you want.
FWIW There is G05 in my 1970 Corvette and soon there will be in my 2008 Corvette as well.TerryComment
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Re: When did the DEX-COOLRrequirement Begin
Timothy-----
The GM part number for the tabs is 3634621. This is a package of 6 LARGE pellets (about 1" OD and 3/8" thick)
The supplement is also available through the Delco parts system under Delco #10-108, aka GM #12378255. These tabs come 5 to a package and are smaller but the instructions say adding the 5 will work for cooling systems up to 32 quarts capacity.
And, as clem mentions, the same product is available under the Bar's Leak brand.
DSCN2684.jpgIn Appreciation of John HinckleyComment
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Re: When did the DEX-COOLRrequirement Begin
Terry, the flow restrictor is there on the Corvette LT1's at least on my 92 and a 94 I've worked on. Funny that there's no info or pics of them in the FSM's.
i agree with Joe that GM isn't looking for profit with the pellets. However, I have 6 years on regular ol green Prestone, 3 flushes/changes with zero leaks/usuage without the pellets. Just sayin'Comment
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Re: When did the DEX-COOLRrequirement Begin
Thanks Clem, Joe and Terry. I think the gasket technology is much better today for sealing coolant passages in modern engines.
Terry, have you ever noticed coolant seepage around the intake to head interface in the front water passage on your LT-1 with G-05? I would not even call mine a leak but it seems like it seeped through the NOS gasket I installed on the car and sometimes you can take a napkin and slide it down and it gets wet with a drop or two of G-05. No problems under pressure, it's just after it sits for a week or so.Comment
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Re: When did the DEX-COOLRrequirement Begin
Bill and Terry------
Yes, the flow restrictor is actually called a VALVE by GM. Various configuration restrictors are used on many GM cars and for at least the last 25 years. They are plastic and they do break. In fact, I had a smog inspection technician get scalded when he was "rooting around" under the hood of my old Cadillac Eldorado during a biannual inspection and the valve suddenly broke, spewing out hot coolant.
The 92+ Corvette valve is GM #10157988, aka Delco #15-5423. This valve is also used on the Impala/Caprice/Roadmaster applications.In Appreciation of John HinckleyComment
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Re: When did the DEX-COOLRrequirement Begin
No I haven't, but A) The LT1 in the full size Chevrolet has iron heads
B) I re-gasketed both intakes due to oil leaks at the rear passenger side from the end seal in proximity to the exhaust to EGR pipe. I did use SERVICE GM intake gaskets, but the gold colored RTV for the end seals -- there are some advantages to not being judged in ANY venue.
TerryComment
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