poor 1997 pontiac grand am

[ViviTheMage]

I was just checking the GFs car quick, and replaced her low beam bulb, and was checking out her coolant, because I read something about a law suit with dex cool....and I put my finger in, as I noticed the coolant looked a bit funky.

I put my finger in and out came brown chunky residue....this does not seem normal. Is this apart of that dex cool lawsuit? I had replaced the radiator about a year ago, because it was leaking pretty bad, was that a part of it too?

what issues will i be looking at, if i have pretty nasty gunking up in the radiator reservoir?


link to lawsuit

 

[mooseracing]

Is it oil type chunky? Is there coolant in the oil ? I would have more of a pro look at it as could just be some crap build up or more serious but hard to say over th enet.

 

[Jessica69]

I'd not expect to find ANY chunks of anything in my coolant.

But, I'd go all out and just get the whole system flushed and get the antifreeze replaced with something other than Dex-Cool coolant. And completely flush the system....Dex-Cool doesn't play nice with other coolants.....gumming up and gelatinizing, if that's a word, when mixed with other antifreezes is what I've been told by more than one knowledgeable mechanic.

And since you've already had a repair to part of your cooling system, and you're GF has the right year of Grand Am (but you didn't mention the engine size), you may want to take a look at these pages....it may affect her:


Dex Cool Litigation Website


Girard Gibbs website.....one of the attorney groups involved in the Dex Cool lawsuit...has good info on it, too.

 

[ViviTheMage]

I will be getting the system flushed.

I bought it for a grand from the dealership last year.

I had my buddy (GM mechanic) do an overhaul on the top end of the engine, down to the cyclander heads, replacing every gasket as we built it back up, VERY solid, no leaks.

Either way, we will be, most likely, flushing the coolant tomorrow and dumping in new stuff.