Looking for opinions on use of dexcool. I have heard that it will cause the gaskets to deteriorate too soon. But dexcool is recommended for a chevy diesel.

First of all Welcome to THE PLACE, I believe this has been well discussed before and your question could best be answered by doing a search and reading the FAQ sticky that TD has put together for all to read.

Also If you have a 6.5 please create a signature and list them there so all can see what truck we are answering questions about.
And again welcome to the forum

I have heard similar at the parts counter before about Deathcool, but it seems this happens more to gassers than to us in the world of diesel. Not to say it can't happen, but ours seems to be blown head gasket from a high compression engine/high boost pressure.

Dexcool doesn't seem to like plastic in gasket materials. Not a problem for us in our diesels. I have been very happy with dexcool over the years, casting stays clean, no aluminum errosion, no silicate build up on the radiator, because it doesn't have silicates. I am even running it in my 24v cummins conversion.
I work on grasshopper lawnmowers with kubota diesels that also come with factory fill of dexcool. No coolant related issues.;)

Looking for opinions on use of dexcool. I have heard that it will cause the gaskets to deteriorate too soon. But dexcool is recommended for a chevy diesel.
hi,
I have some experience with a Dexcool conversion in my gas powered Caprice.....In short dont do it unless the engine is new or has had Dexcool in it since new. :badidea:


If the silicate based (green) coolant has been in the engine for any time at all, it will leave a coating that is incompatible with the chemical makeup of Dexcool or any red coolant. The coating precipitates out into the Dexcool and clogs up everything. I ended up switching back to the green after being forced to do multiple flushes. The Dexcool tech rep was very helpful though; wish I had called him first. :eek:

A better fit for us here in 6.5 land might be Shell's Rotella ELC coolant. Though, I haven't used it yet, I am planning to. According to Shell's product literature, ( http://www.rotella.com/products/index.php )you only need to drain out the existing fluid and add theirs.


(http://www.rotella.com/products/index.php)