May 26th 2006.
News item
of the week:
Here's
a list of models targeted by lawsuits against GM over
engine coolants and gaskets.
Any of
the following vehicles from model years 1995 through
2004, sold with a 3.1, 3.4, 3.8
or 4.3-liter
V6 engine and Dex-Cool coolant:
# Chevrolet
and GMC S/T Blazer, Jimmy, Sonoma, S10 pickup, GMC
Envoy.
# Buick
Century, Rendezvous, Riviera, Park Avenue Regal and
LeSabre.
# Chevrolet
Lumina and Lumina APV, Venture, Malibu, Monte Carlo
and Impala.
# Oldsmobile
Alero, Bravada, Cutlass, Silhouette, Ninety-Eight,
Eighty-Eight and Intrigue.
# Pontiac
Trans Sport, Grand Am, Montana, Grand Prix, Aztek
and Bonneville.
A federal
judge may soon rule whether General Motors Corp. will
face a national class action
accusing
GM of selling millions of vehicles with a faulty coolant.
The suits
stem from GMs' use of Dex-Cool, a coolant it first
introduced in its vehicles in 1995
and sold
in more than 35 million cars and trucks between 1995
and 2004.
According
to GM, 14 federal and state lawsuits seeking class-action
status have been filed
against
GM over a variety of engine problems linked to Dex-Cool.
Customers
have complained of problems ranging from small coolant
leaks to complete radiator
and engine
failure. Court documents show that GM has received
tens of thousands of repair
requests
related to Dex-Cool and engine gaskets in the affected
models and considered recalls
for some
models.
The company
has issued several technical bulletins to its dealers
about cooling related problems
in the engines,
but says it prefers to handle customer complaints
on a case-by-case basis.
When GM
introduced the orange-coloured Dex-Cool, it said in
owners manuals that Dex-Cool
could last
up to five years or 100,000 miles without being replaced,
and later extended Dex-Cools
life to
150,000 miles. Dex-Cool uses a different set of chemicals
to protect engine parts than traditional
green-coloured coolant,
which requires more frequent replacement, and
GM was the first U.S. auto maker
to use it.
Attorneys
for the owners say that clause means GM should repair
any DexCool related problems,
even if
they crop up outside the engine's typical 3-year or
36,000-mile engine warranty.
GM claims
that the owners manual clause was not a warranty,
but a service interval. In its court filings,
the automaker
says Dex-Cool "has performed without problems in
the vast majority of GM vehicles."
Six of the
federal lawsuits have been consolidated in a federal
court in East St. Louis, Ill. U.S. District
Judge G.
Patrick Murphy could rule at any time whether the cases,
which have about 100 named plaintiffs,
should be
granted class-action status, meaning they could represent
millions of former and current GM owners.
Three similar
lawsuits has been filed in Canada, while a state
lawsuit in Missouri has already won class-action
status,
a decision GM is appealing.
The troubles
blamed on Dex-Cool range from leaking coolant to
blown engines, and often include failed intake
manifold
gaskets, pieces that rest between the engine block
and the air intake to prevent coolant and oil from leaking.
Replacing
a gasket usually runs about $700, but a bad gasket
can cause enough damage that the engine has to be replaced.
Mixing
Dex-Cool with another coolant can cause other problems,
and GM doesn't recommend using other coolants in
Dex-Cool
engines, although some mechanics do swap coolants.
Many of
the complaints say the problems appear to begin around
60,000 miles, well beyond the engines warranty
but sooner
than many customers believe they should have problems
with their cooling systems.
A few have
been reported as early as 20,000 miles.
What has
been our experience?
The lawsuit
is right on the button.
We have
had to spend hours disassembling engines and
spooning out the dreaded yellow Jell-O.
(Actually
it's orange in colour, but orange doesn't rhyme).
Why did
GM ever do this in the first place? In order to boast,
along with platinum spark plugs and long life air filters
that their
vehicles didn't need a tune up for 100,000 miles (160,000
Km).
Of course,
all they're really doing is going for a quick sale
and the hope that nothing goes wrong before the warranty
expires.
But this
one has come back to bite them.
There isn't
and never was anything wrong with good old green
Prestone, except that the cooling system needs
a good
flushing
every 3 years or so.
($69.95,
compared with $500 to clear out the Jello-O, assuming
the engine isn't shot).
Not so much
because the anti-freeze is no longer anti, but because
the other additives that protect the inherently porous
aluminium
castings can no longer seal everything completely
as they're supposed to do.
According
to what I hear, the Jell-O reacts very strongly with
any extraneous material, including chlorine.
Of course,
chlorine is found in most tap waters so, the instant
you mix up a batch of DexCool and tap water, you
are on
your way
to overheating problems.
We keep
DexCool on the shelf to service GM cars and we use
distilled water as the mixer.
However,
there is absolutely no reason why a GM vehicle cannot
be converted to the use of Prestone, or another green
equivalent,
providing the whole cooling system is machine flushed.
Don't try
to do this yourself, you will probably leave residual
Jell-O in the system and you'll have defeated the whole
purpose
of the flush.
If it were
my GM vehicle, I'd flush the DexCool out of it as soon
as possible and forget "100,000 miles of no-maintenance
- (LOL)".
