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  #1  
Old 01-03-2002, 09:34 AM
LarryBible
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Anyone ever heard of antifreeze "gelling"?

I have a friend who was told by their Chevy dealer that the reason their heater did not work was because the anti-freeze is gelling. They said that when air contacts the environmentally friendly anti-freeze that is being used it gels.

Has anyone ever heard about this? Is this typical dealership hog wash?

Thanks for your help,

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  #2  
Old 01-03-2002, 09:58 AM
G-Benz's Avatar
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I'm no expert, but if that were the case, wouldn't the stuff "gel" when you opened the jug to pour in the contents?

Also, wouldn't the manufacturers know about this when they developed the product?

Does your friend get the air in his tires changed regularly by the same dealership?
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  #3  
Old 01-03-2002, 11:33 AM
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Chevy Dealer = DexCool, DexCool = cooling system problems.

Perhaps this was a vague reference to the cooling system problems caused by DexCool?? Maybe the DexCool is precipitating solid matter, which is "gelling" in the heater core?

Mind you, just a guess.
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  #4  
Old 01-03-2002, 12:17 PM
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Larry:

Check out this thread. I cannot vouch for it's accuracy:

http://www.jags.org/TechInfo/2001/11Nov01/index.htm

I have used DexCool in a '95 model SUV from day one. It now has 125,000 miles - no problem. I do; however, change it annually and use a 50/50 mix of Dex Cool and distilled water. The inside of the radiator is spotless at each change. As this article eludes to, extended intervals may create gelling.
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  #5  
Old 01-03-2002, 01:49 PM
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Dexcool "coagulates" when a small leak is present, sealing the leak. Ive seen it happen many times around the coolant glow plugs on a VW diesel.
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  #6  
Old 01-03-2002, 02:25 PM
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Antifreeze can Gel

I had some really old Prestone that turned lumpy into liquid and blobs of gel, kinda like bad milk. Apparently due to age and being in a 1/4 full jug (lots of air).

Since then I have always tried to flush and change antifreeze every three years.

However, I don't know anything about environmentally friendly antifreeze.

Ken300D
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  #7  
Old 01-03-2002, 08:42 PM
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I'm not sure about the new anti-freeze but the old stuff such as Prestone will definetly gell in the cold if it is not mix with the proper water ratio. I've seen this many times when people use it straight out of the jug. Only in cold weather
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  #8  
Old 01-03-2002, 09:08 PM
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In Inuvik, it could be -55 for days. Anti-freeze would begin to solidfy, and tires were square. Too cold for driving.

I haven't heard of such a thing at "regular"cold temperatures.
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  #9  
Old 01-04-2002, 12:42 PM
moedip
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Hi From COLD Country

Here in Canada we get -30 to -40 degrees F constantly in winter. Have never heard of antifreeze gelling here - even undiluted in jug stored at -30F. Have not seen enviro friendly type up here. One strange thing that happened on my son's VW diesel last winter - he was down a quart of oil in the motor (5w-30 QUAKER STATE) and stopped at a garage for a quart of same grade oil but another brand and put into the crankcase. The car was still cold (-35F that night) and he started home. The engine started clanking and losing power. He stopped and waited 20 minutes and started it up again. The engine clanked but seemed to have more power so he drove it home SLOWLY 20 miles. The next day he checked the dipstick and it was clean -no oil. He took out the oil pan drain plug and nothing came out. Pushing the car into the heated garage he took off the oil pan and it hit the floor with a bang. -It was full of oil BUT THE OIL HAD TURNED TO THICK JELLY. We kept the oil in a plastic pail for months to show others who did not believe us. The strange part is - when the oil in the pail was warmed to above freezing - it became fluid again!! After rebuilding the engine we now stick to one brand of oil for changes and top ups. TRUTH CAME BE STRANGER THAN FICTION!!
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  #10  
Old 01-04-2002, 05:10 PM
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In the arctic, most of us used an oil pan warmer that we plugged in at night or when parked. My little Honda had a block heater, inline coolant heater, battery blanket and oil pan element. Never failed to start even in -60.

When out of town, you couldn't plug in, so we'd either leave the car running or put a flare-pot under the oil pan to keep the oil from solidifying.

One night, while in Fort McPherson, this "northern newbie" put a flarepot under his car with a fibreglass oil pan. POOF! We all got nice and toasty standing around his "inferno-car."

Back in about 1982, Porsche brought a bunch of cars up the Alaska highway, cold weather testing. It was one durn cold time, with about -50 to -55. They left the cars sitting outside their hotel, and in the morning, all of them were frozen solid. They had to be towed to a garage and thawed.

The guys driving the 911's looked VERY envious at the driver of the 928, with his liquid cooled car and it's heater core. I think the 911 guys were some of the few that were colder inside their cars than me in my Civic!
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  #11  
Old 01-05-2002, 05:02 PM
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I'm not sure but I think this post went into two different directions. Larry's initial post mentioned "environmentally friendly anti-freeze". DexCool is toxic which is not classified as "environmentally friendly".

I do not have any experience with environmentally friendly anti-freeze but I do have experience with DexCool. I have used DexCool in my non-Mercedes cars for the past 2 years with no gelling. The jug of DexCool states that with a 50/50 mixture with a pressure cap at 15psi it is good down to -34 Deg. F. This does not however state what the temperature rating is with the radiator cap off or sitting in the jug which would be at a higher temperature.
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  #12  
Old 05-20-2014, 08:08 AM
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antifreeze gelling

Today I was cleaning up the garage and wanted to combine two partial containers of Prestone anti-freeze. The one I was pouring from was no less than 20 years old. The flow quickly became lumpy due to gelled contents. So, yes, I can confirm that it gels up inside a closed, but half-full container. (This sort of thing may also be part of the reasoning behind scheduled changes of coolant.)
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  #13  
Old 05-20-2014, 09:29 AM
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I will offer up a couple things to this suggestion, since I have been around GM products for a very long time. Dex-cool uses organic acid technology, which is why many dealers will claim it is environmentally safe (even though it really isn't from what I've read). Based on the OP description, and the fact that it is gelling, I would venture to say I am 90% sure the vehicle has the GM factory installed dexcool in it. Dexcool supposedly will last for longer service intervals, provided no air gets into the system. Even a bad radiator cap on one of these can cause fuel gelling - believe me I have been there. It is awful to flush out too. On my current 99 Yukon (that had original antifreeze when I bought it last year) I had to disconnect the hoses to the heater core and pour flush/use hose spray to get all of the gelled up junk out of there. Same thing with the radiator. I then poured distilled water through until I was sure that I had gotten everything I possibly could have out. My Yukon had the same symptom though - almost no heat because the heater core was so clogged up.

Dex-Cool like anything needs to be changed out at proper intervals. When it isn't, then bad things happen. The other problem is that many of the GM v6 and v8 engines are prone to intake manifold gasket leaks, which allows a lot of air to mix with the cooling system. If your friend wants to keep that vehicle for a while and it is no longer under warranty, his best bet would be to have an independent mechanic flush out all of the Dexcool and use regular ethylene-glycol coolant with a new radiator cap. I have done this on every GM truck I have owned and been very pleased with the results. It is important to make sure that every trace of DexCool is out before changing to the green stuff. If he really wanted to go high tech, he could put Mercedes blue coolant in there which would be better for his aluminum parts, but that is quite of bit of money considering the capacity of those cooling systems.
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  #14  
Old 05-20-2014, 05:45 PM
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I've got Texaco antifreeze in the shed from 25 years ago.

I wonder what it looks like? I might have to pour some and take a look!
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  #15  
Old 05-20-2014, 08:25 PM
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dex cool gel

A friend of mine mixed dex cool with the coolant in their car because they had it laying around from another car. It gelled the whole system! we found out you cannot mix dex cool with certain other types of antifreeze.Everything had to be taken apart and cleaned.real bad scene and very expensive

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