catdaddy137

the parts/tools listed are -, vac n fill ,-, J-42401-2 , and J-42401-3 . one is a cap and the is air accuated vacume tool. i got this info off manual on cd i got off ebay. you may be able to find a dealer or local shop or someone on here that can give you all the instructions. i would think that any vacume tool may work as long as it has a port to add the coolant , that is if you could find a way to attach it to one of the coolant hoses. but again i am guessing about this. also again if i need to to mine i will probably try just draining and adding coolant. then keep a close eye on the temp. if i got no problem then i wouldn't worry about all that vacume stuff.

Snoopy

Nahhhh, that "vacuum stuff" isn't anything to worry about UNTIL you have the overheat problem.......75 miles from home !!! (don't ask me how I know).

skyeglen

Thanks guys. Got the stat changed without too many $%#@*^ words. Never did find a drain plug on the water pump so I was unable to really get all the green stuff out like I wanted. I will start the refill now and be very persistant while keeping a close eye on the temp guage(s).

Oh, and the rubber seal around the center of the stat had come loose on one side and was wedged underneath the center opening keeping a very small opening from sealing.

Thanks again for all the advise.

catdaddy137

oops , i forgot to mention that it is good to cary extra jug of water , coolant , wine , or whatever your prefered beverage may be.

skyeglen

For the car or the driver????

wysguy

Prestone makes one, (info here) and if you scroll down that page, they also sell Dex-Cool based coolant.

I'm also not saying its good or bad, nor am I endorsing it, I'm just saying the shop I worked in uses this stuff because it saves them money by not having to stock 2 separate coolants.

skyeglen

Thanks wysguy, I didn't know that. I've used Zerex Dex-Cool before and it is the same pinkish color as the GM stuff so when I saw the lime green stuff in the cooling system I assumed (yeah, I know ) that it was not a Dex product.

I will check and see if the Prestone Dex or other brands of Dex may be the lime green or are all brands of Dex the pinkish color?

Snoopy

My Prestone Dex-Cool is the pinkish color.

upnorthhhr

I have heard from several people that they always pull out the DexCool and put in the standard antifreeze after the warranty period. Something about DexCool being very hard on the internals???

Anyone else ever heard of this?

pitbull76

There's a few problems that have been at least partially blamed on Dex-cool but I think they are mostly design issues in the engines that caused the problems. I am aware of problems with dex-cool sludging up in Vortec V-6's from the late 90s, and some people blame the intake manifold issues in the 3.1/3.4 V-6 and the head gasket/intake manifold issues on the 3.8 on dex-cool as well. I think the gasket issues are really a GM design issue with those motors and not a Dex-cool problem.