I just learned a valuable lesson today.
Don't trust a shop to know your truck/Duramax.
I just took my truck into a well known radiator shop today for it's 1st flush. (It's first 5 year one). I had read countless 'how-to' DIY threads on the topic but I just didn't feel like dealing with all the issues (what ever happened to top fill caps and bottom petcock valves?) I also don't like the messy disposal issues.
When they finished the job I looked at the bill and noticed that the shop put in 2 gals of DexCool. I quickly pulled out my Duramax Owners Manual and noted that the Cooling capacity was almost 25 quarts - thus needing at least 3 gals of DexCool to provide a 50/50 ratio. I showed it to the service manager and he said, "Well, I looked it up and my computer shows it takes only 21 quarts - and we generally have a 2 gal rule of thumb for V-8s.
I stood my ground and explained the math to the guy (1/2 of 25 is 12.5 quarts which is much closer to 3 gals than 2 gals) and told him that the mixture is now too diluted. I said I'm sorry that this didn't get done correct... But that's why I came to this shop - thinking that I wouldn't have to educate them. They specialize in cooling systems. He spent the next 10 mins still looking at the computer saying, it shows 21. I then said, "well, unless it shows 16 quarts - 2 gals is still too little to achieve a 50-50 ratio".
The shop owner then came up and when I explained what my concern was and showed him the Duramax manual, he immediately had them pull my truck back in, re-flush the system (adding 3 new gals of Dexcool this time).
I'm sure that in the long run it may have never have caused a problem - but it sure made me feel better getting it right.
My takeaway on all of this is that you don't have to always know how to do a certain job - but you should always research it to know the basic steps/parts.
Don't trust a shop to know your truck/Duramax.
I just took my truck into a well known radiator shop today for it's 1st flush. (It's first 5 year one). I had read countless 'how-to' DIY threads on the topic but I just didn't feel like dealing with all the issues (what ever happened to top fill caps and bottom petcock valves?) I also don't like the messy disposal issues.
When they finished the job I looked at the bill and noticed that the shop put in 2 gals of DexCool. I quickly pulled out my Duramax Owners Manual and noted that the Cooling capacity was almost 25 quarts - thus needing at least 3 gals of DexCool to provide a 50/50 ratio. I showed it to the service manager and he said, "Well, I looked it up and my computer shows it takes only 21 quarts - and we generally have a 2 gal rule of thumb for V-8s.
I stood my ground and explained the math to the guy (1/2 of 25 is 12.5 quarts which is much closer to 3 gals than 2 gals) and told him that the mixture is now too diluted. I said I'm sorry that this didn't get done correct... But that's why I came to this shop - thinking that I wouldn't have to educate them. They specialize in cooling systems. He spent the next 10 mins still looking at the computer saying, it shows 21. I then said, "well, unless it shows 16 quarts - 2 gals is still too little to achieve a 50-50 ratio".
The shop owner then came up and when I explained what my concern was and showed him the Duramax manual, he immediately had them pull my truck back in, re-flush the system (adding 3 new gals of Dexcool this time).
I'm sure that in the long run it may have never have caused a problem - but it sure made me feel better getting it right.
My takeaway on all of this is that you don't have to always know how to do a certain job - but you should always research it to know the basic steps/parts.
