Just learned about the Dexcool Disaster.  Another example of GM testing their cars in the field. 

Had a 1999 Cadillac Deville with a Northstar.  Over the years, the radiator split and it died last year.  Blown Headgasket.  New engine $5000 plus.  Sold the car for $700.  Glad to get that much!

1999 Suburban.  5.7L V8. Bad radiator in 2001 at 37,000 miles.  Blown Headgasket in 2004 at 90,000 miles.  Put in brand new Jasper engine.  Much better engine than stock GM crap but the intake maifold gasket went in 2006 at 130,000 miles.  Just found out about dexcool being a problem and took a look at the coolant last week. It is muddy and rusty.  Keep in mind, the coolant was changed in 2006.  (as well as 2001 and 2004.)  Going to clean up the neck of the radiator and the coolant overflow bottle and put a for sale sign on the rig.  Buyer beware!

2003 Silverado.  4.8L V8.  Different/improved coolant overflow system.  Plastic Coolant cap.  105,000 miles.  Coolant changed at 70,000 miles.  Coolant looks brand new.  Going to change it soon, just to keep up with things.

It seems that they just put a new coolant in old style systems back in the mid 90's with little research or testing.  Testing was done by John/Jane Q. Public at a very high cost to the consumer.   They figured out how to keep the contaminates out of the systems by the early to mid 2000's, but wont admit they did anything wrong with the older designs.

It just smacks of the Chevrolet Vega garbage in the early 70's, GM Diesel disaster in the late 70's, the Cadillac V8-6-4 lemon in 1981, the Cadillac HT4100 disaster in 1982, the Pontiac Fiero fires in the mid eighties, the GM 3.4L problems, the U-Body Minivan Crash test (Venture, Montana) in the 90's, the Northstar head gasket bolt problem, And now the Dexcool Disaster.  Mark of Excellence?  Mark of Disaster! 

I stumbled upon an ad in a magazine in late summer of 2008, that said I was entitled to make a claim for the work I had on my old Grand Am.

I filed online, submitting supporting documents that I scanned, using their online system. I was disappointed to learn that under the terms of the settlement, I was only entitled to $100 of the possible $400 I could have received, due to me sitting on getting the work done on my car when it developed the manifold gasket problem. Bear in mind, the fault was the same as someone claiming and receiving the full $400 - I just fell out of the five year, arbitary cutoff by a few months.

Yesterday (2/6/09) I received a standard form notice in the mail titled 'Notice of Deficiency' which states that my claim is deficient due to repairs occurring after 150,000 miles.

This is blatantly false, as the supporting documents showed that the mileage on the car when it was repaired a couple of years ago was around 55,000 miles. I doubt the car is even at 150,000 miles today, eight months after I traded it in at 70,000 miles.

I now have to return the signed letter, restating my claim and submit the sales receipt I had already scanned and sent in.

I suspect this is a scam, to restrict the payouts by inconveniencing the class members so it remains to be seen whether my claim will actually be honored.

 A few years ago my GMC Jimmy lost an intake gasket. It had 80,000 miles. I brought it to a dealership thinking they'd take care of me. Wrong! They said when this happens it usually takes out the crank bearings. They said it would be better to change them before they took out the crank. I figured it would be nice to know I could trust it after. Wrong again! About thirty miles after the new bearings it started rapping from the lower end. They tried to convince me it was piston slap, you know the other GM defect, and it was nothing to worry about. They insisted it was fine. 10 miles later it was about to throw a rod. I brought it back again. They then put in a new crankshaft, bearings and oil pump. That blew up! They put in yet another crank, bearings, and oil pump. That crank lasted, but the lifters were now tapping. They replaced the lifters and it still tapped. I then adjusted the rockers myself and it was OK. A month later the transmission died due to the recalled trans wiring harness. They paid for the harness, but not the transmission. A couple years later the intake gasket went again and I got rid of the truck. The dealership who put me through this hell was Hights' Chevrolet in Skowhegan Maine. Last week my Cadillac Seville stopped putting out heat. Today I spent five hours flushing that miserable Dex Cool out of it. It took five flushes to get it clean enough to allow the climate control to work properly. I know all car makers have their moments, but what the f!!! I just sold my 2001 Ford Super Duty with the 7.3. The cps recall was a walk in the park. If it was a super cab I never would have sold it and there would be no more GMs in the driveway.

Whatever happened to the Dexcool settlement ?

Has it been settled ?

When can we expect the settlement check ?

Recently was told about the dex-cool disaster when my water pump leaked for the third time since i've owned my 98 venture,and the last two times in one and half years. the first time was about two years after owning the van. in the past five years i've had heater hoses

head gaskets ,radiator hoses etc . plus two transmissions all replaced and all out of pocket expense. Recently looked into a new GM vehicle, thinking my car has lived its life, but coming to realize GM has screwed the american consumer with poorly made vehicles. that is

 why they are in trouble financially and should not get any bail out !!!  Nolonger interested in GM my boss has had a toyota for six years , has 85,000 miles and no repairs as coolant problems or tranmissions etc . will be buying a toyota or foreign suv or car have always 

owned GM vehicles. never again. GM should have sent out recall notices or had dealerships do the coolant change during oil changes and notified of the situation. My dealership did the first water pump and head gasket replacement and nevere said anything that was wrong ,

the japs should take over the U.S. AUTO !!!!        

My car also had a Dex-Coolant repair issue, the intake gasket.  My 5 year\75,000 warranty ran out 2 days before I had the car at the dealer for an oil change.  My oil change cost me $1,024.39 when all repairs were completed.  When I complained about the intake gasket repair and asked who I could contact that is when I found out about the Dex-Coolant being a long time issue on GM vehicles and also found out about the class action suit.  My car was repaired on 10/31/08, warranty ran out on 10/29/08 and the class action suit claim filing deadline was 10/27/08 with repairs having had to been made by 5/30/08.  Yes, I am mad and this may well be my last GM vehicle.  In reviewing past repair records I find that the same thing happened on my 1995 Buick Regal and 1999 Buick Regal.  I'm not done fighting with GM yet!

Was wondering if a 2005 Pontiac Montana (Not the Montana SV-6) with a 3.4L engine might be covered for heater core issues.  Blows lukewarm air (when I need heat) and I have had the coolant flushed, a new thermostat put in and still blows lukewarm air.  I live in Michigan so I need the system to heat up a bit.  Goes in tomorrow for a check on it again.  Only has 58,000 miles on it.

How were people notified about this class action lawsuit?  I purchased (new) a 2002 Grand Am GT.  In 2005 it had the infamous "leaky intake manifold" issue at a cost of $700.  Knowing it was a big problem for certain GM cars using Dex-Cool, I asked my Pontiac service technician about the possibility of a recall or some type of reimbursement for a very common problem.  I was assured by my service technician that I would be notified if anything happened that would involve some type of reimbursement.  On November 7 while surfing the internet, I came across the Dex-Cool Class Action lawsuit.  Imagine my disappointment when I found out that the deadline for filing a claim was a few days earlier.  In what manner were people notified about this?  This is a bunch of crap...and now GM is begging for Federal handouts after they have screwed hard-working Americans?  The 2002 was my third Grand Am.  Needless to say, I am now driving a HONDA.

In the summer of 2000 we started to notice a coolant odor.  we scheduled  a service call to see what was the problem only to be told that it was normal for this engine to burn excess antifreeze and since there was no visible leaks there was nothing to be concerned about. This continued for the next 4 years with only an occasional addition of antifreeze to the cooliant resovare container. During this time nor at any other future time was there any sign of any leakage. In October of 2007 the vehicle started missing and we just made it home before it quite. After checking things out we descovered that the engine contained an extra 5 quarts of wihich we found to be anti-freeze.  The costs for repairs varied from $1500 to $3000. Not having the money to cover this sort of expense the vehicle has set in the garage ever since. The intake and heads have been removed and extensive damage to gaskets and severe gel has been noted.

This is BULL<edited by Moderator because of vulagar language>.  I am supposed to have proof of ownership of a vehicle that I couldn't wait to get rid of and a receipt of the work...the receipt I got from the Buick dealer that did the work of course did not, I repeat, not itemize or detail exactly what they did way back when because they knew it would provide me with evidence for this settlement.  I'm between a Lesabre and a regal here and the exhaust and des-cool are killing me.