Chevrolet Repair: 1998 Chevy S-10 Blazer Cooling System, aluminum radiator, aluminum heads


Question
Van,
Hello.  My 1998 Blazer came equipped with DexCool and like so many idiots with 100,000 mile anti-freeze, I didn't check mine until it had nearly 34,000 miles on it (when I aquired it from my sister).  The system was contaminated with some resinous material and I had it flushed and re-filled with Dex-Cool...half a dozen times by now.  I've replaced the water pump twice and ALL the hoses several times.  I should probably just set it on fire since it's paid for, but I'd like to know if there is a way to clean the gunk out completely and move back to Glycol based anti-freeze?  I understand I might have to replace all of the cooling system components, but I wonder most about the cooling passages in the engine.  Any advice would be most appreciated.

Thanks,
James

Answer
Hello James,
The way I understand it, the purpose of the DexCool is to reduce corrosion of the aluminum radiator, and other aluminum parts.
That might have aluminum heads, I'm not sure.
But really, I think flushing it out and replacing it with green antifreeze would probably not hurt anything.
I don't know about your statement about replacing all the cooling system parts, and as for the block, I don't think there is any difference in it and a regular 350 block.

Van