Dexcool Class Action Settlement

[BonzoHansen]

I figured Al wouldn't post this, LOL. Anyone impacted by this? That sorry orange crapola.

GM Agrees To Settle Class-Action Suits Over Faulty Coolant
03/26 5:36 am (ON)
Story 0730 (GM)

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP)--General Motors Corp. (GM) has agreed to settle a series of class-action lawsuits claiming a faulty engine coolant damaged thousands of customer vehicles.

Under the settlement, GM would reimburse class members between $50 and $800 for repairs linked to Dex-Cool, an orange coolant that GM included in cars and trucks beginning in 1995.

The total cost to GM will depend on the number of customers claiming damages, but the plaintiffs' attorneys estimate the settlement could cover up to 20 million initial and secondary buyers of GM vehicles that used Dex-Cool. They also say the price tag could reach the hundreds of millions of dollars.

A California state court gave preliminary approval to the settlement last week and a Missouri court plans to consider it Friday.

"We fought for about five years to recover monetary damages for people that would be meaningful and I think we achieved that," said San Francisco plaintiff attorney Eric Gibbs, who estimated most people spent between $600 and $900 for repairs. "The recovery for most of the people will be pretty good."

GM spokesman Tom Wilkinson said the company wasn't admitting any wrongdoing but is settling the case to cut down on legal bills.

"Our experience with Dex-Cool is that when the cooling system is kept full and properly maintained we haven't seen any problems," he said. "These kinds of things appear to be issues of low coolant, which isn't unusual with high-mileage vehicles, so we decided to agree to the settlement."

GM owners have filed a dozen breach-of-warranty lawsuits in state and federal courts across the country, including California and Missouri, where one of the earliest cases was filed in April 2003.

The cases all claim vehicles with Dex-Cool often damaged the engines or created a rusty sludge in the radiators that caused the vehicles to overheat.

Under the agreement, GM will reimburse some of the cost for intake manifold gasket replacements, cooling system flushes and heater core repairs sought during the first seven years or 150,000 miles, whichever came first, that the class member owned the vehicle. Considering that some vehicles may have been sold and the new owners also paid for repairs alleged to have been caused by Dex-Cool, individual vehicles may generate more than one settlement.

Negotiations on a settlement began shortly before the Missouri case was scheduled to go to trial in November. They culminated with the agreement being filed in Alameda County Superior Court in Oakland, Calif., on March 20. That settlement covers 49 states.

A separate Missouri settlement, with the same terms as the California one, is scheduled to go before a judge Friday in Jackson County, Mo. Missouri had a separate settlement as it was the first states to grant class-action status to the claims, said Jack Brady, a Kansas City-based attorney and co-lead counsel.

"It could be multiple nine figures; it depends on how many people make the claim," Brady said. "I think it could be a huge settlement."

Gibbs said the attorneys will receive up to $23 million in fees and $2.8 million for expenses. <my edit: holy crap>

The settlement covers GM vehicles with 3.1 -liter or 3.4 -liter V 6 engines for model years 1995 to 2003; those same brands with 3.8 -liter V 6 engines for model years 1995 to 2004; and small trucks and sports utility vehicles with 4.3 -liter V 6 engines for model years 1995 through 2000.

Additional details on the settlement are available at www.girardgibbs.com/dexcool.html and www.dexcoolsettlement.com.

The deadline for submitting claims is Oct. 27 for states outside Missouri and a week later in Missouri, assuming the judge grants preliminary approval Friday.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

[HardcoreZ28]

I just did intake gaskets on my housemates 01 S10 last night....it had Dex-Crap in it....wonder if he can file for reparations?

[EchoMirage]

and what about the 4cyl or V8s?

[sweetbmxrider]

i had to do the water pump gasket in my 95 3.4L twice. and it corroded the hell outa the water pump that was approx. three years old. god damn dexcool. edit: freakin 3.4 maro's arent even on the list. mid june they started using dexcool too. beat.

[bubba428]

Originally Posted by sweetbmxrider

i had to do the water pump gasket in my 95 3.4L twice. and it corroded the hell outa the water pump that was approx. three years old. god damn dexcool. edit: freakin 3.4 maro's arent even on the list. mid june they started using dexcool too. beat.

glad I have a 94....got the mean green in that

[Knipps]

Originally Posted by bubba428

glad I have a 94....got the mean green in that

my 94's been afflicted by the devil

[bubba428]

that sucks, flush dat bish and put the green in her

[SteveR]

Yea, made the mistake of using green with dex-crap and had to flush the system. Oh, and when I was driving around one day the car began to overheat and popped the head gasket and cracked the block which ultimately led to me having to sell the car. Are they going to compensate me for that?

[Demonicbird00]

im sorry but ppl are f-ing idiots.....its their fault not GMs if they took the time to read there owners manual this is what it says....

it says to flush the cooling system at 150k

BUT at every fuel stop, check oil,coolant,and washer fluid

in Part C: Periodic and defies as at least twice a year
1. inspect steering and susp
2. inspect exhaust
3. inspect cooling system ie. "inspect the hoses and have them replaced if they are cracked,swollen or deteriorated.Inspect all pipes,fittings and clamps; replace if needed. Clean the outside of the radiator and air conditioning condenser.To help ensure proper operation,a pressure test of the cooling system and pressure cap is recommended at least once a year."
4. inspect rear axle
5. inspect brake system

i prsonally change the fluid in the car twice a year. in the spring i got to a full water and water wetter. and in the fall i go to a 25% antifreeze 75% water and ater wetter

its not GMs fault that people are f^^^^^^ stupid and run the cars until theres no oil in the car or no coolant in the car

blood sucking f****** lawyers they all should be

the end
brandon

[twozs]

i bought a 99 grand am with 3.4 and 60,000 miles in 05 from my mom who got it new . she said when i got it from her the the low coolant light comes on once in a while and i just dismissed it as a bad cap. well it got worse until it was taking coolant every 4 days and got fed up with it. well it was the head gasket and 2 bran new aluminum heads and gaskets later(and my wallet being lightened by over 2000 dollars) it was fixed. the mechanic told me that dexcool was **** and refilled it with green mixable. i guess he was right . this was last year that it was fixed so i guess it falls later than the 7 year cut off . story of my life a day late and a dollar short! the reservoir got so gummed up the deteriorating dexcool coolant wouldn't pass through the small ports inside the reservoir to get to the radiator . so when the low coolant light came on you would pour coolant in and it would just sit in the first part if the reservoir. so poor design of the reservoir is to blame also. you cant pour coolant directly into the radiator on the grand am, it takes it in the reservoir

[Savage_Messiah]

Originally Posted by twozs

i bought a 99 grand am with 3.4 and 60,000 miles in 05 from my mom who got it new . she said when i got it from her the the low coolant light comes on once in a while and i just dismissed it as a bad cap. well it got worse until it was taking coolant every 4 days and got fed up with it. well it was the head gasket and 2 bran new aluminum heads and gaskets later(and my wallet being lightened by over 2000 dollars) it was fixed.

Sooo... you knew of a problem and ignored it and it's NOT your fault that it caused extensive damage?

the mechanic told me that dexcool was **** and refilled it with green mixable. i guess he was right . this was last year that it was fixed so i guess it falls later than the 7 year cut off . story of my life a day late and a dollar short! the reservoir got so gummed up the deteriorating dexcool coolant wouldn't pass through the small ports inside the reservoir to get to the radiator . so when the low coolant light came on you would pour coolant in and it would just sit in the first part if the reservoir. so poor design of the reservoir is to blame also. you cant pour coolant directly into the radiator on the grand am, it takes it in the reservoir

You can pour it right into the radiator.

[twozs]

think about it, by that time( when i purchased the the car) the gasket was done already ,it was loosing coolant. the car only had 60,000 miles on it and was owned by my mother. you wouldn't think a head gasket would go under those conditions. what was i supposed to do besides doing what i did which was keep pouring in coolant into it until i had enough money to fix it .cars don't normally loose coolant. my 01 z28 has not needed an ounce of coolant since iv owned it from bran new.which leads me to believe and the mechanic too that the dexcool deteriorated the gasket. how are you supposed to pour coolant into the radiator ? the radiator does not have a cap on it . the cap is on the reservoir.on the 3.4 grand am the reservoir is pressurized along with the rest of the system. short of taking the hose that connects the reservoir to the radiator off and trying not to spill it all over the place, please explain how you would do this

[sweetbmxrider]

he is an idiot. i would probably change the antifreeze in your z28 if you haven't already, way overdue.

[foff667]

yeah I switch over all of my vehicles within the first year of owning them, never a big fan of dexcool.

[GP99GT]

kasey is a noob

cant directly fill a radiator on a FWD 3.4...or on my saturn either

[Savage_Messiah]

My bad, i totally skipped the grand am part and had 3.4 f-bodies in mind. And stil if you don't think the head gaskt could go.... but the fact is the car is losing coolant... theres a problem with the car. I'm guessing you needd new heads because the stock ones warped... earlier detection possibly coulda salvaged em.

Not berating you, just kinda saying hey, think of this next time to save yourself some pain, aggravation and cash

[V]

im currently doing an engine swap on a 2001 Monte SS 3.8v6 n/a. The motor apparenly overheated and cracked the block, or it froze and cracked then. either way, coolant failed. Is there any way my SGT can get some type of reimbursement?