Dirty coolant..

[M-Ten]

I just bought my car yesterday, and the low coolant light is on.. I took out the dipstick to check it and it has a really dirty brown color to it..

I was wondering how and if i should flush out the coolant so I can replace it with cleaner fluid?

[shady milkman]

yes replace it..and flush it while you are at it :yup: congrads on the t/a

[Sarge]

Yes flush it.

[M-Ten]

yes replace it..and flush it while you are at it :yup: congrads on the t/a

thanks ! i can't wait to learn to drive it lol !! then let the mods begin :)

but how do i flush it? i've never done it before..

[rbob93]

thanks ! i can't wait to learn to drive it lol !! then let the mods begin :)

but how do i flush it? i've never done it before..

www.Installuniversity.com (http://www.Installuniversity.com)

[Sarge]

thanks ! i can't wait to learn to drive it lol !! then let the mods begin :)

but how do i flush it? i've never done it before..
Id just pay the $100 and get it done with a machine....quick/effective and thoughrough....

[M-Ten]

where on that installuniversity site was it? i might pay to get it done.. just depends on how hard it looks.

[splitfinger09]

If I were you I would invest in a Haynes Service Repair manual. Its cheap and will show you how to do many things including maintence. You can find it at most auto parts stores.

[01ws6er]

If I were you I would invest in a Haynes Service Repair manual. Its cheap and will show you how to do many things including maintence. You can find it at most auto parts stores.

Yea, and they also show you things that do not exhist in your ride, but for the most part they are great. It'll help out a lot. They're not perfect (by far) but what is...???

[Toes]

sounds like someone mix green an orange = brown +1 to getting it flushed with a machine

[M-Ten]

yeah it's weird.. or maybe just a dirty orange.. i have to do that and also change the oil.. oil's not dirty but i figure it will be good since i just got the car...

[splitfinger09]

yeah it's weird.. or maybe just a dirty orange.. i have to do that and also change the oil.. oil's not dirty but i figure it will be good since i just got the car...

Yep for peace of mind you always want to change all the fluids on a used car so you know for sure there clean.

[splitfinger09]

Yea, and they also show you things that do not exhist in your ride, but for the most part they are great. It'll help out a lot. They're not perfect (by far) but what is...???

Im guessing the manuals that cost hundreds of dollars are pretty close to perfect. Is there anything in particular in the Haynes Camaro manual that shows you things that do not exist?

[0rion]

the stock coolant is orange by nature. What do you mean by dirty looking? Have you popped the cap on the radiator and looked at the actual coolant itself? Mixing coolants is very bad. It'll clog up all kinds of stuff. If you're not sure on the maintenance history of the car I would also recommend having it flushed at a shop that has a machine to do it and you'll rarely hear of me recommending someone farm out the work to a shop. I feel most people can handle most of the work on their own car. Flushing a radiator is nothing, a monkey could do it. The problem comes in if the coolants been mixed. I pulled the upper and lower intakes on my truck that runs dexcool. Someone at some point had mixed the coolant and the back ports in the head had a clump of crap in them that had the consistency of a crayon. I can't imagine what's in the heater core as I have to back flush it just about every year because the heat sucks in the truck. PIA if the coolants been mixed. Have it flushed if you're not sure.

[M-Ten]

yeah i guess i'll have it flushed and i'll have the oil changed tomorrow too.. it's throwing a few codes.. i read them in the book but i don't know what it means or how to fix it.

P0410 - Secondary Air Injection System Malfunction
P0412 - Secondary Air Injection System Valve A Malfunction
P0418 - Secondary Air Injection System Relay A Malfunction

That and the water temp guage is not reading correctly, it's saying it's running cooler than it should and it's not changing temps ever.

Any suggestions?

[0rion]

the a.i.r. relay is under the hood on the drivers side. I would check that first. The temp coolant sensor is on the drivers side head above cylinder 1. If it is indeed reading cold it will make the car rich and you're not seeing the performance you should. I'm surprised you're not having any warm idle issues. How far off is it?

[M-Ten]

the guage is not reading at all, it's not moving . it's near the bottom of the guage.. i think around 110 - 120 some where.

[0rion]

and this isn't causing any problems when you start the car and it comes up to temp? My buddies vette had the same problem and his would die as soon as it went to closed loop. He's a heads/cam car though. I watched it through the scanner and it would go pig rich and die.
That temp sensor is really easy to change. It's right above the first spark plug on the drivers side in the head.

[M-Ten]

No it's not causing any problems.. I think the only thing that might be causing any problems is the "Secondary Air Injection".

Oh and will the changing of the sensor cause any problems with the computer or anything?
I've just never changed one before so I'm not sure and I just got the car so I wanna make sure I do everything right... :dunno:

Could it possibly be a fuse? Or should I try changing the sensor first?

[0rion]

what year is your car? It sounds like you're saying the needle is moving up right? I'm not sure on the 99+ cars but on the 98's the temp gauge starts at 160 so if it's moving up from there maybe someone just has a lower stat in it. Know anyone with a scanner that can look at your temps to see what the scanner says you're running? If you're not having idle issues or anything I wouldn't just throw a temp sensor at it until you verify that something is wrong. Buying the car used could mean that the previous owner had it modded. Any mods on the car now?

[splitfinger09]

yeah i guess i'll have it flushed and i'll have the oil changed tomorrow too.. it's throwing a few codes.. i read them in the book but i don't know what it means or how to fix it.

If you have the proper tools you can def change the oil yourself. Its no very hard, take you 30-45min tops.

[M-Ten]

It's a 99. And no the temp guage is not moving at all, it's all the way down at the bottom, I think it's 100. Either way it's not moving at all it's just staying there the whole time. But no I'm not having any idling issues, and yes the car is completely stock.. I am going to take a look at it tomorrow and try to figure it out, I'll also check in the owner's manual and see if I can find anything..

[z28punk]

just get the dex-clog crap out of there. Switch to green or yellow and u will be fine.

take the A.I.R. system out of there. its a waste of space.

[M-Ten]

it says to use the dex cool and nothing else..? and what does the air system do?

[camaross19973]

by the way while ur at it, chk ur powersteering fluid if that is dirty u need to change the the power steering cooler. its a long tube that runs in the midle of the air fans u know what it is when u see it ,

[M-Ten]

oh ok thanks, what color is it normally?

[jigger1166]

It's a 99. And no the temp guage is not moving at all, it's all the way down at the bottom, I think it's 100. Either way it's not moving at all it's just staying there the whole time. But no I'm not having any idling issues, and yes the car is completely stock.. I am going to take a look at it tomorrow and try to figure it out, I'll also check in the owner's manual and see if I can find anything..

It sounds like there's a prob. with the temp. gauge.
Plug a scan tool in, and check the data to see what the ECT reading is. If it shows an increase after running for a while, your gauge is bad.

[M-Ten]

yeah well i check the codes and it's saying Temp Gage Data Out Of Range.

I just replaced one of the sensors and it didnt' affect it at all.. the gage is stayin at 110 degrees still and not moving..

Is there another sensor that might need to be replaced?

[jigger1166]

yeah well i check the codes and it's saying Temp Gage Data Out Of Range.

I just replaced one of the sensors and it didnt' affect it at all.. the gage is stayin at 110 degrees still and not moving..

Is there another sensor that might need to be replaced?

Sometimes there's a sensor that controls the gauge, and sends data to the PCM, and then there's a switch that turns on the idiot light. Did you replace the right one?
Or maybe the gauge is bad.

[M-Ten]

yeah i replaced the driver side one above cylinder head 1