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07-29-2009, 11:08 AM #1
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- Jan 2007
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- Hamburg, Germany
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- 2,521
Silver- 1998 Camaro Z28 A4
my girlfriends ford explorer has diarrhea
i came back to the car yesterday after driving it for a while, and there was a big brown puddle under the car. it obviously came out under the radiator cap.
took it to the repair shop, he poured water in the radiator, we let the engine run and soon a lot of brown soup came gushing out of the (still open) radiator. lumps of brown goo in it, too. repeated that several times, same result.
checked back in today: he had run some tests, the emissions are normal, the oil looks like it should, so we don't think it's the head gasket. pulled out the water pump, doesn't look suspicious, but gonna throw in a new one just in case.
any ideas anybody?
it's a 93 model, 4.0l V6 auto
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07-29-2009, 11:11 AM #2
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07-29-2009, 11:11 AM #3
- Join Date
- Oct 2006
- Location
- Fort Walton Beach, FL
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- 43
- Posts
- 4
If you run water in your motor instead of antifreeze it will create rust inside the block which cause your truck/suv to have diarrhea as you so eliquently referred to.
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07-29-2009, 11:13 AM #4
Rodding out a radiator is the process of removing the radiator tanks and pushing rods through the radiator core to clean it. After the core is clean the tanks are soldered back on. This can be a good repair but most of the time it makes more sense to just replace the radiator. New high quality radiators have become so inexpensive that it's getting hard to recommend repairing an old one. Most of the time the cost of a replacement radiator is only 30% more than a repair. A new radiator is almost always available the same day. A new radiator will usually carry a better warranty
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07-29-2009, 11:14 AM #5
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07-29-2009, 11:17 AM #6
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07-29-2009, 12:57 PM #7
there isn't a tranny cooler inside the radiator, is there? Old burnt tranny fluid would be brown.
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07-29-2009, 01:09 PM #8
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07-29-2009, 01:59 PM #9
yes, which would also point to coolant in the trans (not good at all), and trans fluid in the engine.
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07-29-2009, 02:26 PM #10
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- 2,521
Silver- 1998 Camaro Z28 A4
yeah i was thinking about that, too. but wouldn't that show in the oil? and emissions? also, the engine runs great!
why do i suddenly think of the guy who put brake fluid instead of engine oil in his motor, and then cleaned the engine (internally) with brake cleaner? it was posted on here, link to another forum. epic!
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07-29-2009, 03:02 PM #11
I can't imagine it would be in the engine oil (unless you mean tranny fluid), as the coolant and engine oil have no 'access' to each other (separate systems).
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07-29-2009, 03:02 PM #12
As for emissions, i don't see why it would, it does nothing to affect the way the engine runs (except maybe hot).
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07-29-2009, 03:05 PM #13
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- Feb 2007
- Location
- San Diego, CA
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- 5,823
2002 Z28 A4 NBM- Sadly now demodded :(
Pull the tranny dip stick. If it looks like a strawberry shake water got into the tranny.
Although it could just be tranny fluid leaking into the radiator through the cooler.
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07-29-2009, 03:37 PM #14
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- Feb 2006
- Location
- Orange County, NY
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- 48
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- 2,693
always dirty- 2013 Ram 2014 Caddy ATS
If the head gasket was leaking you could have coolant in the oil. Sticking the emissions test device in the radiator and see the hydrocarbons shoot up was a way to see if the head gasket was leaking also. It was for when coolant woud disappear but was not leaking. Sounds like Zapper has the right idea.
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07-30-2009, 12:49 AM #15
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07-30-2009, 01:01 AM #16
- Join Date
- Jan 2007
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- Hamburg, Germany
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Silver- 1998 Camaro Z28 A4
as i said above, the head gasket seems to be fine.
i just got off the phone with the repair shop, they checked the tranny fluid, all good. mysterious. i suspect that somehow ancient gunk from all over the system got loose when the radiator was changed last winter and clogged up the radiator, thermostate etc.
they're gonna test drive it today, we'll see.
thanks for the input, guys!
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07-30-2009, 01:12 AM #17
- Join Date
- Apr 2006
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- park bench
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- gmcheviac
The previous owner of my truck put in all new hoses and a radiator. It still has the leftover engine poop from before. Just needs to be flushed
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07-30-2009, 01:22 AM #18
- Join Date
- Jan 2007
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- Hamburg, Germany
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Silver- 1998 Camaro Z28 A4
yes, we hope that that's just it. they flushed the system yesterday several times before they took it apart. we bought the car from a ford dealership, found out later that their (huge) workshop was run by lying idiots and they didn't perform any of the maintenance routines or checks they claimed they did. oh well, you live, you learn. so i don't know if the cooling system has ever been flushed before.
the shop i take the cars to now is awesome and very honest.
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07-30-2009, 07:07 AM #19
- Join Date
- Feb 2008
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- NEW JERSEY
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PEWTER- 2001 TRANS AM WS6
You live and you learn........ not to buy a ford
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07-30-2009, 10:50 AM #20
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