Another coolant issue...

**myk02k** · 07-16-2006, 08:33 PM

Hey, here's a little bit of history behind all this. 6 months ago, my water pump blew. My coolant was flushed and before it was cleaned twice with a detergent, there was a lot of white paste in there from most likely the previous owner blocking the clog.

I now have traditional green coolant with a shot of Redline. Today I noticed black sand looking stuff on the overflow dipstick and some of it on the radiator cap, as well as gunky looking coolant around the cap. My oil and tranny fluids are fine. Anyone know what this could be and why it's there with 6 month old fluid? Maybe the detergents in the Redline, but there's quite a lot for 6 months of using it. Nothing is apparent in the actual radiator though. Blew is a pic of the rad cap.

You can't really see the sandy-looking crud, but note the green coolant turned into dark green goop.

**myk02k** · 07-17-2006, 05:35 PM

NOBODY can help me out on this?!?!?

***Ed Blown Vert*** · 07-17-2006, 05:36 PM

Did you make sure you got all the air out of the system when you last flushed it?

And you shouldn't be using the green stuff.

**sunsetorangess** · 07-17-2006, 07:01 PM

Yea i thought the green coolant was a no-go.
J

**myk02k** · 07-17-2006, 07:22 PM

You thought wrong. Dex-Cool is a "no-no". Read www.dexcoolcase.com and you'll change your mind quickly. Dex-Cool turns into an acid mixed with heat and air, and guess what acid loooves to eat up? Aluminum. GM V6 trucks had issues with blown head gaskets, mainly blamed on the aluminum intake manifolds and Dex-Cool. Dex-Cool is good for 150,000 miles? Yea, just like the long lasting oil. I just found a website that had oil that'll "last for 150,000 miles." Would you trust that? Traditional green works just as good as Dex-Cool, plus you can put in a shot of Royal Purple or Redline coolant additives.

I'm just wondering wtf this is. It may be just some contaminants that were reciently freed from the coolant lines or the mixture of old Dex-Cool and the green stuff. It's weird though, because I had the coolant flushed, pressure-cleaned, and re-filled twice because my water pump went right after the flush. Nobody knows what that stuff is? No overheating noticed since the water-pump swap. I think my fan turned on maybe 10 times in 3 months because it never sits at idle to get extremely hot and always on the highway.

***Ed Blown Vert*** · 07-17-2006, 07:28 PM

Well I don't use either. Water Wetter and Distilled water goes in my radiator.

My guess there was still air in the system.

**myk02k** · 07-17-2006, 07:33 PM

Yea I guess we can do that in SoCal. I just moved here and didn't know prior to my fluid change that you can run 100% water. If there is still air in the system, how can I tell?

**myk02k** · 07-17-2006, 07:34 PM

Oh yea and when I put in the Water Wetter, I tried to get out some coolant in the radiator, but couldn't get out enough to put the whole mixture in, so I put a lot in the overflow. I did fill up the radiator completely to the top so when I closed the system, a little came out.

***Ed Blown Vert*** · 07-17-2006, 07:36 PM

I normally warm up the engine and crack open the bolt that holds the coolant tube on the head, letting the air out.

**0rion** · 07-17-2006, 11:16 PM

There's nothing wrong with switching to the green stuff but you have to get ALL of the orange out. Are you sure there wasn't a little left in there maybe? I know the 2 mixed will goop up like that.