Coolant flush time?

[UrbanWolf]

There are some oil-ish brown stuff in my car's coolant tank, I think the previous owner put oil in there by accident or something. So should i do a coolant flush? $150 is a bit much for my current pocket.

[DFBrews]

It is very simple to do a flush get to operating temp drain the coolant fill with water and a bottle of radiator flush run at op temp for 15 minutes drain again fill back up with water one more time for a rinse and then drain then fill with coolant get to op temp and then let cool top off and your done

[Rabid]

Check your oil for antifreeze you might have a blown head gasket.

[Ridge]

Agree with Rabid, check your oil. If it's clean, then just drain the antifreeze from the system, fill it up with water, run it, drain it again and then fill with proper antifreeze.

[streetglideok]

There are some oil-ish brown stuff in my car's coolant tank, I think the previous owner put oil in there by accident or something. So should i do a coolant flush? $150 is a bit much for my current pocket.
What is the make, year and model of the vehicle? GMs with dexcool form a brownish sludge, but a lot of times oil gets in via the lovely intake gaskets they used. Nissan has had a lot of problems as of late with the transmission coolers inside radiators leaking, cross contaminating the coolant, and the trans fluid.

[jerrymrc]

What is the make, year and model of the vehicle? GMs with dexcool form a brownish sludge, but a lot of times oil gets in via the lovely intake gaskets they used. Nissan has had a lot of problems as of late with the transmission coolers inside radiators leaking, cross contaminating the coolant, and the trans fluid.

And Dexcool can turn into chunks of crap in just a few years. In my case 36 months in the heater stopped working. Since it was the dead of winter I just back flushed the core but come spring it was time for a complete cooling system overhaul.

Do understand if it is a GM product and if you convert back to normal antifreeze that your water pump is not long for this world. Most of the cleaners out there now are just a light duty type of thing. Enough cleaner/time and flushes will work but oh for the days of the old 3M cleaner with the neutralizer.[Flower]

[Gman]

What's the make & model? I had a 2005 Chevy Equinox that had a service bulletin for the rubber hoses turning the coolant brown. They did a complete flush of the cooling system, but the tank still had a bit of a tinge to it.

You might want to check to see if there's a service bulletin on your vehicle. You might also want to check the Interwebs to see if other folks are having similar issues.

[streetglideok]

Most of the brown gunk is seen from dexcool and air, and sometimes the green coolant being mixed all together. For the plugged heater cores, etc, CLR works pretty good, just dilute the stuff first.

[DFBrews]

We have some good stuff at work that is not to expensive... Will take pudding from oil cooler failures to clear in a hour ish. 12 gallons of coolant and 11 gallons of oil mixed is messy to say the least but this ruff is legit

[UrbanWolf]

Check your oil for antifreeze you might have a blown head gasket.

Oil seems clean.

[UrbanWolf]

Most of the brown gunk is seen from dexcool and air, and sometimes the green coolant being mixed all together. For the plugged heater cores, etc, CLR works pretty good, just dilute the stuff first.

I have mixed green coolant from walmart quite a while ago when it told me low coolant.

[colorider]

Flush with white vinegar. Then flush with water 2x.

[UrbanWolf]

Flush with white vinegar. Then flush with water 2x.

I need to find where the thing is to drain the coolants. I'm a car noob.

[DFBrews]

What kind of vehicle

[alan0269]

The sludge could also be some stop leak that the prev owner put in. A guy at my work put some of the one with the rubber looking pellets in it into his truck that has the orange extended life coolant and it mad a nice foamy, rubbery, glob of goo in his overflow tank.

[streetglideok]

I have mixed green coolant from walmart quite a while ago when it told me low coolant.

Whatever you guys do, don't mix coolants except with compatible formulas. Dexcool should be mixed only with dexcool. Ford gold HOAT coolant is the same as the Chrysler pinkish colored HOAT coolant, just different color. Blue Asian smurf coolant, is it's own thing as well.

Dunno what kind of vehicle it is, but if it is a GM, and you're using coolant, you'll want to find the source. All depends on the engine, there are several places it leaks from. Some of which people will say I'm an Obama for saying.

[Great-Kazoo]

There are some oil-ish brown stuff in my car's coolant tank, I think the previous owner put oil in there by accident or something. So should i do a coolant flush? $150 is a bit much for my current pocket.

Almost all of the Ft fun repair shops run discounts . The most expensive i've seen is $90. Next week the CSU coupon book should be out


Oil seems clean.

Pop the valve cover breather. Check to see if there's any condensation on it. Also do a quick smear test inside the valve cover, for a grayish off color. Thats another indicator of intake, or head gasket issues.

GM vehicles (98-2003ish) are known to have intake gasket issues. Nothing serious but a potential issue. Just because the oil seems clean does not mean there are issues.


I need to find where the thing is to drain the coolants. I'm a car noob.

You better not be seen doing any flush n fill in ft fun. The hazmat / FD will hammer you with mega fines.

The easiest way to see if there is any head, intake or other oil contamination issues is to have a sniff test performed.

There is the cheap way= I can get by doing it myself
There is the expensive way = Pay for the flush n fill.

In december or jan when it's 20* 6" of partly cloudy on the street and a -2 wind chill factor is not the time to discover the few dollars saved cost you an engine.

There are a few mechanics / techs / wrenches here with the right tools, to trouble shoot what if any issues you may have.

[UrbanWolf]

Whatever you guys do, don't mix coolants except with compatible formulas. Dexcool should be mixed only with dexcool. Ford gold HOAT coolant is the same as the Chrysler pinkish colored HOAT coolant, just different color. Blue Asian smurf coolant, is it's own thing as well.

Dunno what kind of vehicle it is, but if it is a GM, and you're using coolant, you'll want to find the source. All depends on the engine, there are several places it leaks from. Some of which people will say I'm an Obama for saying.

Buick Century 2000, so it's is a GM.

[UrbanWolf]

What kind of vehicle

Buick Century 2000

[streetglideok]

Buick Century 2000, so it's is a GM.
Aww yes. The smaller 3.1 and 3.4L engines are notorious for their lower intake gaskets leaking. Due to the cheapo plastic and rubber gaskets that crack and crumble with age, they puke coolant and oil out the ends of the intake, or some cases allow coolant(kiss of death) down into the oil. More common to find than the water pump even. Not a real cheap job to do correctly, which a lot of shops lack the knowledge of how. 3.8L, lower intake same issue as the other engines, and the bonus, upper intake, or plenum likes to crack due to heat exposure from the EGR system and leak coolant under the throttlebody. Eventually leads to outright intake rupture and hydrolocking the engine. I don't believe the 3.8L was offered that year in those cars, but just a heads up to those running series II 3800's.

[UrbanWolf]

Aww yes. The smaller 3.1 and 3.4L engines are notorious for their lower intake gaskets leaking. Due to the cheapo plastic and rubber gaskets that crack and crumble with age, they puke coolant and oil out the ends of the intake, or some cases allow coolant(kiss of death) down into the oil. More common to find than the water pump even. Not a real cheap job to do correctly, which a lot of shops lack the knowledge of how. 3.8L, lower intake same issue as the other engines, and the bonus, upper intake, or plenum likes to crack due to heat exposure from the EGR system and leak coolant under the throttlebody. Eventually leads to outright intake rupture and hydrolocking the engine. I don't believe the 3.8L was offered that year in those cars, but just a heads up to those running series II 3800's.

So what's the best thing for me to do?

[tmleadr03]

If Walmart topped off with green you are seeing the result of mixing coolant. Time to clean that out.

[Great-Kazoo]

So what's the best thing for me to do?

CSU homecoming is real close. sell it AS IS. Or as i posted before, pay for a diagnosis, instead of Guessing.

[Rabid]

If Walmart topped off with green you are seeing the result of mixing coolant. Time to clean that out.
My guess is tmleadr is right a 2000 had dex-cool to start with. Take it to a place better then jiffy lube with real mechanics if you are worried about it, they will be more then happy to get more money from you if something is wrong . Streetglideok makes great points about the problems with these engines however i had a 3.8l that that never skipped a beat in 200k miles besides when i changed the antifreeze just like jerrmrc talked about and killed a water pump and a head gasket. A little bit more now may cost you less in the long run if you do not know what you are looking at. If it were me i would get a flush and see if this "oil" in the antifreeze shows up again and if it does stop driving it until you get it repaired.

[rockhound]

Flush with white vinegar. Then flush with water 2x.

douche

[rockhound]

it could be stop leak making the coolant chunky and turning colors,

may have had a heater core leak they were trying to plug

[streetglideok]

Get it looked at, find out why you are using coolant, and get the old crude out. Avoid jiffy lube like has been said. You'll want to find a legit operation, to which I don't know any in your area.

[cofi]

Get it looked at, find out why you are using coolant, and get the old crude out. Avoid jiffy lube like has been said. You'll want to find a legit operation, to which I don't know any in your area.

I read the op as his coolant was a little brown not low

If that's the case dump the old stuff(you can just take off the lower hose) fill it with water and some coolant cleaner stuff from autozone and fill it back up with the correct coolant

[trlcavscout]

I would take it to McCormicks auto on horestooth and have them check it. Going into winter I wouldn't flush it yourself with straight water, draining the radiator won't get half of it back out. If it is an intake gasket its only a few hours labor and pretty easy to do yourself (I could help or at least show you, I use to do the in 20 minutes). They make a replacement for dexcool that's the best of both worlds so it will still lube the water pump etc but I don't remember what its called. Check the heater hoses and quick connect fitting on the back side of the engine also for leaks if you wanna do it your self. John McCormick is about the most honest shop and best guy I know of up here.

[colorider]

Mixing dexcool with standard coolant will cause a brown jelly looking shit.

[Great-Kazoo]

I read the op as his coolant was a little brown not low

If that's the case dump the old stuff(you can just take off the lower hose) fill it with water and some coolant cleaner stuff from autozone and fill it back up with the correct coolant


The only EPA approved way to dispose of coolant is, I kid you not, dump it down the toilet. he resides in ft fun, unless he has an enclosed place away from nosy neighbors to do the work, it isn't worth the hassle.

[streetglideok]

I read the op as his coolant was a little brown not low

If that's the case dump the old stuff(you can just take off the lower hose) fill it with water and some coolant cleaner stuff from autozone and fill it back up with the correct coolant
He made the comment that he has been having to add coolant, and the wrong coolant was introduced.