Coolant flush time?

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Originally Posted by 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.

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

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

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Originally Posted by colorider

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

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

What kind of vehicle

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.

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Originally Posted by UrbanWolf

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

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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.

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Originally Posted by 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.

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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

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Originally Posted by UrbanWolf

Oil seems clean.

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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.

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Originally Posted by UrbanWolf

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

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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.

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Originally Posted by streetglideok

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.

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

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Originally Posted by DFBrews

What kind of vehicle

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Buick Century 2000

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Originally Posted by UrbanWolf

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

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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.