Brown blob in orange coolant

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Oct 8, 2007 | 11:53 PM

Mark_Milner

Thread Starter

Safety Car

Joined: Feb 2006

Posts: 4,367

Likes: 59

From: FL

Brown blob in orange coolant

I looked at a car today that had fairly fresh coolant, the orange stuff. It looked pretty clean and clear as you could see down the side tank, but on the top was some brown blobs of stuff floating. The bottom of the radiator cap had some of this on it.

It was very thin, kind of like drippings in a pan of beef or something.

Anyone want to guess what this might be?

I'm hoping not an oil leak into the coolant. There wasn't much, and it seems any time I have seen one with a blown head gasket or cracked block, there was a lot more oil.

Also, the car didn't run hot and the pressure on the upper hose felt normal.

Oct 9, 2007 | 12:08 AM

bondoboy

Burning Brakes

Joined: Mar 2006

Posts: 1,036

Likes: 2

From: Huntingburg Indiana

I believe that is a problem with dexcool. I had a 99 ZR2 truck that was 1 year old and it already had that crusty buildup under the radiator cap. I'm not much of a believer in that stuff.

Oct 9, 2007 | 12:37 AM

myray76

6th Gear

Joined: Sep 2007

Posts: 6

Likes: 0

From: St. Louis

dexcool is junk!didf you switch to dex from green without totally flushing the rad & heater core block ect... ? That stuff gells up when mixed with the old green stuff or if it gets a year old or so.
flush your system boil your rad dump the dex and go GREEN

Oct 9, 2007 | 01:13 AM

Kalway

Safety Car

Joined: Dec 2004

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From: San Diego CA

I hear the yellow stuff is pretty good...

Oct 9, 2007 | 01:23 AM

Mark_Milner

Thread Starter

Safety Car

Joined: Feb 2006

Posts: 4,367

Likes: 59

From: FL

Thanks, I thought I remember hearing something like that in the past but since I didn't run the new coolants in anything, I never retained that.

It is a car I'm looking at to buy, and they supposedly do it all by the book, so transmission fluid, oil, power steering, brake fluid, and coolant were just changed about a month ago as they were all due on the schedule.

Oct 9, 2007 | 04:34 AM

stingr69

Le Mans Master

Joined: Mar 2004

Posts: 7,448

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From: Little Rock AR

I think you will get that from switching from green to orange without a very thorough flush. They are not compatible. This is the short explanation.

-Mark.

Oct 9, 2007 | 10:47 AM

jackson

Le Mans Master

Joined: Sep 2001

Posts: 7,739

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From: Unreconstructed, South Carolina

That brown muck in orange coolant is the very stuff that got GM sued over thousands of owners w/ failed plastic intakes and clogged rads & cooked motors who'd serviced by the book & on schedule. It routinely mucks up ... even if never mixed with another coolant. That vehicle's entire cooling system needs a thorough cleaning ... not just a flush ... replace both rcap & t'stat ... and refill w/ newest formulation coolant w/ distilled water. Dig a little deeper ... there're GM service bulletins on this.

Oct 9, 2007 | 10:58 AM

GaryS

Melting Slicks

Joined: May 1999

Posts: 2,897

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From: Moon Township PA

If you decide to get rid of the DexCool like I did, make sure you do a thorough flush. Check the archives but the gist of it is that there is a significant amount of residual coolant in the block. You need to access the two drain plugs, just a little aft of the engine mounts, and pull them. Once out, flush the system thoroughly and then refill with your favorite coolant and distilled water. My favorite coolant is Zerex G-05. I have heard good things about this product.

Gary