Brown Frothy color in radiator

[72tutone]

New radiator, water pump. I do not have the heater hose hooked up at the moment. The motor was just installed not that long ago. However, prior to that it sat for almost a yr while I saved up some $$$ to build it.
Could this just be left over sediment, crap in the block? It almost looks muddy.
Fearing for the worse I pulled the dipstick and its straight oil so that makes me a feel a bit better.
Whats the best process in flushing this out? Ive heard everything from freeze plugs removal or plugs in the block and I can open up.
Ive also heard I can remove the thermostat housing and crank a hose through the manifold and have it puke back out of the radiator cap.

Any ideas?

[snipescastle2]

Does it appear to look like a "milk shake"? If it does, you may well have a head gasket leaking. however,sometimes you can have an intake gasket leaking oil into the coolant, or -vs. versa coolant in your oil.
If you have a shop nearby that does emissions testing, you can try having them "Sniff" the radiator neck (with the cap off of course) if there is any traces of "HC" or "CO"
That's a sure sign you have a blown head gasket.
Both,
Ben

[fwayne]

Had that happen to me on an impala. Freaked me out because it looked like oil. Check your oil, if it looks good, flush the radiator, cooling system and block. and be sure to use a name brand coolant. Mine went away and turned out to be interaction of the coolant and radiator. It looked like chocolate milk but wasn't oil in my case.

[72tutone]

Thanks all. Yes it somewhat appears to be milkshake when the cap was off and it was running. However, with that said when I pulled the dipstick there was no milky color at all. There is nothing white coming out of the exhaust. The motor sounds very strong. Temp isnt getting hot. I would think the gauge would start to climb with hot exhaust, antifreeze blowing through the gasket.

Also when I look down in the radiator I do see alot of green antifreeze. Just has a lot of what looks like rust floating on it etc. I'm really hoping its just caked on crap from inside the block. I should have flushed it when I was rebuilding it, sitting outside of the truck ;(

Fwayne whats the easiest way to flush out the block? I know freeze plugs and some additional plugs are in the block, but I have heard horror stories on pulling an striping those plugs out of the block. <The non freeze plugs>.

Ive heard of reverse flush through the block works well. Can I just pull upper rad hose off and the thermostat and blast a hose in the intake and pull out the lower hose? I would assume all that crud would blow out the bottom?

[cypressbog]

Just vinstall one of these from your friendly neighborhood auto parts store.

http://www.truevalue.com//catalog/pr...-LcaArCe8P8HAQ

[Jason Banks]

If there is a transmission cooler in the radiator, it could be leaking transmission fluid into the coolant. Assuming you have an automatic and are using the cooler.

[Custom.Chevy]

I would suggest you drain your coolant well maybe twice (just to keep chemicals out of the ground) then run constant hoes water into the system while the engine is running with the thermostat out and the water draining out until the water is absolutely clear. Then empty the system out complexly and fill with 50/50 coolant or distilled water and your choice of mix. then i would maybe add a cooling system additive like royal purple Ice because it not only helps cool but the largest benefit is probably its lubricants that are safe for your cooling system. It will help prevent scale deposits and deterioration of the system. it also claims to improve life/performance of water pumps because of the lubricants.

[fwayne]

You got it, just drain the existing fluid safely. If you remove the lower radiator hose, (after draining, you can ensure most of the fluid is gone. Theres always some on the block and heater core. You can refill with clean water, warm the engine, drain again. this should remove just about all of the material.

You can install the permanent flush valve to as CYPRESSBOG stated. Or visit a quick oil change location and they can do the whole operation without the mess.

And JASON is correct too. Sometimes the tranny cooler (if you run an Auto) can leak into the radiator. Usually due to the pressure of the transmission, the leak is one way and gets into the water but not back into the transmission. If thats the case you will need a new radiator, or bypass the internal cooler and install an external. Radiators are so low cost today that I would replace it if that proved the cause.

[Custom.Chevy]

http://www.ve-labs.net/products/cool...pection-system

ive been doing a little research and have came accross this. this is a legitimate product that the source claims to be reusable by back flushing it. however i doubt you can back flush sludgy material through a paper filter.

i found a forum of some people finding creative ways to make in line coolant filters from metal and even plastic fuel filters. they have photos proving it works and works well. however this is more of something you add to your system after flushing it, on an older vehicle much like most of our old pickups you will never truly get all the filth out unless you replace every major part including the block. that is where the filter comes in. after adding the filter it catches large particles and fine metal particles. the clear glass models also allow you to monitor coolant system color without ever opening your radiator. i might spring for one after i replace my leaky heater core and flush my system.


link to forum
http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums...pics/1965121/1

[MARKDTN]

Originally Posted by Jason Banks

If there is a transmission cooler in the radiator, it could be leaking transmission fluid into the coolant. Assuming you have an automatic and are using the cooler.

This is where I was going. Check your trans fluid.

[100%Chevy]

If your engine block was not boiled out prior to rebuilding,it will have sediment in the lower water passages in each side of the block.
The only way to get most of it out is to remove the 2 plugs in the block and flush it good .
Otherwise,you wil have it in the radiator for a long time!
Mike.

[michael bustamante]

this is a common problem with gm v6 engines
oil and coolant are mixing and producing the sludgy stuff.
if you pull the oil cap you might see the stuff on the oil cap like it is on the rad. cap (if it is on the rad cap that is..)
just because there is no coolant in the oil doesnt mean theres no oil in the coolant.
it does souind like either a leaking head gasket or intake gasket.

[72tutone]

Yep, its an auto but I have a heavy duty aftermarket one so its running straight to the cooler.

Correct, I never had the block boiled out and or cleaned. But I will try to drain it as much as I can and report back to see what happens.

Thanks everyone

[Newguy71]

Any update as to what you found? Are you able to fix it or just make it as good as you could?

[RPBurris]

If you plan on "flushing" the coolant system make sure you either remove your thermostat while doing it or replace it right afterwards. Did a flush in my first truck (many years ago) and ended clogging up the thermostat with crap and blew the motor.

[VWNate1]

Always check the inside of the oil filler cap and dipstick for moisture .

I'm thinking this is just old rust silt coming loose and fouling the coolant .

Here's a document detailing how to cheaply and effectively clean all scale, rust, solder bloom and so on out of any cooling system, even those PIA Japanese paper thin aluminum ones : Citric Acid Cleaning.doc

It is critical to fully drain the old (and now worthless) coolant before beginning this process .

Also be aware that areas with ' hard water ' will work much better if you use distilled water, not ' purified' or whatever, only distilled ,it's only .99 CENTS the gallon of you hunt around for it .

I am rarely not able to save and re use aluminum radiators using this process .

Cannot damage alloys .

[Newguy71]

I drained oil recently and didn't see any milky ness however my oil filter cap does show milky oil... any thoughts? I'm looking at pulling it and just doing a clean up or rebuild if necessary.

[Newguy71]

Sorry, oil breather cap? Got a mesh screen sponge looking dude in it. It's where I've been adding oil...

[hamjet]

Originally Posted by Newguy71

I drained oil recently and didn't see any milky ness however my oil filter cap does show milky oil... any thoughts? I'm looking at pulling it and just doing a clean up or rebuild if necessary.

this time of year its most likely condensation..

[Newguy71]

Ok that's good news. Could that also cause a tad to make it to my dip stick? There was a tiny bit on my dip stick but only the last time I checked it. I've been checking it just about every time I drive it and have not seen that until the last time. I've only been making short trips as well. Maybe 10 or 15 mile round trips.

[VWNate1]

At this point, I'd pull all the spark plugs ~ if one or more is sparkly clean, you have a coolant leak into the combustion chamber ~ if you're not sure, line them all up and take photos, post here, we'll know .

If all are normal I'd go to the .99 CENTS Store and buy a full case of their multi - vis oil and probably a new T-Stat as well ~ go run it hard and do a HOT OIL & FILTER CHANGE, leave it dripping whilst you change the filter and install the new T-Stat (not less than 185° !) , refill it and install the new filter , go take it for a 30 minute drive, see what happens .

As mentioned, at this time of year it's possible to only have collected moisture in the engine as it takes minimum of 30 minutes plus a working PCV valve and the correct Thermostat to get it hot enough for collected condensation to disperse .

Don't panic just yet, O.K. ? .

Take your time and work diligently, don't skip any steps .

If you find even *one* super clean spark plug you have a problem but it's fixable, at home no less .

Whilst they're out, remember to look closely at them and replace of the shoulders of the center electrode are anything but sharply squared, 90° corners then gap them to AT LEAST .035" using only a WIRE GAUGE ~ they're cheap and last our lifetime, most Pawn Shops have many .

[Newguy71]

Thanks for that run down! You mentioned a wire gauge, will a feeler gauge do the trick? And by gapping them, you mean when I reinstall I tighten until I'm .035 inches from all the way tight? And I just did a oil and filter change not 40 miles ago... I guess it's cheaper than causing some real damage...

[El Dorado Jim]

sub'd

[VWNate1]

No;

A feeler gauge is a bit of precision flat steel and you need a wire gauge to do the job right .

The idea is : you should be able to *just* feel a slight drag as you pass the .035" wire between the center electrode and outer electrode, it's important to hold the gauge exactly @ a 90° angle...

Oil and filter are cheap ~ if any water/coolant gets circulated in the oil you run the real risk of "wiping" the bearing surface$...... why I suggested using the .99 Store oil ~ it's O.K. , not great and you can use whatever the very cheapest oil filter is at your F.L.A.P.S. ~ water/coolant likes to remain in oil filters so it's important to toss it , once you have this sorted out you can buy a better branded oil filter, one with the anti-drainback flapper valve in it .

I understand you're thinking about the $ here but failure to do it right may well ruin an otherwise good engine .