Hey guys, I replaced my radiator a few years ago and I used only water and water wetter in my 96 TA. I pulled the cap off my radiator today because I heard a boiling sound last night and all the aluminum fins all had a coating of rust on them. Also, the coolant was all muddy, thick, and rusty.

What should I do? Replace the radiator? Will a system flush do any good? I'm assuming the radiator is trash since the fins inside the radiator all have a serious rust coat on them.

 

You could try a chemical flush and see what happens. Always use anti-freeze in a street car.

 

IIRC, Water Wetter does have some rust inhibitor in it, but apparently not enough? Maybe a reason to run at least some normal coolant?

 

I'm taking the car to get flushed right now. Maybe some of the rust will dislodge? Regardless, I'm definitely going to do a 50/50 mix from now on. Is it ok to have the rust on the fins or should I plan on replacing the radiator? Thanks for your help guys!

 

Did you use regular tap water?????? It usually contains contaminates, minerals, chlorine, etc....... This could contribute.....

Try distilled water.....

 

Yea I used distilled water. Maybe they lied on the bottle

 

My Jeep Wrangler which saw dirt and off road conditions all the time always had rust free coolant no matter what, the Camaro has always had the rusty dirty coolant. Go figure???

 

I went to a lube shop today and had them flush the coolant twice and refill with dexcool/water. They used some pressurized system where they sucked the coolant out and then put new coolant in. The coolant was FILTHY, and could probably be flushed a few more times, but so far the car seems to be keeping cool. A bit cooler than normal in fact.