a coulpe months ago i noticed that my coolant was pretty nasty when i took the cap off so i decided to change it not too long ago. when i drained out what was in it, some of it came out with brown,kinda thick junk in it. it looked pretty bad. after i drained it all i ran a few gallons of water through it til it came out clear. well i thought that took care of that brown ****. a couple weeks ago my waterpump went out so i put fresh coolant back in it, and it came out kinda brown again. when i take the cap off and tip it upside down, it drips out from there and it just doesnt look too good. is this because i need a new radiator or what? im guessing its just corrosion in the radiator making it that color. either way, somethin should be done about it. im not worried if i only need a new radiator, but is it possible that this junk can mess up my motor? my car does have 116k miles. anyway.....someone just tell me that my motor will be ok thanks

 

Your radiator is made of aluminum so it's not the source of the brown color...sounds like rust from the block. Are you running just water or is it mixed with antifreeze? You need the antifreeze to keep from rusting the block as well as it lubricates your waterpump seals. A lot of guys have had trouble with water wetter "junking up" their coolant...did you run water wetter? I'd perform another thorough flush of the system and then add 70% distilled water and 30% coolant.

 

oil leaking into the coolant maybe?

 

Yeah, you might have oil in your coolant. You should probably check your oil and see if theres any coolant in there.

 

Dexcool + Greenstuff= Mud

 

He's got a '93. Shouldn't have Dexcool, unless someone who didn't know better put some in it.

 

before i flushed it a month or so ago im assuming it was 50/50 water and coolant. when i flushed it i refilled it with 50/50 as well. ok a few weeks later the waterpump went out and when my neighbor refilled it he filled it 90% with coolant. the next day it had dropped a bit so i put water and coolant in it. i dunno whats goin on this high miles thing is pissing me off i use the green stuff btw. thats what i was told to use.

 

AFAIK, ALL LT1's came with orange dex-cool from the factory. Mixing green antifreeze with dex-cool is a no-no.:blah:

 

116k high miles?

 

No, I don't think Dex-Cool was available unitl '95. I could be wrong, but I know '93 didn't come with Dex-Cool.

 

how long have you had the car? it;s possible that someone used bars leak or copper seal etc leak stop in the system and it all solidified. ALso possible that it was just never taken care of. COuld also be the mixing of the 2 coolants. BTW, just look for the sticker that says "special coolant fill procedure" under the hood so you know what anti freeze the car came with. I bilve a 93 should be standered green ethylen glychol (sp).

if you are going to flush the system you have to flush EVERYTHING. the radiator, the block, the heater core, the hoses etc etc. Bad crap is hard to get out and takes a long time but it;s very worth it. I sugest a total flush of everything to get yourself back to where it should be. Then fill with the correct coolant for your car and some disilled water and you should be good to go

 

ive owned the car for 3 years. my car does take green antifreeze btw. when i changed the coolant, i only drained it from the radiator. haynes manual said something about the block drain but i didnt mess with that. i just thought changing the radiator coolant would be better than nothing, i guess not. i checked the oil dipstick and its full and shows no sign of coolant on it. the brown junk that i see when i take off the radiator cap isnt real bad, its not changing the antifreeze completely brown, but i know it shouldnt be there. i thought about just letting it sit til i get outa school for the summer and have some money. im assuming its been like this for quite some time but it hasnt effected the way it runs...but could it eventually? i keep thinking about trading it in for an ls1 car, what should i do?

 

it can effect things further. the 2 main things I would be worried about is a pluged radiator and or heater core.

 

I don't use tap water on my car. Tap water is the main source of corrosion in your radiator. Spend an extra buck and half or so, and use distilled water with your anti-freeze. This has worked great for me.
Goose

 

You wrote that you had 90% coolant; coolant doesn't transfer the heat as well as water. The max coolant you should go is 50% and only if you live in a very cold area. I would think in Virginia you could go 30% coolant, 70% distilled water.