Brown coolant.. Back again with a vegeance

[01BlueZX3]

OK... I had a coolant flush done about a month ago from my mechanic when the coolant turned brown. Now I check the coolant again and it's brown to all hell again. I just can't figure out what the hell is wrong with it. People are telling me all kinds of things from the engine is rusting out to mixing coolant with oil. Has anyone experienced this? The car isn't overheating or anything. Can my engine actually be rusting? Or maybe my radiator needs to be replaced? Anyone, any ideas or suggestions?!? I'm totally stumped on this one. Oh, and I have checked the oil and transmission fluid and no sign or antifreeze in it. HELP!!!!!!!!

[Jibberish18]

Maybe you need to use some sort of product like Prestone Super Flush or Super Cleaner?

[GapBoyPCS]

It seems strange that after a month the coolant will go brown again. Are you sure the mechanic actually flushed the system?

[Twilight Blue ZX3 SVT]

No if the coolant was heavily contaminated and then flushed, and got dirty again either you have some serious issues in the engine or its just really dirty and my need several flushes, to prevent this i change all my fluids out once a yr, ya its over kill but the fluids are all clean, which prevents leaks.

[01BlueZX3]

Yeah, he did a flush. That is why I'm totally stumped. I mean it's not overheating or anything and only change I see while driving is a lack of power a bit, but I'm positive that is from my clogged cats and my crappy fuel pump which I don't think it ever got done. I mean how much gunk crap could possibly be in the engine? I just hope there's nothing majorly wrong with the car. Ugh. This coolant issue has me really aggrevated.

[GapBoyPCS]

Assuming your car is a daily driver, there shouldn't be any "gunk" in the engine. You might have some carbon deposits from combustion, but it shouldn't affect your car THAT much.

I'm not sure how clogged cats and a fuel pump can cause coolant to go bad. Cats serve to react with exhaust gases so the ultimate end emission is "safe" for the environment.

Make sure that the mechanic actually flushed out everything, instead of just letting the old stuff drain out, and then refilling it. There could be a slight chance some of the gunk is still in there.

Just out of curiousity, are you the original owner of the car? Also, how often have you had coolant flushes?

[TXFO]

is the coolant thick-ish?

[01BlueZX3]

No coolant isn't thickish. I'm positive my mechanic did a full flush. and yes it is a daily driver and no, I didn't mention the clogged cats and fuel pump relating to the coolant. I just said that's the only thing i notice from the car, meaning I have no clue where this coolant problem is coming from. The last coolant flush I did was the first time I have done it since I have had the car. So, since I bought it, I haven't done a flush, which is prob about a little below 3 yrs. And, no I'm not the original owner of the car. I bought the car used at a ford dealer. Oh, the coolant isn't thickish but it reaks when I smell it. I can't even describe the odor 'cause it's so funky. I can't think of anything that might cause it to do this. I guess I'm gonna have to take it back to my mechanic again and see what happens. Gawd, sometimes I just want to junk this car. But I have just fallen in love with it from the first day I got it. *sigh, I hate when crap like this happens and you can't figure it out. I'm so frustrated.

[Jibberish18]

Gawd, sometimes I just want to junk this car. But I have just fallen in love with it from the first day I got it. *sigh, I hate when crap like this happens and you can't figure it out. I'm so frustrated.

Easy now, easy. The sun will shine tomorrow. Compare your problems with some of the stuff people on here have to deal with and you'll gladly take brown coolant in your car.

If it helps, I had a 90 Mercury Sable with 39,000 miles. The coolant was nice and brown. We flushed the coolant and a couple of weeks later the coolant turned brown again. I think maybe you may just need a product like Prestone Super Flush. Maybe you got some leftover funk in their?

How did he flush it by the way?

[Jlongoria9]

they flushed the coolant on my scort and it turned brown like in 3 days. i took it again so they could flush it and now it actually looks green. u may probly still have some of the dirty coolant on ur engine which is why it turned brown. maybe ur mechanic just flushed the radiator coolant but not the engines, so that could be why it turned brown again. either that or ur radiator is rusting.

[01BlueZX3]

*Sigh, yeah I'm going to have to take it back to the mechanic and have him flush it again. I guess it could be worse. Or maybe I should just get an ST or try to find a used SVT around.

[01BlueZX3]

can it be a blown head gasket?

[pitchblackZX5]

my 2 cents would be that with a 'flush' (which is just a drain and re-fill) you won't get all the crap out of a very dirty system, let alone all the fluid out. So add in the clean green, mix it with the bit of old brown and you get, brown, maybe a lighter brown, but brown. I remember Costco had an 'engine power flush' they would do that actually ran clean oil through the engine and through a filter, in a continuous flow. Maybe you could find a 'flush' like that, where they actually cycle the fluid through, discard it, and add fresh fluid? By the way, if any mechanics want to correct any misconceptions I've stated, feel free, I am not a pro.

[01BlueZX3]

Yeah I know they have a flush to do the oil system like that but I don't know if they have one for a coolant system. I'm going to give a flush another try and try to find if any place has a powerflushing for the cooling system. More money outta my pockets...

[aiden1983]

ya I bought my focus used from a dealer and the antifreeze was gross. So i used the presone super flush and made sure my car was running way longer than I needed, finished the flush and added the new coolant. Well when I checked the fuild witht the hydrometer I saw that it was a little too rich so I drained some fluid only to discover that the fuild was still kinda dirty. So I drained all the fluid back out and I would say it got clean after 1/2 of it was empty. So I reflushed the system and it has been good now for 6 months. If you have a really bad system you might have to do it twice like I did. Also why take it to a mechanic prolly one of the easiest things to do on your car?

[Jlongoria9]

Originally Posted by pitchblackZX5

my 2 cents would be that with a 'flush' (which is just a drain and re-fill) you won't get all the crap out of a very dirty system, let alone all the fluid out. So add in the clean green, mix it with the bit of old brown and you get, brown, maybe a lighter brown, but brown. I remember Costco had an 'engine power flush' they would do that actually ran clean oil through the engine and through a filter, in a continuous flow. Maybe you could find a 'flush' like that, where they actually cycle the fluid through, discard it, and add fresh fluid? By the way, if any mechanics want to correct any misconceptions I've stated, feel free, I am not a pro.

well said


i'm not a pro either but i've flushed my cooling system before. all i did was take the bottom radiator hose and empty the radiator then added water to it and let it warm up so the thermostat can open and the water can mix with the one left in the engine. then i drained it again and did the same thing over and over (like 6 times) till the water came clear, after it was clearer i added my antifreeze and now the fluid looks green i added regular tap water cuz i dont care for it, but if u try it u might wan to add distiled water to it . i havent had problems with it.

if there were a way to drain the water from the engine block, u wouldnt have to flush the cooling system several times but i havent figure that out yet

[01BlueZX3]

Yeah I should flush this damn thing like 1000 times or something. I would like to do it but last time I tried flushing the cooling system on my old car I ended up overheating the car afterwards so I'm reluctant to do it myself... Things always go south for me when I do things I really don't know how to do properly. But anyway here are some pics of how nasty it is. Looking at this again I'm really beginning to worry if my radiator is rusting...

[Silfox]

Wow, that is nasty. Makes me want to go flush mine.

[Jlongoria9]

mine was like that too . the only possible way of overheating ur car is if u dont add any water back in the radiator after u drain it . my reservior was as bad as urs so i took it off and cleaned it with soap, my uncle told me to put some pebbles inside it and shake it so that way it could remove all that brown stuff that was stuck to the sides of the reservior. and it actually worked when u flush it, u got to remove as much as u can of that brown crap. like i said it will require several flushes, or u can drain the radiator fluid like i told u too, and take the cap off and put ur water hose there and turn the faucet on and u'll see all the crap coming out of the radiator, then all u have to do is figure out a way to take the water thats left in the block. after that it should pretty much be clean and dont forget to add fluid back into the radiator

[01BlueZX3]

Anyone know if Ford does a powerflush for cooling systems? I'm going to have to look around to see if any mechanic places has a coolant power flush. I want to get all the gunk outta the engine and radiator. Or else I'm just going to have to spend all day flushing and filling with water and try to get all the gunk out. Sigh. Oh if it makes any difference this started happening after I got my thermostat housing replaced because it was leaking. Coolant was nice and green before I got the housing replaced. Ugh, I swear I can't go a month without something going wrong on my car.

[mr.squatch]

Our ford service dept sells a BG "cooling flush service" which is basically a big water filter that they run the coolant thru for anywhere from 15 mins to an hour, then they add a supergreen additive to it that makes pretty much anything look green-ish. It is not a flush, its is a coolant filtration. It costs anywhere from $69 to $99 depending on coupons. Most of the tech's at our place will sell the service because it pays well, but do not know or care how to do it right, so if it gets done at all is a mystery. Best bet is to get some coolant flush from an autoparts store and follow the directions and do it yourself. CLR also works wonders, but you gotta flush it well to make sure and get all the cleaner out. It's nearly impossible to get the overflow bottle clean on the inside once it's turned brown and cooked in there. I've had pretty good luck with clr and a flexible bottle brush. The trick to a good flush is to force water thru the entire system both directions. When you are fighting the thermostat (pumping cold water in) and the direction of the water pump its just not very easy to get it all clean. IMO there is no flush sold as a service that will get your system clean. The best service you will find will be a drain/fill which will put (mostly) new fluid in and it will look great, but it will eventually turn brown again when it pulls the contaminants out of the system that are stuck in there.

g

[goinloco1]

as far as the radiator rusting, they are aluminum with plastic tanks....
he may have flushed it but there are a lot of nooks and crannies in the coolant passages that the rust settles into. when its flushed alot of this will remain. it can take several flushes to get things clean when they have gotten this bad.
drain it, fill with superflush and water, run it awhile (hour or so) and drain again.
repeat as necessary till clean.
and dont forget to run the heater, alot of this will sit in the heater core.
oh, and rust like that is usually a sign of having too much water at some point. the blocks are cast iron.

[01BlueZX3]

Hmmm thanks so much guys for all the input. IMO I don't think the radiator is taking a crap 'cause it doesn't overheat or anything. Actually after the first flush was done the cooling is working actually a little better. Sometimes it won't go all the way to the normal operating temp. When I'm on the highway sometimes the needle is a lil below normal operating temp and it runs pretty good. SO maybe I just need to do a flush as many times as I can. Hopefully nothing is wrong with the radiator or anything. I just don't understand how it got brown like that all a sudden. It just started happening right after I got a new thermostat housing done. Weird. Well, I have my fingers crossed. Thanks jetters.