I've run Marvel Mystery Oil through the engine and I just did a radiator flush and then added the prestone super cleaner to the cooling system. I just finished running it for a run time of 6 hours. From my previous thread you guys read about my hesitation problem. Yesterday I opened up the drain **** to release coolant from the system and this is what came out.





The liquid in the final 5 bottles was super hot so it was coming from the engine for sure. It looks black in the picture but its really dark brown. It was a little frothy but I haven't had smoke coming from the exhaust or anything. Just the gasy smell that has gone away now. I ran the engine for about 30 minutes filling up the radiator as I went. I hope all that crank case cleaner didn't open up any holes old crusty oil was plugging up. I need to check the oil tomorrow and see if anything separated and check the crank case for any evidence of coolant in it.

Last oil change I did last week...only 3.5 qts came out but some stayed in the oil filter and it came out just like regular oil that was a little thin from having the MMO in it.

Before I ran the cleaner my friend did a radiator drain and fill on the system and it was still green. Could the cleaner have done this much to the cooling system? Or is it because the car was sitting 2 years prior to last April before running that could have caused rust build up. It was only ran like once every 6 months while being worked on and has been running more consistently since this past April. I just wanted to see what everyone's opinion is on this situation.

Oh yeah the last lighter colored bottles are just me flushing the radiator with the distilled water without running the engine.

 

Wow, the previous owner must have neglected the cooling system for years...

 

I used to work at an Air Condition/Radiator shop and we cars would come in for a coolant system power flush and OMG...disgusting probably worse than yours!

Are you suspecting you may have a blown head gasket? If so...theres a kit you can get to determine whether its blown or not IIRC

 

It shouldn't be a blown headgasket. Theres no coolant in the crank case. I know cuz I replaced the oil like every 1000 miles since i got the car. Theres been issues here and there where oil changes were necessitated.

 

Well this is my opinion! Either the previous owner may have extremely neglected the car! Or you running that Prestone cleaner for 6 hrs ( The instructions says 10 min) may have damaged your head gasket. Which could introduce oil into water, vice versa or low compression or you know, the usual blown head gasket symtoms etc

 

Well the previous owner's dad used tap water in the cooling system and then the car had been sitting for quite a while before I got it. The prestone Super FLush is what you use for only 10 minutes. The Super Radiator Cleaner instructions "3) *Drive a total of 3 to 6 hours (normal driving) - may be intermittent and over a period of several days.
4) *With engine off and cool, remove radiator cap, drain system, and close draincock. *Refill with water and replace radiator cap to fully closed position.
5) *Run engine with heater on highest temperature setting, for 10 minutes after reaching normal operating temperature.
6) *Stop engine and allow to cool. *Remove radiator cap, drain system and close draincock. *Add enough recommended coolant to achieve a 50-70% concentration. *Top off radiator with water. *Replace radiator cap to fully closed position. *Run engine for 20 minutes to mix coolant/water."

I used the super cleaner and not the flush stuff so running it for an extended period was what I was supposed to do. I think the system just has old coolant in it.

 

Just in case what would be symptoms of a blown HG?

 

white smoke coming out of your muffler, the sweet smell of burning coolant, and coolant in the crankcase are the most telling signs...

 

if tap water is all thats been used...that's def enough to cause that outcome. If the oil isnt watered down or getting white smoke then I wouldn't worry

 

[QUOTE=tv4184;6553295]I
The liquid in the final 5 bottles was super hot so it was coming from the engine for sure. It looks black in the picture but its really dark brown. [quote]

This reminds me that i should flush mine.I think i will use distilled water as instructed

next time use the two engine block drain bolts to get the last coolant out of the block -the FRONT BOLTS just above the bottom of the oil stick tube on ve AND vg,
the REAR BOLT on the vg is behind the pass driveshaft and on ve its between the oil pan and the exhaust manifolds port thats towards the engine front or pass side(clean the threads and use a dab of sealant on the bolt threads)

i also like to just pull the bottom radiator hose from the radiator side.
its faster than the drain **** and wont hold debris back
(some cars dont have access to this method)

 

Don't panic the previous owner could have had either a blown HG or if an auto a leaking trans cooler in the lower tank of the radiator and never flushed the system out. As long as your compression is up and there are bubbles in your coolant or water in your engine or trans keep on trucking/Maxing. Maybe for extra mental security perform a compression test on your engine....

 

I don't think my friend had a blown HG before, but I just ran more distilled water through the system emptying the radiator fluid from the radiator getting the same lighter brown colored coolant and filled it with pure distilled water. Ran it again and the fluid isn't getting anymore diluted....could it just be so much build up in there that its slowly dissolving away as I add more water?

It's also foamy when its running mostly foaming to the top and someitmes into the overflow tank. Theres still no white smoke and the oil in the crank case is definately just oil. I guess if its a blown HG then the oil is getting into the coolant and not vice versa.

Also its been a few weeks now and the coolant has been sitting in the trunk and there has been no indication of separation in the bottles of coolant and oil. This may or may not be a good sign that the HG is still intact for now. Maybe the coolant is just really bad from sitting for such a long time.

 

It's been a while since I did this flush. Turns out a few months after I did this. I'm not sure if its the overheating that did it but the water pump actually showed some leakage around November. My friend mofoaka replaced it for me which actually showed that it had significant wear. Anyway after that the coolant has actually been pretty good. We did a drain and fill of the radiator recently to replace the t-stat just in case the car had over heating issues since I still can't pass emissions the right way. The temp gauge I had replaced on my car and was working fine for about 400 miles and then now it's not working again so I'm not sure what was going on there.

However I'm not sure about a lot of things that went on. But the max has been truckin on with 420 miles per tank of gas and the coolant is running green with no signs of leakage or that black rusty water crap. I do recommend that super flush, it was a great way to flush out a bad system and I haven't had any ill-effects from it. Absolutely no oil in the coolant and no coolant in the oil. Just wanted to put it out there for anyone else that has cooling system issues.

 

Nice update for those chasing cooling problems.

Have you checked the coolant temperature sending unit (sending signal for temperature gauge)? They can get crudded up or have a wire come loose. I'd take a look at this if you want to fix your temp gauge.

Good luck.

 

lol. theres not many people who flush coolant anymore, or any fluid at that. i work in the shop and theres cars 10k miles since the last oil change all the time.

 

Geez you're going post-crazy today huh

 

Haha probably because he needed that 10 posts to make threads. j/k

Yeah well the temp guage worked fine for like a week when I first replaced it and it's sometimes displaying temperature and not now. I'll look into replacing it. I haven't figured out a few other things like why it's not passing emissions when it was 2 years before it was stored. Anyway it doesn't matter at the moment because I just moved to a non-emissions county