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Well it being a 99 I'm sure it's had the wrong antifreeze added at some point. I bet being a mechanic you see that in a lot of cars after a certain age huh?
Orange sludge in radiator
- Thread starter The motor guy
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Okay, so I drained it out and refilled with zerex g05. It actually wasn't that bad. The fins on the radiator are kind of stained a golden brown color, but that stuff pictured on the radiator cap washes off very easily. I'll do a couple more drain and refills and call it good. It's not clogged solid like I thought.
Did you flush it out either with the cleaner or straight tap water? You need to ensure all traces of the DexCool have been removed before adding G05 by flushing until the water runs clear. Not sure why you are doing drain and refills with G05 instead of tap water for a few days.
By drain do you mean drain block, radiator, heater core, overflow?
Did you flush with water?
If you only drained the radiator, I would do a drain & fill with water in the next few days and another day or two later a drain & fill with G-05.
If you drained all parts of the cooling system before adding G-05 then you can wait a month or two.
Did you flush with water?
If you only drained the radiator, I would do a drain & fill with water in the next few days and another day or two later a drain & fill with G-05.
If you drained all parts of the cooling system before adding G-05 then you can wait a month or two.
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I pulled the lower rad hose and drained about 3 gallons out. Stuffed the garden hose into the filler neck of the rad along with the water pump side of the block to flush things out. Yeah straight tap water would have been cheaper, but for all we know that could be what's been in it. I decided to just get some good quality coolant back in it right away. It may be a week or two before I get around to messing with this thing again and didn't want straight tap in it that long. That lower rad hose was a bear and I had to cut it off and just buy a new one. There's no room to wrangle that thing off. The high side ac line is all up in the way. Another week or two I'll fill it up with tap water, add some cleaner and run it for 20 minutes or so then drain that and add more regular antifreeze.
GM had a video out on Dexcool issues
Pull the thermostat, buy a new cap and keep it to the side
Keep flushing with water and Prestone coolant flushes until clear
At the end, I'm told this flush is the be all end all for Dexcool clogging
Irontite ThoroFlush (468-9110-16) https://a.co/d/1Ph4Z6I
Then chase it all with a fresh 50/50 of the proper specified coolant
Pull the thermostat, buy a new cap and keep it to the side
Keep flushing with water and Prestone coolant flushes until clear
At the end, I'm told this flush is the be all end all for Dexcool clogging
Irontite ThoroFlush (468-9110-16) https://a.co/d/1Ph4Z6I
Then chase it all with a fresh 50/50 of the proper specified coolant
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how long can you drive around with coolant flush in the system? The stuff I got said anywhere from 10 minutes to 6 hours depending on how dirty it is. Can I drive it around for a couple weeks with that stuff in there?
I think there are different chemicals in the various flush products some more aggressive. I would follow the directions.
I think a lot of the radiator flush products use a chemical that ends up being citric acid when mixed with water.
Make sure the flush product is compatible with the engine and radiator in your vehicle. Engine being cast iron, aluminum, etc.
I think once people moved away from the old green coolant the need for flushing greatly diminished. Except for Dex-Cool related issues.
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Here's what it looked like when I drained it out.
In a case like this I would remove the thermostat and disconnect the hoses and back flush the block, radiator and heater core. Just don't go crazy with the pressure on the radiator and heater core. Wrap a rag around the hose nozzle to semi-seal to the inside of the rad hoses. After that, do some drain and fills with distilled water to get most of the tap water out.
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what do I do with all this antifreeze anyways? I have some 55 gallon steel barrels, will it evaporate if left for long enough? That's the main issue, I barely have anywhere to put the first drain and fill.
Our local auto parts stored used to take it but recently stopped. Instead we have to take it to one of the county solid waste transfer stations where they take it for free. Some municipalities allow used antifreeze to be poured into the public sewer system (not storm drains). Don't pour it into a septic system, though.
What happened to the old citric acid flushes that were reccomended when I started here? I think this would be ideal in this scenario.
I think most of the chemical flushes are a chemical that turns to citric acid when added to water.
Agreed.
My guess is someone put some leak sealer sludge in there. Now you have no heat and an oatmeal breakfast for two.
Not some 20+ year old Dexcool fable about all Dex coolants now and forever turn to gel. That was years ago guys on certain GM engines with certain gaskets in said engines. Not any and every engine that had Dex installed. Dex is a great coolant for those that require it.
Keep rolling the dice.
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What do you mean?
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Maybe trying to stop a heater core from leaking or something years ago?
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So I'm giving it another drain and fill after the initial drain and fill of zerex g05, well this time it came out looking jist like the g05 looked like going in, so I'm on the fence about running some distilled water or just add refill again with more new g05. Opinions?
If the coolant that you drained looks the same as the virgin G05 from the new jug, there is no need to flush again with distilled water. Just refill it and you're good to go.
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