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Hello, after retiring my car to weekend status, she hasn't gotten much use. Today after driving, I decided to take a look under the hood only to find this. The frothy coolant in the expansion tank has been a thing for a while, I just assumed it was the dexcool mixing with air. But why are my hoses covered in that slime? I felt it and it is thick like caramel or syrup, really hard to get off. Any insight? I'm a little worried as to what is going on.
Took off my cap and saw this. Seems like something is floating around in there.coolant itself is still orange. Is the powersteering cooler integral to the radiator on these cars? (I have a ws6). If so that could be a possible culprit. My 1999 suburban had an issue about 2 years ago where the internal oil cooler ruptured, pouring oil into the cooling system. I obviously had to buy a new rad and I flushed the block, heater cores, and new radiator(again recently ) many times just to get the crud out. If this is the case, I'll tear into is next weekend, replace the hoses, flush the system, and see what else is needed.
Again, any help or insight is greatly appreciated.
OK another update. I forgot that I out UV dye in my PS fluid a while ago to try and track down a leak. So I got out my uv lamp and here's what happened: PS fluid, normal light (baseline) Under UV light Another hose seeping green (seems to go from the radiator towards the intake. Idk if it is for the heater or what) Inside radiator (no green?)
Maybe this is just the dexcool?( Seems odd that it would froth up though). Also why would those hoses(need to upload other pics) be seeping green? Wth is going on?
If transmission fluid is in your radiator fluid then there's a very good possibility that radiator fluid / water is in your transmission fluid. Does your transmission dipstick look anything like what is under that radiator cap?
If transmission fluid is in your radiator fluid then there's a very good possibility that radiator fluid / water is in your transmission fluid. Does your transmission dipstick look anything like what is under that radiator cap?
Rick
Having the T56, I don't believe I have any transmission cooling lines going to the radiator. The only obvious lines I could see appear to be the PS fluid lines, and an oil cooler. I checked my oil and everything looks absolutely fine. I'm inclined to believe it may be PS fluid slowly leaking into the coolant, as that would correlate with my the issue of losing powersteering fluid I had.
Power steering cooler let go looks like. Theres more PS pressure than whats in the cooling system. Time to ditch that crappy cooler that is in the upper radiator hose!
Power steering cooler let go looks like. Theres more PS pressure than whats in the cooling system. Time to ditch that crappy cooler that is in the upper radiator hose!
It doesn't seem to be too bad, engine hasn't overheated or anything, I'm just glad it didn't get into the cooling system AND steering. Is there a sticky or some guide on how to completely eliminate the PS cooler and all the lines?
Anybody have any idea as to why those hoses are seeping? What do they go to? I'll probably pull my intake off yjis weekend to see what they are connected to.
As stated above, classic power steering cooler leakage into the coolant. I assume the oil of the ps fluid is penetrating through the hoses and that's what you're seeing. Read the sticky on it. Get rid of the cooler, you'll need some new hoses, and you'll have a lot of flushing to do.
No need to pull the intake. The picture with the green speckles below the picture of the radiator cap is a steam line from the engine water jacket. It operates at perhaps 16 PSI pressure and appears to be leaking / seeping. I'd replace it before tearing into the intake.
As stated above, classic power steering cooler leakage into the coolant. I assume the oil of the ps fluid is penetrating through the hoses and that's what you're seeing. Read the sticky on it. Get rid of the cooler, you'll need some new hoses, and you'll have a lot of flushing to do.
Oh boy, this is going to be fun . It took me forever to clean out my suburban.
No need to pull the intake. The picture with the green speckles below the picture of the radiator cap is a steam line from the engine water jacket. It operates at perhaps 16 PSI pressure and appears to be leaking / seeping. I'd replace it before tearing into the intake.
Rick
Does the hose/hoses have specific names or can I just buy straight lengths?
I'd go to your local GM parts guy at the dealer and buy these hoses there. My gut feel here is these need to be stronger than a typical rubber or fuel line hose. They are the steam line rubber hoses that head towards the radiator. The fittings they attach to are at nearly the very top of the engine and most of the air / steam in the system gets purged out through these lines.
I'd go to your local GM parts guy at the dealer and buy these hoses there. My gut feel here is these need to be stronger than a typical rubber or fuel line hose. They are the steam line rubber hoses that head towards the radiator. The fittings they attach to are at nearly the very top of the engine and most of the air / steam in the system gets purged out through these lines.
Rick
Wow I never knew that. Is that because it is a closed system?
that is GM answer to keep the TB from icing in cold weather.....you can delete ....er....bypass it to keep the TB cooler than the coolant temp.....easy and common mod sure there are plenty of threads for guidance
I have the same slime on my hoses to ......cant figure it out ....its soooo nasty
Very interesting. I guess I will see if the slime is power steering fluid or not when I rip them off, it feels disgusting, like gear oil but worse. Would you mind directing me to a thread or what to search exactly on how to "bypass" it? Thank you.
The seeping through the hoses is the oil eating the rubber. Coolant hoses are not built to carry oil. They make specific hose for trans fluid which is what is in your power steering and it is the type of hose you need to use for the power steering cooler. Get rid of the cooler in the upper radiator hose and run new hoses to a small trans cooler up front in front of the radiator or mount it in the front end somewhere, in the airflow would be best (like in front of the radiator).
All of your coolant hoses are now contaminated with oil and will start swelling and pop. I've been through this before. You'll need to change all hoses.
After you do you'll have to change the antifreeze a few times to get all the oil out. It's a tedious process. Before you pull the old hoses drain the coolant pinch off the power steering cooler lines to the cooler with vice grips or something and drain the coolant. Then run some water and dawn soap in it and let it get hot and circulate. This will get a considerable amount of oil out before you put on the new hoses.
When you have the hoses off stick a water hose in the radiator and let it run for a while to get as much goo out as possible. I would personally pull the water pump off too and flush the engine with the hose and flush the heater core with the hose. Don't want oil getting on the new hoses.
For the new upper radiator hose get the one for a z28 that doesn't have the cooler in it and you'll get a 1 piece hose.
Your radiator fluid doesn't look that bad. When my power steering cooler went out, it turned the Dexcool into jello. It was so bad that my engine was overheating. That's how I realized something was wrong. I took it to a shop, and they flushed the radiator, replaced all the hoses, and swapped the power steering cooler with an external air cooler. The new cooler is mounted right behind the air dam. It probably doesn't get much air flow, but it's better than not having one (like the Z28).
I don't have a thread with step by step instructions for the throttle body bypass mod, but I do have a good photo of it:
Last edited by Utinator; Mar 6, 2019 at 08:44 PM.
Reason: spelling/grammar
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Frothy coolant and seeping hoses 
. It took me forever to clean out my suburban. 
