JoeKnowsBaseball

iTrader: (5)

Last night I flushed my cooling system because it was dirty. I haven't done that since I bought the car last July. Anyways I did it because the coolant was a red color that was nasty. So I flushed out my system with a water hose at my house and filled it up.

Then today I drove about 40 miles rountrip to work. Then I come home, park it for about 3 hours, went to drive it and it was acting up. Once I got close to home it wanted to die. I pulled in the garage and it died completely. I popped the hood and there was coolant every where.

I'm afraid to say that the red stuff in my coolant was a sealer and I have a cracked head. Or could it be a water pump leaking bad and my engine got hot and didn't want to run?

Someone please help. I need this car for a daily driver and have no other options.

1meantransam

iTrader: (8)

if it's a head issue check your oil. will have fluid in it (coolant) usually. try turning it on and looking under hood to see if anythings hissing/squirting ect. if it was just a head gasket car should still run fine.

JoeKnowsBaseball

iTrader: (5)

I tried starting the car and I didn't see anything squirting. I'll try again after it cools off a little bit.

Any other advice?

1meantransam

iTrader: (8)

could be a number of things. only thing you can do is narrow down what IS working and go from there. if the fluid isn't coming out of a split hose, or a seperated pump ect. then you know it's not that part of cooling system. wait tell tmrw so it's all dry then try turnin it over and watching for anything. make sure it's filled up tonight so incase it is a leak you can see rust or something in the morning where the problems at.

95zpro

Did you notice on your drive home from work if the car was overheating or anything else abnormal from the gauges. I would be a little hesitant to run the car too long in case you have filled a cylinder with coolant etc. although this is unlikely. Check your oil though; if blown head gasket it will have a milkshake look to it or you could also start your car, pull the radiator cap and check for bubbles...

1meantransam

iTrader: (8)

yep milkshake is easiest way to tell. if that's the case go buy a new headgasket, some ARP head bolts and trust me you want those over stock ones, and get to work. not even a couple hours worth of work.

scss02

What kind of coolant did you put back in it or did you just put water. Some car have to have coolant or they will overheat.

JoeKnowsBaseball

iTrader: (5)

I used a 50/50 mix of water and green coolant.

There's no water in the oil. I'm starting to think the water pump is out and the coolant emptied and the engine got too hot to run so it wanted to die.

MY06TBSS

the red stuff is the new coolant that they are putting in ,it is suppose to be lifetime coolant ...go to your parts store and ask them for red coolant it it supposedly the only thing that will work in those engines... i own a fleet of 18 wheelers and learned this the hard way ,, all of my trucks use the red coolant and it cannot not be changed , so it could be the same ,100% red coolant is the only thing that will work,, don't know if this helps but maybe??

Cam72aro

iTrader: (28)

Its actually orange, its called dexcool. You can change it to green, and no its not the only thing that will work in these engines. I have blue bmw coolant in mine just because I get it for free. As long as all the dexcool is out you can put whatever coolant you want in it. If its not all out it will gel when mixed. I suggest that some people that think they know what they are talking about stop giving false advice about repairs on cars and go back to doing whatever they do for a profession.

MY06TBSS

I suggest that some people that think they know what they are talking about stop giving false advice about repairs on cars and go back to doing whatever they do for a profession.


THATS WHY I SAID SUPPOSEDLY !!!! SORRY FOR TRYING TO HELP!!! AND I DO KNOW YOU CANNOT RUN " JUST ANYTHING" IN A DETROIT DIESEL BECAUSE THIS VERY PROBLEM COST ME 25K ON A NEW ENGINE . BTW I AM AN 1989 GRAD OF LINCOLN TECH IN DALLAS AND I WAS AN ASE CERT MECH. UNTILL 1999..SO MAYBE I AM QUALIFIED!!

LeadfootDuramax

iTrader: (6)

This could be part of your problem. Never mix red and green coolant. I know you flushed it, but there is still going to be some in the system somewhere and prob in the hoses. You will need to compeltely flush again a fe times to make sure every last bit is out (inlcuding the heater core). Replace all of your rubber hoses (even the little ones for the heater core etc) and thermostat. Choose what coolant you want to run in the future and refill with that coolant and that coolant only.

When I used to work at the dealer we would see cars where the coolant had been mixed (even just a little) and it eventually turns to a brown/black goo that will wreak havoc on your cooling system and and clog things. I doubt yours has been run long enough to get to this point, but you will def need to fix this before driving much more.

01Z0H6

iTrader: (63)

Relax guy... the post says nothing about a fleet of trucks and your exp @ Lincoln tech.

Stay on track, give him some sound advise that is pertainant to the OP.

Back to OP...
Could there be air in the system? Is the WP making noise? When was the last time you changed your radiator cap? IS you overflow puking coolant,or is it full? Can you smell burning coolant from your exhaust? ( sweet smell).

Any of these symptoms?

1meantransam

iTrader: (8)

yeah about the whole critisism on cam72, he's actually right. you can run whatever coolant you want in these cars as long as whole system is flushed of the old. mixing will cause a gunk to happen. green isn't what i would use in it OP, i would stick with Dexcool wich is 13 bucks for a full mix at advance auto parts. don't buy 50/50 because it's a waste of money. your paying for 50 percent water lol. you might want to flush your system out now though, sence you mixed orange/green together.

Greed4Speed

iTrader: (7)

If you read on Dexcool's website you will find that you CAN mix the green and Dexcool. All that happens is that it no longer has the long lifespan. Both Dexcool and the green coolant are Ethylene Glycol based and can be mixed.
Credentials aside, I have personal experience mixing the two in my wife's 01 Grand Am (around 50k miles because a GM mechanic put a hole in my radiator) that we put over 170k miles on and my Sis-n-law is driving the **** out of now. In all of these miles, the only cooling problem beside the hole in the radiator was a sticking t-stat around 150k miles.

If you want to argue credentials, I see your mechanic knowlege and raise you Chemistry education. There is a simple rule in Chemistry, LIKES MIX. They are both the same basic stock with different additives.

What causes the brown sludge in Dexcool is air when the coolant is hot. Thats why fill/overflow tanks always look like mud while the rest of the system will be prestine. I also refuse to go the supposed 150k miles life span of Dexcool and have changed it regularly.


For your reading pleasure:
http://www.havoline.com/products/na/antifreeze_01.html
Bottom of link above: "Compatible with conventional antifreeze. Dilution with conventional antifreeze will reduce extended life benefits.
Chevron recommends that this product not be diluted by more than 10% with conventional coolants."

Greed4Speed

iTrader: (7)

Now for the OP,

Did you burp your system when you flushed it?

JoeKnowsBaseball

iTrader: (5)

I'm still not 100% sure that it was dexcool. I thought of that when I first bought the car, but there was red stuff coating the entire inside of the cooling system.

And as far as flushing out a system. How would I go about that? Drain the coolant and fill it back with water, run the engine and repeat a few times?


1meantransam: lol I didn't buy premix. I know that little trick. Save 2 dollars because they already filled it with water.

JoeKnowsBaseball

iTrader: (5)

And as far as "burping" I'm not familiar with the term. I just filled it up, started the car, let it cycle once, topped it off, drove it and then checked it again.

JoeKnowsBaseball

iTrader: (5)

I just went out and played with it just now. It didn't wanna stay running and there was a horrible noise that sounded like it came from the WP. Almost sounds like the bearings got washed out. Could that cause the motor not to run? Maybe cause the belt would bog down the motor?

Greed4Speed

iTrader: (7)

Did you watch your temp while driving?

When you fill the LS engine you need to remove the coolant line that goes to the t-body and fill until coolant comes out of it. If you have it bypassed then just open up the bypass. This allows the air in the top end to escape.

I had a shop flush my system, I was feeling lazy and decided to let them use their fance contraption, and they didn't do this and came and told me they couldn't get all the fluid it needed back into the engine. I told them what to do and they didn't listen. All said and done they ended up calling a dealership and was told to do what I had told them. They overheated my engine a couple of times which caused my water pump to leak like mad and I made them replaced my water pump for their stupidity.