nasty brown frothy antifreeze in res?

[IndyBlk5.0]

Weird thing is, i put a 2 liter ghetto rig on my car for the res becuase it was overheating and i didnt want to loose all my antifreeze everytime. But why would it be brown nasty and frothy? What is up with that? I even see this nasty brown stuff at the bottem of the bottle

 

[Jerry Leaming]

Is it over flowing the overflow res?

 

[Jerry Leaming]

If it is you probably have a bad head gasket. And the brown froth is oil. That would also explain your overheating problem. The air in the coolant system is coming from the head gasket leaking.

 

[IndyBlk5.0]

Is it over flowing the overflow res?

It has been known to do that, overheat and fill that thing up and shoot all over my car... I just burped it with 2 gallons andi drove it for 30 minutes, no overheating, but whats up with that froth crap? Its disgusting

 

[Jerry Leaming]

Sounds like a head gasket.

 

[IndyBlk5.0]

If it is you probably have a bad head gasket. And the brown froth is oil. That would also explain your overheating problem. The air in the coolant system is coming from the head gasket leaking.

No water in the pan...

 

[IndyBlk5.0]

This brown crap settles at the BOTTOM of the resevior though, thats the weird thing, all the good antifreeze is on top, and this is like a gritty crap, like dirt or something... i will go look at it one second

 

[Jerry Leaming]

The bad head gasket is forcing air into the coolant system. The Froth is a oil gas mixture mixing with coolant.

 

[IndyBlk5.0]

i just took my old resevior out, the stuff that outlines it reminds me of dirt... if it was oil, wouldnt it float on top of the antifreeze?

 

[Jerry Leaming]

yea it should float.

?????

what does it smell like?

 

[IndyBlk5.0]

yea it should float.

?????

what does it smell like?

This stuff settles at the bottem, it smells like antifreeze, maybe just allitle big of exhaust smell but i think it just smells like antifreeze, it doesnt feel like a lubricant, and it comes off my fingers easily in the sink without soap

 

[Jerry Leaming]

maybe carbon?

It still sounds like a head gasket.
Just never heard of that (dirt) in the res bottle.

Have you taken your rad. cap off(while the engine is running) and watched the coolant flowing?
Does it have bubbles coming out through the opening and is there froth in that area also?

 

[IndyBlk5.0]

maybe carbon?

It still sounds like a head gasket.
Just never heard of that (dirt) in the res bottle.

Have you taken your rad. cap off(while the engine is running) and watched the coolant flowing?
Does it have bubbles coming out through the opening and is there froth in that area also?

No froth at all, and it didnt seem to bubble, but then agian i was trying to get the air out of my system

 

[IndyBlk5.0]

took pictures, wait 1 min for upload, here they are guys

 

[Jerry Leaming]

Well just keep your eye on the res tank especially when you get on it alot. Mine was fine usually until i really reved the motor then i noticed the coolant level would start to rise.
Might of been just an air bubble like I said on the other post. But at least now you now what to look for.

 

[IndyBlk5.0]

pictures posted i know they arent good quality but this might give you allitle bit of an idea, this is my old resevior bottle... i tried taking a picture of my ghetto bottle but it was dark outside...

 

[clarkjr]

The brown gritty crap may be an additive used to seal coolant system leaks. I can't remember the name of it right now but it comes in a bottle, is liquid, and very brown and once mixed in your system, looks as you described. Did you add a "stop leak" to your coolant, if not, have you not had the car long (maybe a previous owner added this nice product for you)? It will work for a time and will cover up problems.

 

[davs5.0]

I'm with Clark on this one. Defiantely sounds like the remnants of a stop leak product.

 

[IndyBlk5.0]

Well that just sucks... And guess what guys, i looks like that form a gasket stuff is stuck one of my ports for my radiator, so who knows whats in that thing =( Hum i overheated with a cold upper radiator hose, pretty warm radiator cap? sound like water pump?

 

[5.0Droptop]

I have worked on his car. I noted that it holds abnormal pressure in the system but dosent over heat, I ran it hard and came back and it still had pressure but wasnt overflowing into the bottle.i removed the cap and it spewed antifreeze and emptied almost half the radiator. The oil is clean, no sign of gasket failure, Exhaust looks good not steamy. I am leaning toward a weak waterpump..... or rad clogged. I just installed his heater core. Sometimes the system will just blow over on him. I thought head gasket also but still not convienced yet.