While removing AC, found this

[Jean]

Car came with old AC that doesn't work, so I removed most of it today (just the compressor is left to remove).

I had to remove radiator and this doesn't look too good :( It's only about 3 months old as I had a shop change all the coolant hoses and do a coolant flush.....

[Jand3rson]

That's not good...

[PiercedE30]

is there a dead baby powering your engine or is that rust?

[Jean]

I've seen pictures of oil+coolant mix...but this looks different...

[nefarious7907]

Maybe power steering fluid+ATF+Motor Oil? Maybe? But definately does not look good, were you having any overheating problems?

[Sean]

holy shit, that's disgusting.

Is that rusty water???

[JasonC]

i've seen antifreeze come out of cars that sat for 20+ years that looked better then that.

[AdamF 88iS]

It's rust. Flush the block out too.

Oil and water makes chocolate milk. ATF and water makes pepto-bismol.

[Jean]

I've only put maybe 100-150 miles on the car total since I bought it in august, but I did drive it back from the PO and had no overheating problems (about 40 miles one way).

It's rust. Flush the block out too.

Oil and water makes chocolate milk. ATF and water makes pepto-bismol.

Pepto-bismol lol. What's the correct procedure for this, does this require a block / head removal ? If the only way to properly clean this is to remove the block then I am just going to have to purchase another engine and build it up and swap it in place instead.

I am glad that I haven't installed new radiator/water pump and thermostat yet..

[O 16581 72452 5]

Take it back to the shop you had this done at and say "Hey bitches, WTF?"

[Ablice]

That looks like Dex/ATF.

What does it smell like?

[Jean]

I am not sure how to describe this smell, but this is what it looks like after it sat in the bucket for the last hours...

[AndrewBird]

Definitely somehting in with the coolant. I'd take it back to the shop and bitch.

It could be a dye added to the coolant to check for leaks. Do you have access to a UV light (black light). It will glow under UV light if it is leak detecting dye.

What is the consistency of it? Is it gritty at all?

[formula driver]

You can drain the block by removing a bolt that's on the side of the block, its under the exhaust manifolds. You deffinatly dont have to remove the head. I cant say that Ive ever seen anything like that...

-Paul

[jlevie]

Looks rather like rust to me. It could be that a PO used plain water for a while or failed to change the coolant on a timely basis. But you can clean it up.

Remove the thermostat and fill with water. Run the engine with heat set on max long enough to get it near normal temperature. Shut down and allow the engine to cool down to around 150F. Then drain at the radiator and block drain. Repeat until the water comes out clean. In cold weather you may need to remove the engine cooling fan or block airflow to the radiator.

When all of the loose stuff has been flushed out use any of the chemical cooling system cleaners. Prestone, Zerex, etc all make a chemical mix that will dissolve rust and lime deposits. Generally, you add the product to the cooling system, top off with water, and run the engine for 10-15 mintues at or near normal temperature. Then flush per the above until the drained water is clean. Re-install the thermostat and fill with a 50:50 mix of anti-freeze and distilled water.

Take you time and allow the engine to cool down before draining. Dumping the coolant from a hot block can lead to scalds and it probably doesn't do the head any good. When you can hold you hand on the stat housing or head it is cool enough to drain. Note that filling with hot water makes this process quicker and keeps from having to run cold start cycles. Also get the front end of the car a foot or so in the air while doing this. That makes it a lot easier to R&R the block drain and it also allows filling of the system without having an air bubble in the block. The block vent is close to the highest point when done with the car in the air.

I did this this past weekend on my car. After I used the Zerex product the first drain looked as bad or worse as the above. About 5 fill/drain cycles later the water came out clean and the interior of the thermostat housing was a lot cleaner than when I started. I'll repeat this later and see if I can get more gunk out. You'll probably need to make a gasket for the stat housing so that it doesn't leak with the thermostat out. A thin gasket cut from a heavy paper bag and oiled will work.