Brownish coolant

11th April 2012, 12:48

Over the last few weeks my revs have been going mental, and sometimes the car revs itself splutters then dies, iv replaced almost every sensor including the throttle body.

but i checked the coolant temp sensor a week back, and it had brown gunk on it, and in the coolant at the top it was brown aswell, i took some out with this syringe thing, and the coolant is still blue but much darker, with brown swirls in it, my heaters are fine, theres no gunk on the oil cap, and coolant isnt really going down. And it doesnt smell that bad, Is it just that the coolant is getting dirty and if so how, because if the coolant temp sensor is dirty, then is it coming from the engine? And if the temp sensor has gunk on it, can it affect the revs like this and make it conk out? And why is it brown in the first place?

11th April 2012, 13:27

is there oil in it or is it rust?

11th April 2012, 16:40

could be your head gaskit corroding causing your coolant to turn brown .

11th April 2012, 16:50

Compression test!

11th April 2012, 17:01

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gandi699

is there oil in it or is it rust?

+1 if its rust then flush the cooling system out,then refill with fresh antifreeze & bleed it.

11th April 2012, 21:51

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gandi699

is there oil in it or is it rust?

couldnt tell you, its sludgy so im guessing its not rust, although how can i tell?

12th April 2012, 12:25

Quote:

Originally Posted by DundeeUnited

couldnt tell you, its sludgy so im guessing its not rust, although how can i tell?

id go with flushing it first band trying that before you start spending big bucks!

12th April 2012, 14:29

Sniff the coolant & be looking for a smell of petrol.

12th April 2012, 14:32

Head Gasket.
Close Thread

12th April 2012, 14:35

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stefan_Wood

Head Gasket.
Close Thread

We bow to your great knowledge o`h wise one.

12th April 2012, 14:38

Quote:

Originally Posted by stevo67

We bow to your great knowledge o`h wise one.

Lool why thank you.
But on a serious note this has happend to a good few friends of mine, could last 1day could last 1year till it goes kaput.

12th April 2012, 14:57

Go and get a photo of it. You'll know if its oil

12th April 2012, 20:50

Quote:

Originally Posted by stevo67

Sniff the coolant & be looking for a smell of petrol.

doesnt smell of petrol, smells of coolant with a hint of staleness

12th April 2012, 21:10

Head gasket.

12th April 2012, 21:15

Quote:

Originally Posted by Doolan

Head gasket.

how is it though, my car never overheats, doesn't smell of petrol, all of a sudden came about after mucking about with the temp sensor

12th April 2012, 21:19

i just typed in "oil in coolant" on google images, mines looks nowhere near as brown or as sludgy as all them. i took some coolant out and its dark blue, but at the top of the tank theres a brown foamy sludge than sits on the top, but hardly any

12th April 2012, 21:21

Flush it out and refresh and then check in a week or so. Stick a hose in and rinse it out.

12th April 2012, 21:25

mine had oil in the coolant after i changed the coolant. (was running pure water before)

anyways it were just some oil sitting ontop of the water in the expansion bottle.

didn't go slugy at all.

if it's headgasket it'd look like slighly browner mayo.

it could be early signs of headgasket going.

take it too a garage and ask them to put it on their emissions machine. if you put the exhaust probe in the expansion tank, under the headding on the machine of petrol emissions test.
if the headgasket has gone then the hc's will fly up. or they may have the proper fluid to do a sniff test.

12th April 2012, 21:27

Quote:

Originally Posted by Prickle

Flush it out and refresh and then check in a week or so. Stick a hose in and rinse it out.

stick a hose in where? and where do i start emptying, like what pipe first?

12th April 2012, 21:31

Quote:

Originally Posted by DundeeUnited

stick a hose in where? and where do i start emptying, like what pipe first?

Pull the pipe out where the thermostat is(take stat out too). Stick a hose in your radiator and watch the water come out of the engine. Thats what i did.. as i didnt want to undo other pipes lol. Eventually rinsed the shit out..

12th April 2012, 21:55

Head gasket. Happened to me before

12th April 2012, 22:14

go get some coolant out of the car and get a photo of it. Preferably with that brown scum on it

12th April 2012, 22:22

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gandi699

go get some coolant out of the car and get a photo of it. Preferably with that brown scum on it

i would but my cars not here, i put some in a clear cap from a spray paint can, and i cant describe it as anything other than a dark greeny blue, still seethrough, but had seen better days, i couldn't suck up any of the foamy brown stuff because it wasnt in the coolant, just a very small layer (i assume on the top), but on the end of this syringe thing i had you could see it every time i dipped it into the expansion tank.

im gonna change my coolant next week

i used this guide from this thread

http://www.saxperience.com/forum/sho...d.php?t=280645

as it seems pretty idiot proof, but can you clean out the hose that leads to the thermostat housing aswell? and if so how?

10th April 2014, 12:06

Just got the same problem how many litres of anti freeze needed? My oil and temperature is fine

10th April 2014, 12:19

it's been covered many times, google is your ally

http://www.saxperience.com/forum/sho...d.php?t=387769

buy the red stuff, more efficient than blue.

10th April 2014, 13:17

Antifreeze not only does as the name suggests but also has contain corrosion inhibitors.If you don't change it at the recommended service intervals then the water will have a brownish hue to it.Stick some radiator flush in then wash through with a hose until the water runs clear.

10th April 2014, 17:33

Flushed radiator there was what seemed to be rust in radiator so all flushed out and fresh anti freeze in will buy the red next time