I noticed early last month that the coolant in my car (`96 Ford Contour 2.0L) was green, but had this strange orange tint. I did some investigating and found that apparently, even against my advice, the Dex-Cool that I had for my old GM and the regular green anti-freeze had been mixed and then I had topped off (Decemberish).
Anyway, two gallon capacity. I did a complete flush with distilled water then refilled with a 50/50 mix of distilled water and Zerex G-05.
I have noticed that ever since the coolant flush (the car was taken to operating temp between each fill), the temperature guage reads a little higher then normal. Before the flush, if the car was warm and moving it would be stable at 195. If it was sitting with the heater on high, it would drop to 180. In heavy traffic, heater off, it would *sometimes* climb to 200. Ever since the flush, the car is warm at 210, idle with the heater is about 200 and traffic can be anything above 210.
Tonight when I got home, I glanced up at the temp guages and noticed that the coolant and trans temp guages were at 250! The fan was going as fast as it could, and with the auxiliary cooler, the trans shed its heat rather quickly. The engine stayed hot and never dropped below 210 (idling in the driveway with the heater on high).
I let the car cool off and tested the coolant/water mix to make sure I was 50/50. I am, but I noticed these little floaters in my coolant! Some are small, some are bigger. They look like, for lack of a better description, coarse fibers. I know they couldnt be with the flush being as good as it was. By the time I was done with I did the flush, the coolant coming out had almost no color tint to it whatsoever.
What could it be? Could the Dex-Cool have made deposits that are now just starting to break free? Since the flush I have had no coolant level drop, and even with the insane temps that the car saw, everything else appears to be normal. The coolant is where its supposed to be, and by a visual there is no coolant in the oil. I do have a oil sample that is getting sent off to Blackstone tomorrow to be able to stand behind my no coolant in oil theory. The car is still too warm to check the plugs to see if there is coolant there, but I doubt I would find any with my coolant level staying normal.
What could be wrong? What are the floaters? Why am I running hotter after a complete flush and refil?
Anyway, two gallon capacity. I did a complete flush with distilled water then refilled with a 50/50 mix of distilled water and Zerex G-05.
I have noticed that ever since the coolant flush (the car was taken to operating temp between each fill), the temperature guage reads a little higher then normal. Before the flush, if the car was warm and moving it would be stable at 195. If it was sitting with the heater on high, it would drop to 180. In heavy traffic, heater off, it would *sometimes* climb to 200. Ever since the flush, the car is warm at 210, idle with the heater is about 200 and traffic can be anything above 210.
Tonight when I got home, I glanced up at the temp guages and noticed that the coolant and trans temp guages were at 250! The fan was going as fast as it could, and with the auxiliary cooler, the trans shed its heat rather quickly. The engine stayed hot and never dropped below 210 (idling in the driveway with the heater on high).
I let the car cool off and tested the coolant/water mix to make sure I was 50/50. I am, but I noticed these little floaters in my coolant! Some are small, some are bigger. They look like, for lack of a better description, coarse fibers. I know they couldnt be with the flush being as good as it was. By the time I was done with I did the flush, the coolant coming out had almost no color tint to it whatsoever.
What could it be? Could the Dex-Cool have made deposits that are now just starting to break free? Since the flush I have had no coolant level drop, and even with the insane temps that the car saw, everything else appears to be normal. The coolant is where its supposed to be, and by a visual there is no coolant in the oil. I do have a oil sample that is getting sent off to Blackstone tomorrow to be able to stand behind my no coolant in oil theory. The car is still too warm to check the plugs to see if there is coolant there, but I doubt I would find any with my coolant level staying normal.
What could be wrong? What are the floaters? Why am I running hotter after a complete flush and refil?
