Worst Radiator

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You can't get rid of that sludge with a drain-and-fill. Sludge like that will be all over the place inside the cooling system, and the rad will be partially-plugged.

I suggest letting a garage do a professional cooling-system flush, along with a boil-out or replacement of the rad.
 
[censored] man!! What kind of antifreeze was that? Dexcool? And how long has it been in there? I would get a flush kit. And try that but if it its to bad inside you may have to end up replacing the radiator. I would Flush it replace the hoses and replace the thermostat . That's just my 0.2 cents worth.
 
Originally Posted By: Tegger
You can't get rid of that sludge with a drain-and-fill. Sludge like that will be all over the place inside the cooling system, and the rad will be partially-plugged.

I suggest letting a garage do a professional cooling-system flush, along with a boil-out or replacement of the rad.

+1 - this will require chemicals to remove the gunk...
 
This is my fathers car. He purchased it used a few years. It is a 2004 Monte Carlo with 127,000 miles on it. The way it looks this is the original coolant. I changed the oil the other day it looked pretty bad also.

Reason I checked the coolant is because the check engine light came on. The temperature gauge has always been fine so the car hasn't overheated or anything.

Can I purchase one of the flush kits from the auto store and flush it or the shop is the only option? Is the flush they use different?

Thanks,
Rod
 
Originally Posted By: Rodraid
[img:center]http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/189/montecarlo001medium.jpg/[/img]

[img:center]http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/545/montecarlo004medium.jpg/[/img]


Just a quick advice... if you're using ImageShack, you need to be pasting their Direct Links for this to show up on bitog. For the above two images, it would be:

http://img189.imageshack.us/img189/9255/montecarlo001medium.jpg

http://img545.imageshack.us/img545/9717/montecarlo004medium.jpg

Once you wrap
tags around each of them, they'll show up directly. I didn't do it here so that you could see the difference in the URL itself.
 
I would try a flush kit from the part Store get a couple of them. And replace hoses and thermostat. I'd try that and then clean the reservoir good and use boiling hot water and pour it through and let it sit for a few minutes and drain i would do it several times then just keep running water straight through. then refill with coolant if it looks clean enough. I would probably do another flush at my next oil change as well
And buy a new radiator cap while your at it. You may end up having to replace the radiator but I'd try the above steps first. After you do it let the car warm up good and feel the radiator carefully make sure its getting hot all over if its not its clogged up some.
 
This looks like classic Dexcool sludge.

I think a "Simple Green flush" will do fine for this. A Google search will get you lots of info on doing that. It's probably what a shop will do. A flush kit is required to do it, and if you don't want to cut a heater hose to install it, get a few inches of 5/8 hose so that you can insert the flush tee at a hose barb.

Install a new radiator cap (it's probably Stant 10248 / ACDelco RC85).

I believe all 2004 W-bodies have unpressurized tanks, so I advise against using Dexcool again in this vehicle. If it were my vehicle, I would use either G05 or Peak Global Lifetime (NOT Peak Long Life).
 
I wish I had a camera for all the car/trucks I ever did with issues. Its not the end of world on this. I've seen way worse than this.

A couple things, the radiator can not be boiled out. Its aluminum!!!
Its going to need some form of chemical help to break this up. The best stuff I have ever used was from Prestone. It was a 2 part can with the cleaner and a neutralizer. You ran the car at 1500rpm 195+ for two hrs. They have moved to just a single Prestone cleaner its works but not as effective.

I have been using simple green as of late. I had a 7.3 ford diesel that had a oil cooler leak into the cooling system and turned the coolant into what looked like Grease. I only drained about .5 gallons out of a 4+ gallon system. Put about .5 gal in and the rest water and ran it for a few hrs and a road test. It took a few times of running just water to get it all drained out, but it worked and is still running to this day.

I would remove the overflow tank and clean off the car. Make sure you blow the hose out running from the over flow bottle to the rad. Flush the system with some form of cleaner and replace the cap and tstat when you are all done.

John
 
Death-cool sludge. Had it not as bad in a Buick 3800. Flushed everything and then drove it with a fill of distilled water for a few days (Fall). Flushed again. Filled with 50/50 Peak Gloabal Lifetime. Will do again after 12 months (this fall).
 
I went to Autozone & Orielly and AZ had a radiator flush made by Bars and Orielly had one made by Prestone. Which one of these would be best here? They both claimed rust removal.

Also neither of the stores had Peak Global but both had Peak Lifetime and Prestone.

Does anyone know how much coolant a 2004 Monte Carlo 3.8 holds? I don't have the manual.

Thanks again for the help.

Rod
 
I had to get the Peak Global Lifetime from NAPA. 1 gallon full concentrate and a gallon of distilled water was enough. Put the Prestone flush in there with water and drive the car with the heat on full. I drove mine to work and back. Then drained it.
 
My father told me that at one time there was an effective radiator flush. It was made by DuPont and contained oxcillic acid, and an acid neutralizer to be used after that.

He had a 1971 Toyota Corolla that was overheating because the radiator passages filled up with garbage and overheated the engine. When he used this stuff, he said the inside of the radiator looked like new.

That stuff no longer exists. I don't know if there is anything as good.
 
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