Low engine coolant light on???

mr.w · 05-22-2007, 01:48 AM

Sorry for posting in an old thread but I didn't want to start a new one. Well I figured out why coolant light was on and it was air in the system. I went to add coolant in but I noticed it was brown and sludgey. I don't think I blew another head gasket because the car runs fine but what I do believe is that 4 months ago when the HG was fixed the person I had do it didn't flush the coolant that well so now I got oil in there. I'm working on flushing everything out(changed the coolant twice already, going to change it again in another week) but it might take sometime.

IHateHacks · 05-22-2007, 02:00 AM

If your coolant is brown it is because of the block rusting from not having a correct amount of antifreeze with rust inhibitors in your cooling system. That happens when you run straight water.

Air gets into the system for a reason, because coolant is leaking out. If its not leaking on the ground then like ddmcse said, its not miller time but BHG time.

This is what you should do, go buy a block tester, some cooling system cleaner (comes in pints at the autostore, its meant to clean the cooling system) and some coolant and distilled water. Drain the radiator until you can't see coolant anymore, about a quart or 2. Block test it. If its ok, then drain the rest of the coolant and fill it back up with tap water and cooling system cleaner. Run the engine with the heater on til its warmed up. Then drain the radiator again. Fill with coolant and distilled water.

If you put just tap water and the cleaner in, which are both clear, watch the color of the liquid that comes out of the radiator, it will make the hair on the back of your neck stand straight up.

mr.w · 05-22-2007, 02:17 AM

I'll try the cleaner thing out, I dont have enough money for a block tester so I don't think I'll be doing that. There was no missing coolant though, the levels were fine before I changed it. Maybe the coolant was never changed when they did the HG?

mr.w · 05-30-2007, 05:28 AM

Well I did a block test and there were no leaks. I did find that my resivor wasn't on right so that could cause the light to come on so I fixed that. I'm going to take my car to a shop and have them hook it up to a machine that can flush the coolant better than I can.

05-22-2007, 02:17 AM	#3
mr.w 3" Exhaust Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Cleveland, Ohio Posts: 70	I'll try the cleaner thing out, I dont have enough money for a block tester so I don't think I'll be doing that. There was no missing coolant though, the levels were fine before I changed it. Maybe the coolant was never changed when they did the HG? Last edited by mr.w; 05-22-2007 at 02:19 AM.

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05-22-2007, 01:48 AM	#1
mr.w 3" Exhaust Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Cleveland, Ohio Posts: 70	Sorry for posting in an old thread but I didn't want to start a new one. Well I figured out why coolant light was on and it was air in the system. I went to add coolant in but I noticed it was brown and sludgey. I don't think I blew another head gasket because the car runs fine but what I do believe is that 4 months ago when the HG was fixed the person I had do it didn't flush the coolant that well so now I got oil in there. I'm working on flushing everything out(changed the coolant twice already, going to change it again in another week) but it might take sometime.

05-22-2007, 02:00 AM	#2
IHateHacks 20psi boost Join Date: May 2006 Location: New Haven/Hamden Posts: 793	If your coolant is brown it is because of the block rusting from not having a correct amount of antifreeze with rust inhibitors in your cooling system. That happens when you run straight water. Air gets into the system for a reason, because coolant is leaking out. If its not leaking on the ground then like ddmcse said, its not miller time but BHG time. This is what you should do, go buy a block tester, some cooling system cleaner (comes in pints at the autostore, its meant to clean the cooling system) and some coolant and distilled water. Drain the radiator until you can't see coolant anymore, about a quart or 2. Block test it. If its ok, then drain the rest of the coolant and fill it back up with tap water and cooling system cleaner. Run the engine with the heater on til its warmed up. Then drain the radiator again. Fill with coolant and distilled water. If you put just tap water and the cleaner in, which are both clear, watch the color of the liquid that comes out of the radiator, it will make the hair on the back of your neck stand straight up.

05-30-2007, 05:28 AM	#4
mr.w 3" Exhaust Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Cleveland, Ohio Posts: 70	Well I did a block test and there were no leaks. I did find that my resivor wasn't on right so that could cause the light to come on so I fixed that. I'm going to take my car to a shop and have them hook it up to a machine that can flush the coolant better than I can.