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My girlfriend has a 93 Pontiac Bonneville and while changing her oil the other day I went to check her coolant level and I noticed that the coolant was a black color. So I know that about a year ago I replaced the water pump so had to drain and refill the coolant. So, Im not sure how it got black because I put brand new coolant in there. The only thing that I can think of is that her overflow tank had a big crack in it for a while and it was a few weeks before I saw it and replaced. It is an old car and I know the person she bought it from did not take very good care of the car but in the two years that she has had it I have taken good care of it. I do know its not losing any coolant. I plan on doing a coolant flush tomorrow on her car. I have done a coolant flush on my car before (which was very clean) When I did my flush I used the Peak Cleaning agent and everything went well and I am still driving the car. I have read a lot of things online saying that these cleaning agents can cause a lot of damage. Is this true or is this just people misusing the product? I know her cooling system needs a good cleaning, more than just a few drain and fill. I am just trying to get some ideas of ways people do coolant flushes.
I will attach a picture to show how bad it is.
Thanks!
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[quote=”Drunk32″ post=30774]My girlfriend has a 93 Pontiac Bonneville and while changing her oil the other day I went to check her coolant level and I noticed that the coolant was a black color. So I know that about a year ago I replaced the water pump so had to drain and refill the coolant. So, Im not sure how it got black because I put brand new coolant in there. The only thing that I can think of is that her overflow tank had a big crack in it for a while and it was a few weeks before I saw it and replaced. It is an old car and I know the person she bought it from did not take very good care of the car but in the two years that she has had it I have taken good care of it. I do know its not losing any coolant. I plan on doing a coolant flush tomorrow on her car. I have done a coolant flush on my car before (which was very clean) When I did my flush I used the Peak Cleaning agent and everything went well and I am still driving the car. I have read a lot of things online saying that these cleaning agents can cause a lot of damage. Is this true or is this just people misusing the product? I know her cooling system needs a good cleaning, more than just a few drain and fill. I am just trying to get some ideas of ways people do coolant flushes.
I will attach a picture to show how bad it is.
Thanks![/quote]possibly blown head gasket or cracked head . is it kinda silky .No, Its not a blown head gasket. I have not done a compression test but there has been no reason to do one. The car runs really well. its not losing coolant or oil the oil looks good and it get changed regularly and it never come out milky. I kinda think that it was just from where that overflow tank was cracked open. we live in a pretty dusty area and I believe that some of that got in there. That picture was taken about 3 months ago, I cleaned it off and it looks normal now.
Does anyone have any advice on the coolant flush?That’s some pretty nasty looking stuff. Most times you can find a ‘flushing kit’, I think Prestone makes one. It comes with it’s own chemicals which you shouldn’t have to worry about hurting the system. Once you get that stuff flushed out however make sure you check for leaks particularly around the intake gaskets as they are famous for having problems on those engines.
So I did this today, and everything went really well. It for sure wasn’t oil it was just dirty and rusty fluid. I ran the Prestone cleaner and I drove around in it for a while and then I drained it out then after that I did about 4 flush and fills on the last one everything started to come out clean. I added the coolant then bleed the system and then drove it around for about 20 mins and everything went well. I let it cool and then checked it and the coolant in the over flow tank and in the radiator was still clean. So I figured it probably just needed a good cleaning. And I will probably do another cleaning in a year or so.
Thanks so much for the advice!I had a ’95 Taurus that I know had a slight head gasket leak, letting combustion gasses/oil into the water jackets. Car ran great. The coolant turned brown fast, even after flushing it, and it was using coolant, so I had a sweet 2-way leak. I actually would put a garden hose into the rad fill, and I could tell when the t-stat opened up, because the water would turn brown. Long story short, I found that if I kept the rad full, the car wouldn’t overheat, and I just flushed it every few months for good measure. Did this for 3 or 4 years til I sold the car, and never had a driveability issue. So if the car runs good, just keep clean coolant in there, and you should be ok. I wouldn’t spend a bunch of bucks on that car just as I didn’t want to on my Taurus.
That’s an interesting story, Beefy, and one that broadens the horizon of how a small gasket leak can behave.
I would consider doing a check for combustion gasses at the radiator cap after a thorough flush. You may want to sell the vehicle soon if it tests positive. Although, I guess you could argue that a ’93 is not going to be worth a lot anyway, so why not drive it until it fails completely. And the ethics of selling a vehicle with a known serious defect raises other issues.
I have heard of these small head gaskets leak but I don’t think this is my case. After a day of solid driving its still green. Also, if you have a head gasket leak don’t you lose coolant? The car doesn’t lose any and the coolant didn’t smell. It was just black lol.
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