Thread: LIM gasket failure or old fluid sludge?

I opened my radiator and found this :


Is it old GM antifreeze that has sludged up or are my LIM gaskets going?
I flushed the radiator recently but couldnt get the inside of the radiator clean.
oil level seems fine

oh the beauty of dex sludge. time to flush that crap out

one you flush to water you can fill it with water and some prestone flush to help break up what even my be hanging out inside still.


how to flush coolant.

remove the t stat, put the t stat housing back on, take the upper hose off the radiator, then push it down to the ground to a bucket or let it fly.

get your garden hose out, put it in the rad turn it on, then fire up the car, let it run till clear water pumps out the top hose.

then turn the hose off, run the car till no more water comes out the upper hose. then turn it off.

put your t stat back in, with new gasket, the upper hose back on.



now take 1 gallon of full strength green antifreeze, not the 50/50 crap. ( parts store cheap green is fine to use) dump the whole gallon in the radiator, fire up the car, fill the rad with hose water till its full. top as needed till its ready to be bled of air. it will burp and take coolant as the water in the block warms up the t stat opens up for a few seconds till cold coolant hits it and it shuts again.

now to bleed the air out, let it idle rad cap off till the fans turn on, (when the fans are on the temp is over 195 deg, the t stat is wide open) then open the bleeder screw on top the t stat housing a few turns till a steady stream of coolant comes out the hole, shut the screw, top off the rad. cap it.

done.

Originally Posted by ScottyDoggs

oh the beauty of dex sludge. time to flush that crap out

one you flush to water you can fill it with water and some prestone flush to help break up what even my be hanging out inside still.


how to flush coolant.

remove the t stat, put the t stat housing back on, take the upper hose off the radiator, then push it down to the ground to a bucket or let it fly.

get your garden hose out, put it in the rad turn it on, then fire up the car, let it run till clear water pumps out the top hose.

then turn the hose off, run the car till no more water comes out the upper hose. then turn it off.

put your t stat back in, with new gasket, the upper hose back on.



now take 1 gallon of full strength green antifreeze, not the 50/50 crap. ( parts store cheap green is fine to use) dump the whole gallon in the radiator, fire up the car, fill the rad with hose water till its full. top as needed till its ready to be bled of air. it will burp and take coolant as the water in the block warms up the t stat opens up for a few seconds till cold coolant hits it and it shuts again.

now to bleed the air out, let it idle rad cap off till the fans turn on, (when the fans are on the temp is over 195 deg, the t stat is wide open) then open the bleeder screw on top the t stat housing a few turns till a steady stream of coolant comes out the hole, shut the screw, top off the rad. cap it.

done.

I got a low coolant light, and it was definitely low on coolant, Im thinking the radiator is leaking, so i might just end up replacing it with an ebay radiator.
and replacing the hoses at the same time.

Actually.. that looks a lot more like someone topped off a system of Dex with green. Flush...really well and smile.

dude cut your finger nails

Looks like butt gravy when your fingernail pokes through the paper

I'm BillBoost


There...I played that card.