Found white gloop in my radiator

**BigBadjohn** · 01-19-2011

Im gonna be driving to semo in cape girardeau tonight for my girlfriends birthday so I gave my grand prix an oil change and checked all fluids minus the supercharger oil. I noticed my antifreeze was somewhat low so I added some but there was some white gloopy crap in the radiator neck, about the same consistency as boogers. A guy at work told me this is maybe oil? Other than the gloop, the fluid looked the right color and no other signs of contaminants. The oil when I drained the pan, I didnt notice any light discolored signs of water
I got to looking and apparently my car falls under a year where they were using plastic intake gaskets and that they fail a little after 100xxx. Mine is at 98xxx now

Is there anywhere I can take this gloop and have it tested to see if its really oil or what it is? How about taking my oil as well for testing?

Has anyone changed the manifold gaskets on these before and is it easy or hard? Mine has a supercharger so its bound to be harder than a normal grand prix

A guy at work just changed the gaskets in his wifes 3.4 grand am himself and said a normal mechanic wants $500 and a dealership wants $700. He did it plus thermostat etc for $200

This kind of has me freaked out
Thanks

**machinegunsquid** · 01-19-2011

I just tore my engine apart yesterday/today...found the same white goop stuff in my coolant.. I had a failed Lower intake manifold gasket, and a bad headgasket...

That white goop stuff seems to be oil in the coolant..dont ask how it makes it white, i have no idea.

Changing the Intake manifold gasket is pretty easy...gasket is about $55 dollars, and the GM adhesive is like $3 bucks..
All you need is a 10mm socket, and a ratchet...and a means of removing the fuel rails.

Its about a 2 hour job if you know what you're doing, a little longer if you dont.

GM adhesive...it can be had at a dealer for cheap
ZZ Performance

The intake manifold gasket
ZZ Performance

**sportred04** · 01-19-2011

idk bout the "gloop" but i just did LIM's on my 04 and it wasnt hard just have to keep things clean. get new coolant elbows too. might need coolant flushed. its probably the factory coolant

**BigBadjohn** · 01-31-2011

Does anyone know whether dexcool or the green stuff is the better choice? I hear dexcool is much less harsh of gaskets and o rings

**machinegunsquid** · 01-31-2011

Dexcool will break down, and gunk **** up.

Just grab a jug of Prestone and you'll be fine.

**BigBadjohn** · 01-31-2011

Also, what temperature t-stat should I get? Also should I get the drilled one? What is there to be gained from it?

**Bio248** · 01-31-2011

if you look at all the bottles of coolant almost 90% of them are going to be dexcool. so long as you dont have any air in the system or any leaks then the dexcool is fine. everyone hates on it, but they dont know why they are hating on it. dont be like everyone else and just jump on bandwagons because they all have invalid opinions that you think are true.

leave the stock thermostat. it wont help you to have a colder one.

**gtpinsc** · 01-31-2011

Originally Posted by Bio248

if you look at all the bottles of coolant almost 90% of them are going to be dexcool. so long as you dont have any air in the system or any leaks then the dexcool is fine. everyone hates on it, but they dont know why they are hating on it. dont be like everyone else and just jump on bandwagons because they all have invalid opinions that you think are true.

leave the stock thermostat. it wont help you to have a colder one.

did u happen see sythetic shields pics from a few years ago of an engine tear down after 100K on dexcool? he had it in a sandwich bag and it almost looked like a bag of weed shake. and there was a lot. ill stick to green until that tears somethin up.

and u need more than a 10 MM ... may as well do valve cover gaskets as well since u will have everything torn down. IIRC u need a 10, 13 and a 15 mm to do LIM. i could be wrong but i think teh valve covers were 3/8 socket. and yes on the coolant elbows.. they will break when u remove LIM. u can get those in the help section of any parts store. they call them heater elbows at most stores.

**jakewet28** · 01-31-2011

You could take the "white gloop" to a dna place to see if anyone had sex with your car recently lol... i thinks I might knows what dat is

**Reptile** · 01-31-2011

Well the original formula for Dex was horrible on the plastic gaskets, and it was semi corrosive to aluminum, caused pitting. It's true that air does play a big factor in the sludging because there are always going to be pockets inside the engine where it's nearly impossible to bleed all of the air out, which is basically like breaking the seal on a jug of milk.
It's an ok coolant, not as bad as it's reputation says....but there are better extended life coolants out there, I personally like the Prestone.

Also, Scotty did what I bet 99% of us don't. He had a coolant filter and screen setup on his car, which kept the goop from circulating through the whole engine.

**matt5112** · 01-31-2011

Originally Posted by Reptile

Also, Scotty did what I bet 99% of us don't. He had a coolant filter and screen setup on his car, which kept the goop from circulating through the whole engine.

Ford Mustang Tefba 1 1/4" Coolant Filter 64 1/2 - 73 on eBay.ca (item 230578143579 end time 24-Feb-11 12:01:09 EST)

If you know somewhere with a better price, it would be most appreciated.

**blueguy** · 01-31-2011

Originally Posted by matt5112

Ford Mustang Tefba 1 1/4" Coolant Filter 64 1/2 - 73 on eBay.ca (item 230578143579 end time 24-Feb-11 12:01:09 EST)

If you know somewhere with a better price, it would be most appreciated.

LOL dude I can make that out of an old film canister.

Cheap and ugly FTW

**gtpinsc** · 01-31-2011

so that would mean that other dex cool users at the 100kish mark would have more than scotty did in his engine... wow.

**Reptile** · 01-31-2011

Dude, I've done LIMs on cars with 60k on their motor, and it was horrible...like, take it to the car wash and power wash the thing horrible. I just know one thing...regular maintenance on your car is the best possible thing you can do.

**BigBadjohn** · 01-31-2011

I noticed a film of coolant under the hood near the cap so I replaced it and filled the radiator up again. I'll drive it for a few days
and see if the loss improves. There has always been a slow loss for
the year+ I've had it but the last week and a half it's been losing a lot

**BigBadjohn** · 02-01-2011

I checked the coolant level an hour after driving from work today. Looks like it hasnt lost fluid. If it has, not anywhere near as much as it has the last week and a half after I changed the oil and topped the coolant off. I think the new radiator cap may POSSIBLY have been the fix, but well see. The original cap had deep grooves in BOTH of the rubber gaskets. The one that seals the radiator and the one that seals the top.
That gloop seems to be gone after running it full to and from work today
Even after filling the radiatorto the brim today the low coolant was still on on the way to work, but it went off on the drive home today. May have had that dexcool gunk on it. Dunno
I still plan on bringing it in to be sure. Hell for all I know the intake gaskets could have been changed before I bought it. I got it with 73K on the clock. I wonder if a dealer can look to see if this is so. This is one thing I hate about them not giving you the previous owners phone number when you buy a used car

**Reptile** · 02-01-2011

You can take a quick glance at the intake gaskets to see what color they are on the edges.
Black = plastic, grey/silver = the good aluminum ones.

If they're the plastic ones, might as well budget getting new ones soon.

**BigBadjohn** · 02-02-2011

Brought the car in today. They pressurized the system and found one of my coolant elbows was leaking. They took the liberty of replacing it. It is $99 something. They said there were no seal leaks and that they tested the radiator fluid and did not find any oil or exhaust in it
I will make sure they tell me whether or not the intake gasket has been replaced before i pick it up