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Just what in Sam's heck is this crap

5K views 42 replies 11 participants last post by  HaZard43 
#1 · (Edited)
I did some stuff yesterday to/with my gt.
Interesting things like the fuel gauge mysteriously started working again :whistle:
She drove fine, wasn't running hot and all seemed well.
So after she cooled down I went over all the fluids to see where we are at.
Engine oil a little low ( known leak haven't fixed yet)( check) EDIT engine oil is fine leak s in tranny
Brake fluid (check)
Coolant ( check)? wait a minute something is off here!
Why does the cap look like it has a green greasy look to it?
What in Sam's heck is this crap?????
How the heck does grease slim get into the cooling system?
New water pump, hoses, stat, radiator. everything is new and the entire system flushed prior to new everything being installed including coolant
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#4 · (Edited)
Could be old Bars Leak. Or may be motor oil. Does not look the right color for auto trans fluid.... in case your rad has a auto trannie cooler that is hooked up. May be

Check the motor oil for any brownish or greyish gunk. Particularly check under the fill cap on the valve cover, and maybe even remove the valve cover. Water/coolant in the oil will show up quickly up under the valve cover.
What oil are you using and what is the color? OK, I see the pix now..... not PennGrade/old Kendall, which was/is green.

The other possibility is that you just are getting some more gunk out of the block or rad with the change in the coolant. Flushing, even with a flush additive, will not get it all out once things get older... the gunk deposits in the bottom of the cooling jacket in the block can become quite deep over many years. If you did not pull the block drain, then it is even less likley that you got anywhere near all the gunk out of the bottom of the cooling jacket, which can include old antifreeze that has gotten gunky. The best thing you can do is to use a high pressure stream of water into the big rectangular hole in the timing cover and into the block, but that still will not get everything out of an old block.
 
#6 ·
Could be old Bars Leak. Or may be motor oil. Does not look the right color for auto trans fluid.... in case your rad has a auto trannie cooler that is hooked up. May be

Check the motor oil for any brownish or greyish gunk. Particularly check under the fill cap on the valve cover, and maybe even remove the valve cover. Water/coolant in the oil will show up quickly up under the valve cover.
What oil are you using and what is the color?

The other possibility is that you just are getting some more gunk out of the block or rad with the change in the coolant. Flushing, even with a flush additive, will not get it all out once things get older... the gunk deposits in the bottom of the cooling jacket in the block can become quite deep over many years. If you did not pull the block drain, then it is even less likley that you got anywhere near all the gunk out of the bottom of the cooling jacket. The best thign you can do is to use a high pressure strem of water into the big rectangular hole in the timing cover and into the block, but that still will not get everything out of an old block.
Thanks for the input, it's a 4 speed s no worries there.
The oil is 20-50 Valvoline 4 stroke motorcycle oil.( it was the only thing I could find at the time) and I added rislone zinc additive as well
 
#5 ·
Could also be grease from the water pump. I’ve seen a few over greased when they’re new.
 
#8 ·
HUH wouldn't that be something,
I too thought right away it's grease but when I run my hands under hot water it completely dissolves/ goes away and no grease feel to my hands.
However it does feel and looks as if it was green grease but when I rinse it off my hands it doesn't.
If that made any sense at all
 
#13 ·
I thought I flushed the block pretty good with super hot water and a shopvac while I had it all apart and I kept flushing and vacuuming until all was completely coming out clear and clean ( no rusty flaky stuff or water/coolant)
 
#18 ·
No I sold my aluminum one to help another member here, at the time he was in need ogts was out of them.
I do remember you mentioning this problem though.
This is the original radiator I had re-cored.
The stuff has a grease ish texture but almost like a jelly
 
#19 ·
You probably stirred up the gunk in the corners with the flush, the PO may have used the stop leak as MR suggested, with cars as old as ours unless everything has been replaced there are all kinds of possibility’s. With the heater core involved etc. when I bought my GT the heater core was solidly plugged, I replaced it several years later and finally had heat, who knows what was packed in there.

I don’t like doing flushes anymore because it always left some city water in the block. I used to flush the cooling system regularly though. Since my last rebuild I’ve been overly phobic, strictly using the 50/50 mix. My recent belief is that replacing the anti freeze regularly is what’s most important to keep down the pitting from the galvanic corrosion that occurs when the dissimilar metals are in contact with each other ie; aluminum/steel, especially noticeable at the thermostat housing area. Standard coolant, the Green stuff, has corrosion inhibitors that last about 2 years.

Doing another drain, hopefully releasing some of the new found sludge & fill with the 50/50 mix, then keep an eye on the temperature gauge, should do the trick. If you have good cooling I wouldn’t worry about it too much, that’s just me.
 
#21 · (Edited)
I’m not trying to gloss over the possibility of a head gasket issue, hopefully if it is petroleum based, it’s bearing grease from the water pump like Bob suggests. If you have any further concerns, what’s better than just a visual inspection and it’s what I do every few oil changes is to send a sample of your oil in to have it analyzed. It’s about the cost of an extra oil change, to me it’s a small price to pay to keep an eye on the life blood of your engine anyway. It should put the matter at rest for you.
Here’s a copy of my last report. 7/20/2020 was during the 2.0 break in period so the metals are naturally higher.

Rectangle Font Material property Parallel Pattern
 
#20 ·
Looks like just a little bit of oil to me but not enough to be a concern, in my opionion. Just keep an eye on it to see if it continues to come to the surface, if it does then a possible concern. Of course I had to run out to the garage and check mine - nothing unusual but the level was down about 6 OZ and it was almost a year ago that I installed the new radiator and flushed the system. I was told to change the antifreeze/water combo every two years due to the new aluminum radiator and as someone mentioned above the different metals can cause the aluminum radiator to corroded more quickely than the stock radiator. It is amazing that my daily driver did not require an antifreeze flush until 150,000 miles and that is a 2004 model. How things have changed.......keep us posted and good luck.
 
#23 ·
Thank you Cub I wouldn't have ever thought of that.
I was unable to open the attachment for some reason.
So here comes the HUH question of the day as it relates to taking ( the sample) I'm sure the more experienced will get a chuckle out of this.
IF there is coolant in the oil will it be floating or sink?
Mainly asking so I know where/when to grab the sample
 
#25 ·
Bottom, both water and anti freeze are heavier than oil. To get a better answer to your question I suggest calling Blackstone, they have very friendly customer service and tech support will advise you the best way to collect a sample, they are not high pressure sales people pushing anything that you’re not interested in. They’ve been doing this for a while.

They’ll send you a free container for your sample, postage paid and you just get one bill for the service, very easy.
 
#29 ·
This is a classic example of "Much ado about nothing".
Drive your car.
If there's an ACTUAL problem, it will reveal itself in good time. Otherwise, know it's probably nothing important.
 
#30 ·
Yup, just drive and enjoy your car. Your oil looked good and the color of your coolant looked good, it's just that little bit of who knows what near the cap. As Bob said, the water pump may have been greased too much. Nothing to worry about. Just enjoy your car and monitor the coolant situation. If you want, you could put some coolant system cleaner in there, run it for a bit, and then drain it out, plus put a garden hose in the thermo housing and flush everything out real good and refill.
 
#32 ·
Thank you for the info.
I used conventional green prediluted 50/50 ( for older vehicles)
And not to beat a dead horse but, the only other thing I had not mentioned was I also added the water wetter stuff.
But I struggle a little to believe that this would be the culprit.
I'm sure many of you have used it as well, and it would seem that someone would have put 2 and 2 together if that was a thing with the water wetter stuff
 
#35 ·
I had an acquaintance, back in the late 80's, who had a 1976 Vega with a Cosworth head. Rare car. He was a homebody and never drove anywhere and the car only had about 35K miles on it. We were checking it out and looking under the hood and I removed the radiator cap. The fluid was bright green and perfect like it was poured in yesterday. He said, "Gee, y'know, that's the first time that radiator cap has ever been removed. I've never checked the radiator since I bought the car new in '76." This was 12-14 years after he had bought the car.
 
#36 ·
HR, I don't know anything much at all about the universal coolant. Your post made me do some quick looking and this seems to be a worthwhile article: Universal Coolants: The Ultimate Answer?

One thing they say of interest is this:

"The new universal coolants use unique OAT-based corrosion packages with proprietary organic acids (such as carboxylate) to provide broad spectrum protection.

When a universal coolant is used to top off a cooling system that already contains an extended-life OAT or hybrid coolant, the service life is unaffected. It remains five years or 150,000 miles. If a universal coolant is added to an older vehicle that has traditional green antifreeze in the cooling system, the service interval is also the same as before: two to three years or 30,000 to 50,000 miles."

One thing to know: You can use any antifreeze in any system, it is not specifically a matter of an aluminum rad or brass rad and old brass heater cores, or aluminum vs cast iron engine blocks and/or heads, or gas vs diesel. The caution is that older air-gap-at-the-top-of-the-rad systems can have sludging issues with Dexcool and similar OAT coolants, and if a 'universal' coolant has such issues, then that may explain the shorter service life mentioned in the above article for 'older cars'. HOAT's are the most 'universal' antifreezes with long-life properties, and that don't have issues in air-gap systems.

Being that this universal anti-freeze is a 'proprietary' OAT , it may or may not differ from Dexcool in its base. With additives that differ from Dexcool's additives, it may or may not have the same issues as Dexcool when put in an old cooling system with air in it. Is it more like a Dexcool OAT or an HOAT (hybrid OAT)? I don't know that answer. The article above says this is due to the brass rad and heater cores, but I am not sure about that info; I don't know what would more readily attack brass vs aluminum....?? I think that the matter of concern is the older systems without a purge setup that have an air gap at the top of the rad all the time.

Not sure any of that helps at all, HR!
 
#38 ·
HR, I don't know anything much at all about the universal coolant. Your post made me do some quick looking and this seems to be a worthwhile article: Universal Coolants: The Ultimate Answer?

Not sure any of that helps at all, HR!
Chrysler switched to Dex-Cool a few years ago. It is a nightmare trying to keep up with the changes, not to mention people that have "upgraded" the coolant to whatever they "think" is best for their vehicle.
As the article mentioned states, you can't depend on the color to know which one has been used.

Harold
 
#42 ·
My 1999 Mercedes doesn't have a trans dipstick. The owners manual just says to take it to the dealer.
It DOES have a dipstick tube though with a (breather) cap on it.
The transmission drops out during certain turns at certain speeds and certain hill angles. Really it's only when I'm pulling into my neighborhood but it's the classic "low fluid" drop out.
A trip to the dealer would cost more than the rig is worth. I'm just going to add a quart of fluid and call it good.

The automotive industry has, over the years, adopted a "user level" mentality. They try to take the ownership of the car away in that they don't want the owner to do ANY repairs. There's actually literature to say that owners aren't allowed to modify the vehicle.
 
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