Dirt in the Radiator

When we got our 94 limited we had this fine red dust EVERYWHERE. We basically cleaned all of it to make it spotless. Looks and Runs good. However, today I removed the radiator cap and found mud on the bottom of the cap. I looked in the radiator and the inside is lined with red. i ran a finger over it and it seems to come off.
1. Should I try flushing this out or just replacing the whole radiator.
2. What would this problem cause. (the truck run great now)

i would flush radiator.could this ''red'' be the newer anti-freeze(pink in color)??is there a leak??overheating??if not then you could get away with just flushing the system.
Good Luck

no leak. no running hot. its clearly mud though. I wouldnt think antifreeze would leave such a filthy film all over everything. It feels gritty too.

Some radiator stop leak products can look this way when poured in abundance, and when poured in abundance, the water jackets of the engine block become clogged with this "mud" :2cents:

Also, as mentioned, when the 'newer' gerneration anti-freeze (DexCool) is mixed with conventional etholyne-glycol it can produce a muddy appearing substance as well over time.

EDIT - In either case, the heater core is usually certain to become clogged soon, do a back flush of the system to clear it.

Some radiator stop leak products can look this way when poured in abundance, and when poured in abundance, the water jackets of the engine block become clogged with this "mud" :2cents:

Also, as mentioned, when the 'newer' gerneration anti-freeze (DexCool) is mixed with conventional etholyne-glycol it can produce a muddy appearing substance as well over time.

EDIT - In either case, the heater core is usually certain to become clogged soon, do a back flush of the system to clear it.

what is a backflush? is this different than a normal flush? how do i perform this. the thing that prompted me to check the coolant was that the heat took a looooong time to get hot.

what is a backflush? is this different than a normal flush? how do i perform this. the thing that prompted me to check the coolant was that the heat took a looooong time to get hot.

Prestone makes a kit for a couple of bucks that you cut the return hose of heater core, insert a a capped T that the your garden hose threads onto and you pump the water through the core and system to knock loose all the gunk collected in the core and passages (since the thermostat will be closed and the 'gunk' will just amass there)

i just read up on it and they actually recommend removing the thermostat while doing the backflush. the question is that I bought the prestone radiator flush..

can I use this with the backflush procedure?

should I just use it as a seperate prodecure doing 2 flushes (one backflush and one using the prestone radiator flush procedure)

Going both routes wouldn't hurt since you're already at it. :dunno:

Might as well replace the stat while it's out. Before you put in the new one you can drop it in a pot of water and bring the water up to temp and make sure the stat functions properly. :thumbsup:

tried to drain radiator today and only got drip....drip....drip. you cant add water bc its full. i did get a tranny last yer so the few drips had shavings in them (woulda thougt theyd drain it while changing tranny). i did manage to remove the upper hose and found that this "crap" is all over and has run through the system. should i go to a shop so they can suck out all the crap. is ther a way to diy.

Tranny fluid does not (normally) mix with coolant, and coolant doesn't flow through the transmission, so the replacement tranny would not have an impact on the radiator being able to drain. Instead there is a heat exchanger in one tank of the radiator that tranny fluid flows through. It's a separate tank from the coolant path. If you have an air compressor, you might try gently blowing compressed air backwards through the radiator drain to see if you can dislodge what ever is plugging the drain.

-Rod

in a 94 model... they'd still be using green coolant...

that red mud may be internal rust

Tranny fluid does not (normally) mix with coolant, and coolant doesn't flow through the transmission, so the replacement tranny would not have an impact on the radiator being able to drain. Instead there is a heat exchanger in one tank of the radiator that tranny fluid flows through. It's a separate tank from the coolant path. If you have an air compressor, you might try gently blowing compressed air backwards through the radiator drain to see if you can dislodge what ever is plugging the drain.

-Rod

I thought that I had a transmission cooler on the radiator (maybe not....?) I let it drain for about 30 minutes and only had about 20oz. of fluid mixed heavily with the metal bits from something. Problem is.... I bought the flush fluid and drained the radiator when I didnt see fluid in the top and it wasn't draining in the bottom I figured it was empty (after all it was runnning a bit warm and the heat wasnt hot until after 20min. It wasnt till I added the water that I saw nothing more could go in the radiator. So basically I'm running the cleaner in the system.

the best to do now is let it run w/flush as long as its not o/heating let it run 20-30 min drain when warm & repeat!!

The "crap" may be cloggin up the petcock, remove the lower hose to drain. :thumbsup:

crap.... that bottom hose is a killer not to mention the mess thats giong to produce. but whatever is neccessary....