Weird coolant color

[Intuit]

Please understand that this is just what was the case here. As mentioned by others, there can be several causes. You can run a cylinder compression test and have your oil tested for coolant content before deciding what further steps if any, may be necessary.

[denisond3]

Just for the heck of it, if you have the cam cover (aka valve cover) off, check that all of the head bolts are still tight. Our family had one that ran for more than a year, slowly losing coolant - because one head bolt (the one in the lower right corner nearest the thermostat housing) had snapped in two.
And when flushing any cooling system, remember that there is always going to be some residual crud in the bottom of the radiator, as well as some in the bottom of the water jacket in the block, and in the bottom of the heater core. Once you have done a typical flush, the coolant may not stay nice and green afterward. It just shouldnt get as mucky as it was before.

I rebuilt the engine in my 91 LX where the machine shop had to mill .006" off the top of the block, in order to get past the rusty low places, down to where it was clean gray iron. This probably happened after a headgasket went bad when the prior owners had it, and they let it sit for many months before getting it fixed.

[chrisanthony]

alright guys..i'll check the bolt headers and do a compression test..Is this what is used for testing the compression?..

http://www.canadiantire.ca/AST/brows...t%2BTester.jsp

[denisond3]

The link you posted took me to a 'antifreeze/coolant tester. The tool you need for compression testing would have a fitting that threads into a spark plug hole, with a pressure gauge at the other end of a rubber hose.
Going to www.summitracing.com and doing a keyword search for 'compression tester' shows the kind of tester I have.
This URL shows the image too:

http://static.summitracing.com/globa...m-900009_w.jpg


Just click on the link above, or select the line and paste it into your browser.

[Intuit]

The coolant tester I believe only gives you an estimate for what temperature the liquid may freeze.

Coolant and Oil analysis if done at all, is normally done by techs who manage fleet vehicles. So area dealerships and other, may have some techs experienced with the task. Only problem is, it probably wouldn't be cheap.

Some Googling as an example...

Two places to get your oil analyzed are:

Lubricon Lubricant Consultants, Inc 350 E. Churchman Ave. Beech Grove, IN 46107 (317) 783-2968

Cleveland Technical Center 18419 Euclid Avenue Cleveland, OH 44112-1016 (800) 726-5400

I could not find web sites for either of these places.

===============

http://www.polarislabs1.com/coolant-analysis.php
http://www.polarislabs1.com/oil-analysis.php