coolant in the recovery tank looks dark

[tpprr]

hello, i have a 1995 s10 4x4 with a 4.3 v6 engine standard tranny with a tbi injection system. my problem is the coolant looks dark in the recovery tank. i just flushed the system out about three weeks ago putting new coolant in. is the oil somehow mixing with the coolant? the oil from the dipstick is light colored. my service engine light comes on lately, does this have anything to do with this problem with the coolant? help -thanks -Paul

[Shortbus]

The Check engine light should not have anything to do with the coolant. You will want to get that checked out.

If you have oil in the coolant then you have coolant in the oil.

Check the top of the oil filler cap and the dipstick indicator for signs of a heavy milky buildup on either of them.

You may just have a lot of rust in the radiator core.

They make a flush additive the can break a lot of the rust free from the system and clean it out, but you may need to have the core rotted out by a proffessional.

Also make sure that the recovery bottle is not fooling you. A lot of times a rust colored slime will build up on the inside walls of the coolant recovery bottle and make the coolant appear to be extrememly dirty. I assume you have the orange dexcool antifreeze.

Check those and get back to us with some more details.

[tpprr]

yes i did use the gm dexcool coolant. before i added the new coolant, i unbolted the recovery bottle and cleaned it out. may have left some gook in it though cuz i couldnt scrap the inside walls. the dipstick looks good to me anyways. i'll have my mechanic check it out. also i have another problem, my right blinker light in the dash isnt bright at all. the left side blinker is bright but not the right. its on but dark. damn service engine light has been coming on this past week. shuts off after i turn off the ignition then start it up again. is a sensor bad or something? -Paul

[Flatrater]

I am a tech so now you know this. Using Dex-cool (dex-clog to us techs) in S-10's leaves a residue in the overflow tank, it is caused by the dexclog and the engine combined. You need to keep the rad cleaned out every so often so the dexcool doesn't clog your heater core or radiator.

As for your check engine light it could be a million different things without you using a scanner and reading the codes it is damn near impossible to fix. Your check engine light will remain on until you clear the codes!