Coolant is dirty already?

[a_alyte]

The coolant in my recovery bottle has fine brown particles in it! These particles are noticeable in the radiator as well, but not as heavily!

The system was serviced at the dealer, in June 2004, & I just noticed the particles this week. I check all fluids on a weekly basis!

I had a new radiator installed in Dec 2004, & the coolant was clean after this install as well.

Does anyone know what could be causing this? The coolant system has always been serviced at the specified interval & there's no problems when driving, atleast not yet.

I recently installed a new recovery bottle because the yellow cap would allow small amounts of coolant out, I still have this problem because the new recovery bottle did not come with a new cap & none of the stores seem to have one that fit my Jeep!

The fluid in my recovery bottle is kept at the Add level (I had a post on here about this before) & never reaches the top!

WHERE COULD THESE PARTICLES BE COMING FROM?
Thanks in advance!

[joed]

you better hope not oil. headgasket time if it is.

[dksob81]

could be a head gasket like JOED mentioned - compression test could tell you if the head gasket is leaking. also might be internal leak of the radiator - leaking tranny fluid into the coolant..... when was the laast time you had the system flushed, might just be build up in the system.

[a_alyte]

I had the system flushed by the dealer back in June of 2004! I had a new rad put in back in dec. of 2004, & I developed a ATF leak shortly after. The leak was coming from the top tranny line, they didn't tighten it enough when installing the new rad!

[JDPascal]

What kind of antifreeze are you using and what concentration?? (what freezing temperature??)

If the cooling system was neglected for a long time without changing the antifreeze, rust will have formed on the inside of the block. What you are seeing is the flakes coming loose. Flushing the cooling system will not remove all the hard rust, only the material in solution. There is also the likelyhood of settled material in the low spots in the system that may break loose into circulation.

Cavitation in the circulating coolant is another possibility. This in not common in gas engine cooling systems especially with new coolant.

A combustion leak into the coolant will accelerate the rust problem. You would notice a large leak by the overheating but a small one might not be so apparent. There are tests that can be done for combustion gasses in the coolant. That is an option you might want to consider taking advantage of.

There are also test strips that you can dip in the antifreeze that will tell you if the additives and other aspects of the antifreeze are adequate. A quality shop will know what they are and how to use them....

Hope this helps you some.

JD

[a_alyte]

Well, something is definitely up here! I had the system flushed on Sat & I noticed particles in the overflow bottle the next day!

I've been using the green antifreeze with the 50/50 mix, not sure of the freezing temp though. The system has been drained, flushed, and filled as specified in the manual, usually alittle sooner!

I guess I'll look into getting a compression test soon!