My 99 overheated and the Dexcool crud is in there too

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bighank

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My temp gauge has been jumping around for about 3 weeks and I am getting almost no heat. Last week the gauge went to max (past 260) and I had to stop 3 times and let it cool off to drive about 10 miles.
Went for the thermostat which is almost impossible to change after removing TB, air ducts and hoses from the TB heater pipe. When I took off the radiator cap found it covered with Dexcool Sludge. Replaced the thermostat and am almost finished putting back the parts removed to get to the thermostat.
The plastic petcock drain at the bottom of the radiator turned about 1/8 turn CCW and then the flat knob at the end broke off, Obtained a new one and will try to get the old one out either using a hot screwdriver or an EZout.
Need to try and backflush the brown sludge out of the radiator and engine.
Was below freezing here yesterday and today so I postponed the flush operation. Hope I don't have a blown head gasket as that is a real job to replace. Think that the problem is a combination of the frozen thermostat and the Dexcool sludge.
 
you can purchase a cooling system tester to determine if you have exhaust entering the cooling system from a blown head gasket.
 
I'm not sure what to do, It's too cold outside to be working on anything with water in it.

The temp gauge had been fluctuating quite abit for a while.... but most of the time it would ran almost at 160, slightly above, sometimes on the tick mark over 160.

Sitting in line at the car wash the day it happened, the damned thing went over the half mark, so we cranked the heat and turned the A/C on (To get the fans spinning) and it went back down below the half mark and stayed.

I will probably get it towed home, and leave it sit until the weather is better - It is too cold to be screwing with it. And if it's the gaskets, it wasn't driven long at all (It didn't quite make it to the red before it was parked) so there shouldn't be any damage to the block / heads (HOPEFULLY)

I don't really have the tools, time or resources to do a compression test, nor do I know how to even get to the back 3 spark plugs.

Will pull the heat pipe off and see what the thermostat (IF there is even one) looks like... Though I heard it is a real real real pain in the ass to get to.

It's had crappy heat for a while now, like the air coming from (Well, what little air) the vents would be luke warm at best, but the temp gauge was WAY down, almost riding on 160. Then it would warm up a little, and so would the air into the cabin (biggest issue really was air flow from the vents)

So it's had cooling issues for a while now, And the coolant has looked brown and gross for sometime and I was hoping that it isn't because there is oil in the coolant.

No coolant in the oil, but a gasket failure doesn't always mean oil in coolant, or vice versa.

Maybe water pump failure? but all of the sudden? and would this cause the water I did add to gush back out the cap / into over flow tank?

I will perform what test I can, and see what happens. Gonna flush it too... Should I just use straight water? or should I get some additive to help clean it out?
 
melsg5 said:
you can purchase a cooling system tester to determine if you have exhaust entering the cooling system from a blown head gasket.
Click to expand...

I am assuming autozone?

What are the symptoms of the 3.4 V6 having a blown gasket? I've been told it varies engine to engine, and depending on how badly the gasket is blown.
______________________________
 
Slicer89 said:
I'm not sure what to do, It's too cold outside to be working on anything with water in it.

The temp gauge had been fluctuating quite abit for a while.... but most of the time it would ran almost at 160, slightly above, sometimes on the tick mark over 160.

Sitting in line at the car wash the day it happened, the damned thing went over the half mark, so we cranked the heat and turned the A/C on (To get the fans spinning) and it went back down below the half mark and stayed.

I will probably get it towed home, and leave it sit until the weather is better - It is too cold to be screwing with it. And if it's the gaskets, it wasn't driven long at all (It didn't quite make it to the red before it was parked) so there shouldn't be any damage to the block / heads (HOPEFULLY)

I don't really have the tools, time or resources to do a compression test, nor do I know how to even get to the back 3 spark plugs.

Will pull the heat pipe off and see what the thermostat (IF there is even one) looks like... Though I heard it is a real real real pain in the ass to get to.

It's had crappy heat for a while now, like the air coming from (Well, what little air) the vents would be luke warm at best, but the temp gauge was WAY down, almost riding on 160. Then it would warm up a little, and so would the air into the cabin (biggest issue really was air flow from the vents)

So it's had cooling issues for a while now, And the coolant has looked brown and gross for sometime and I was hoping that it isn't because there is oil in the coolant.

No coolant in the oil, but a gasket failure doesn't always mean oil in coolant, or vice versa.

Maybe water pump failure? but all of the sudden? and would this cause the water I did add to gush back out the cap / into over flow tank?

I will perform what test I can, and see what happens. Gonna flush it too... Should I just use straight water? or should I get some additive to help clean it out?
Click to expand...

Well it sounds like your getting frustrated with the car and the weather.

Before spending money on it, do like melsg5 suggest and get a tester from Autozone or Napa to test for hydrocarbons in the cooling system. You will pay for the tool and pay for the fluid you need, so the test then return the tester.

But to keep this from becoming a two month long project, get a service manual for your car, No matter what unless you dump the car you will need a manual.
 
EaOutlaw said:
Well it sounds like your getting frustrated with the car and the weather.

Before spending money on it, do like melsg5 suggest and get a tester from Autozone or Napa to test for hydrocarbons in the cooling system. You will pay for the tool and pay for the fluid you need, so the test then return the tester.

But to keep this from becoming a two month long project, get a service manual for your car, No matter what unless you dump the car you will need a manual.
Click to expand...

I want to apologize - I have no idea how I replied to the wrong thread, It said my post had new replies, Clicked the link and I guess I messed up somewhere.

I will be getting it, hopefully.
 
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