Bubbles....no, not he elephant

[cal44]

Lads,

I am one of those that wrongly believe that if I think about something else, my problem will go away. That hasn't worked.

I have brown foam in my radiator. I flushed and poured in new anit-freeze and purified water.
BAM!....it's back. I am guessing it must be the head gasket. The engine has 4K on it. No I didn't build it, it had been done when I bought the car (plus2).

The plugs are clean and the engine runs o.k.........I suspect either a leak down or compression in order, but, does it matter? That friggin' brown foam is not going away no matter how many tests I do...........agreed?

Since I don't build engines and the engine builders don't weld on live natural gas lines (me) I reckon I'm screwed.

Question. At this point would there be any use in checking torque on the the head bolts? or am I done for?

Thanks in advance,
Mike

[gjz30075]

A few things you can do before throwing in the towel, so at least you have some clues when talking to an engine builder.
Is there any coolant in the oil?
Pull all the plugs, then pressurize the cooling system. If there's a leak, it won't hold pressure.

Greg Z

[richardcox_lotus]

Mike - can you post a picture ? I've experienced brown residue in my coolant which is just old sludge coming to the surface where it wasn't flushed through properly. If you are neither losing water nor experiencing any evidence of mayonnaise on the oil cap, you may be OK.

There are test devices which you place over a radiator cap to confirm, can't remember what they're called though !

Regards,
Richard

[billwill]

You clearly need to get rid of the brown sludge first, that will be sludge in the coolant or it might be one of the 'quick fix' anti-leak mixtures put into the system by a previous owner.

You may just have that sludge and no head leak at all.

You need to do an extensive flush, with a running hosepipe jammed into the lower rubber pipe, after you have pulled it off the radiator and run it until the fluid coming out is pretty clear. If you can, take the rad out and flush it while it is upside down.

Coolant can go both ways if there is a head crack or failed head gasket, so if water gets into the firing chamber you will see it as white smoke (steam) coming out of the exhaust.If gas pressure is instead getting from the firing chamber into the cooling system, the first symptom that you will probably notice is that the pressure goes up in the cooling system before the coolant is hot. i.e you will see the rubber pipes go stiff. If you then carefully open the radiator cap, coolant will rush out.

[Jason1]

There are test devices which you place over a radiator cap to confirm, can't remember what they're called though !

http://www.frost.co.uk/automotive-engin ... r-kit.html

[cal44]

Thanks for the tips guys. I checked each plug....clean. Here in the leftist state of California the gas is so messed up that there is a lot of moisture in the fuel from the pump. So upon start up and for a couple of minutes there is fog coming out the tail pipe. But, I see newer cars doing that. Once warmed up there is nothing.

I clean out the over flow tank on Saturday and the purified water added. I have flushed the rad within the last two months. The picture shows a little foam but much worse after some runs on the freeway. And yes, the level of fluid has been going down in the rad but goes off into the overflow. Doesn't want to go back into the rad..........huh?....

I will get a pressure system first and test liquid second. I have never had a hobby car do the brown foam gig in my radiator, and I have owned a lot of cars. This is quite new to me.

I bet dollars to donuts there is something a little more serious. Lucky for me I have two new blocks just waiting to be put in service. I keep my machines clean enough to eat off of and change fluids every year like clock work. Not many miles put on the cars.

Will report back in a week or so........o.k two........two weeks. Since the Plus 2 is the most fun car I have owned it will get the proper attention it needs.

Thanks for the help guys.
Mike

[robertverhey]

Hi needs to be checked with a thing called a Stant cooling system pressure tester. Great piece of kit, got mine on eBay. This will identify any leaks or cracks in your head / gasket, so that if the head needs to come off you'll know where to start looking. If it holds pressure well you might (I stress might) get away with one of those off the shelf radiator sealers (bars leaks or similar)

Robert

[rgh0]

It certainly sounds like a leaking head gasket. If the engine was done recently the head bolts may not have been retightened after the first few hundred miles so it is worth trying that but the odds of resealing it are low.

cheers
Rohan

[cal44]

Thanks again guys. This puts me on a correct path.......well, until that path splits. One path to, dodged a bullet....the other path?........to the bank.

Mike

[UAB807F]

Hi Mike, sorry to read about your +2 misbehaving. Like everyone's said, the pressure tests are the way to go if you suspect the head gasket.

Trying to be optimistic (or just ignoring the potential bad news ?) I'd also check out the simple things as well, for example the thermostat and water pump belt, either of which could cause localised overheating due to poor circulation and that might be loosening any old sludge/debris in the engine block. (I said I was an optimist )

How quickly are you losing water, is it coming out every time or over a few hundred miles ? I guess the other point is if the car is overheating or running warmer than normal. I've only had 2 headgaskets go and in both cases the engines were throwing water out within a couple of minutes after starting up. Like Bill says, the coolant gets pressurised way too early and while it's still cold in the radiator.

Brian