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White Foam In Radiator

angusis2fast4u

By angusis2fast4u,
in General Maintenance

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angusis2fast4u Enthusiast

angusis2fast4u

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Recently bought a '92 R32 GTS-T Last night it started leaking Coolant from the bottom radiator hose where it connects to the block, So i got a new pipe. went to fill the radiator with new coolant and I noticed the old coolant was filled with rust and also a white foam was also coming from the top of the radiator. I've had a quick look around the internet and the internet tells me I my Headgasket is gone. BUT I have never had an overheating issue, the car actually takes a while to warm up and sits at 70-80 degrees C all the time. What should I suspect needs fixing??

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89CAL Grand Master

89CAL

Posted
Posted

Flush the system and fill with distilled water for a few days, run the car as normal and if you've had no problems previously it shouldnt be an issue, just keep an eye on the temp. Just to make sure you have an issue before you start doing major repairs

That's what I'd do anyway. Unless you know that the radiator had good coolant in it and had been well flush before the coolant was put in

angusis2fast4u Enthusiast

angusis2fast4u

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I've also just noticed it's actually eaten quite a bit of oil lately as well... but again never had an issue with heating which keeps me hoping its not a head gasket.

Or, hopefully its just the head gasket and not f**ked piston rings too....

Flush the system and fill with distilled water for a few days, run the car as normal and if you've had no problems previously it shouldnt be an issue, just keep an eye on the temp. Just to make sure you have an issue before you start doing major repairs

That's what I'd do anyway. Unless you know that the radiator had good coolant in it and had been well flush before the coolant was put in

Edited by angusis2fast4u
89CAL Grand Master

89CAL

Posted
Posted (edited)

Yeah well you might have a problem there then. What does the oil look like? Is it milky at all?

Depending on where everything is being lost will make a difference to the symptoms. I just changed an inlet manifold gasket on a VS commodore ute (V6) because I've been losing coolant in it for ages and when I did the last service noticed milky oil around the filler cap. Pulled the manifold gaskets out and saw there was a problem with the seal around one of the water ports that was close to an oil port. Obviously a little coolant was bypassing into the oil

Coolant still looked perfectly fine, oil not so much. I originally thought it might have been head gasket but so far looks like it was the manifold gasket. Havent driven enough to know for sure yet but I hope its fixed, bit of a crap job really. Looked easier then it was anyway

Edited by 89CAL
angusis2fast4u Enthusiast

angusis2fast4u

Posted
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Yeah well you might have a problem there then. What does the oil look like? Is it milky at all?

Depending on where everything is being lost will make a difference to the symptoms. I just changed an inlet manifold gasket on a VS commodore ute (V6) because I've been losing coolant in it for ages and when I did the last service noticed milky oil around the filler cap. Pulled the manifold gaskets out and saw there was a problem with the seal around one of the water ports that was close to an oil port. Obviously a little coolant was bypassing into the oil

Coolant still looked perfectly fine, oil not so much. I originally thought it might have been head gasket but so far looks like it was the manifold gasket. Havent driven enough to know for sure yet but I hope its fixed, bit of a crap job really. Looked easier then it was anyway

Oil looked fine. I have been explained that on these engines oil pressure is higher than coolant pressure so finding oil in the rad while not having contaminated oil is more than likely to happen. Might as well chuck in a 25det...

89CAL Grand Master

89CAL

Posted
Posted

I think all engines have higher oil pressure then coolant pressure. Seen as coolant pressure is usually only maximum of 1bar

The example I gave was coolant entering oil return ports so no oil pressure

It is a bit irrelevant to a 25 seen as there are no oil returns in the intake manifold but there are more oil returns then feeds so it is still a possibility

If it's losing coolant and oil it could well be head gasket but could also be other causes if the coolant and oil are leaking in different spots

Very hard to diagnose over the Internet so just floating ideas around

angusis2fast4u Enthusiast

angusis2fast4u

Posted
  • Author
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I think all engines have higher oil pressure then coolant pressure. Seen as coolant pressure is usually only maximum of 1bar

The example I gave was coolant entering oil return ports so no oil pressure

It is a bit irrelevant to a 25 seen as there are no oil returns in the intake manifold but there are more oil returns then feeds so it is still a possibility

If it's losing coolant and oil it could well be head gasket but could also be other causes if the coolant and oil are leaking in different spots

Very hard to diagnose over the Internet so just floating ideas around

Yeah I know thanks for the help though man, it's good to get advice on testing out possibilities. I will stay 20, just because I prefer this engine over 25. Gasket seems like it should hold up for a few more weeks yet So i might go buy a reco 20det and just clean it up and dump it in when i can, I have to do the box aswell so might buy a 20det in a combo with box. All i can say is that choclate milk/rust and white foam doesn't show up in the rad unless the head is gone so all i can do is replace it and hope...

Ben C34 Grand Master

Ben C34

Posted
Posted

Rust and white foam?

I wonder if someone threw a can of bars leaks inside?

Exactly what I thought.

I mentioned I his other thread about the kits to check for head gasket leaks in the coolant.

I would definitely do that first in this case.

Sinista32 Grand Master

Sinista32

Posted
Posted

Rust and white foam?

I wonder if someone threw a can of bars leaks inside?

thought this also - sounds like it

take the cap off and look rub your finger in there

bottom radiator hose off and flush.

Look for dark little granules like mouse/rat pooh

angusis2fast4u Enthusiast

angusis2fast4u

Posted
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Posted

when I emptied the coolant into a bucket there was a layer of like rust dust on the bottom of the bucket. other than that Oil is clean, but oil has been eaten and it's not giving blue smoke. no bigger chunks of matter though like rat poo size. There seems to be water/coolant always in the exhaust on start up - it happens always, can't always be condensation. (if you put your hand at the exhaust tip water will come out for about 1-3 mins till i guess it reaches a temperature where it comes out as a very fine smoke (smoke is not that visible and blends in with normal exhaust fumes). Coolant did come out brown/Choclate milk...

Flushed it a couple of times, put water through, put flush and water through and then filled with coolant. Never put my finger in the bottom hose but never saw any "rat poo"

Can't think of anything to explain it further. I got an opinion off a mate who came and had a look at it and he has been working on engines espcially rb20's and rb30's for a while now, and he is pretty certain its the head gasket. just don't want to put all my trust and MONEY on one opinion. I guess it could be many things but i won't know till the head comes off.

Plan so far is to replace the head and take it to a professional to have it flushed properly to get out all the shit coolant side and oil side. just to be safe. head should come off this weekend so I will know then the extent of the damage :/

thought this also - sounds like it

take the cap off and look rub your finger in there

bottom radiator hose off and flush.

Look for dark little granules like mouse/rat pooh

Sinista32 Grand Master

Sinista32

Posted
Posted (edited)

Take it to a place like Natrad.

They will tell you for certain if it is in the cooling system and if your head is blown. They measure CO2 in the fluid.

As GTRPSI pointed out if the "ratpoo" has dissolved you wont find it. It is designed to dissolve with temprature and block small/minute holes in the radiator (small leaks) under the pressure.

Ps. It never works but will turn your water milky and through movement and air frothy.

However if barsleak was put in recently you would find it very easily

Edited by Sinista32

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