At Fixya.com, our trusted experts are meticulously vetted and possess extensive experience in their respective fields. Backed by a community of knowledgeable professionals, our platform ensures that the solutions provided are thoroughly researched and validated.
- If you need clarification, ask it in the comment box above.
- Better answers use proper spelling and grammar.
- Provide details, support with references or personal experience.
Tell us some more! Your answer needs to include more details to help people.You can't post answers that contain an email address.Please enter a valid email address.The email address entered is already associated to an account.Login to postPlease use English characters only.
Tip: The max point reward for answering a question is 15.
Most common cause would be a blown head gasket or (similar failure) - in which case the oil on top of the coolant would be brown-ish in color.
Or, less commonly, a failed transmission cooler (built in to the bottom of the radiator), in which case the oil on top of the coolant would be pink or red-ish in color.
More details offered in your question, such as year, make, model, and mileage could possibly yield a more comprehensive answer.
The way to tell if something is wrong check oil cap. Look for a white foam sometimes it's brown showing coolant in oil also look for white or blue smoke coming out of tailpipe. If you don't see any of these simple drain reservoir and flush it. I would also drain radiator to be on safe side. It is possible that last owner put oil in reservoir I have seen strange things like that and worse
A flush and a thermostat is never a bad idea, but it sound like your radiator cap is worn out, not holding pressure, replace it, should have a 16 lbs rating radiator cap.
get it flushed out and replaced with new coolant but it looks like early signs of a head gasket starting to go .after flushing keep an eye on color if its the same brown color two weeks later you have a bad head gasket.
Hi. apparently the mechanic did not rinse the contents out completely after the flushing was administered. During the flushing of a radiator, there may be a good amount of debris that will build up, due to the flushing compounds effect on the crude inside the radiator. This is why there should be a rinsing stage to clean out all that is removed, via the flushing procedure. If the rinse is not donecorrectly, some of the contaminates will be left behind to mix in with the new radiator fluid. The rust/debris will mix contaminate the new fluid that is poured in, thus, causing the brown color you have noticed.
Most radiator fluids will be green, or orange in color, but never brown or greenish brown. This greenish brown will indicate that there is some rust deposited that were not rinsed out properly, after the flushing of the radiator. I would return the vehicle to the mechanic to request a re-flush of the radiator. They should do it for free.
NOTE_ A more serious issue will be a damaged oil cooler. this will cause the same symptoms within the color of the fluid, if your vehicle is equipped with this device. Once the oil cooler has ruptured, it will cause the engine oil to be transfer into the radiator, thus, changing the color of the fluid.
You're mixing coolant and oil. Probably lower
intake gasket leak if you're not running hot, otherwise could be head
gasket or other issue. Occasionally a cracked core in the radiator will do this too.
You need to have it taken care of, if you have oil in the coolant,
you've also got coolant in your oil, the engine will begin to eat
itself...
The mechanic should check on the radiator and the radiator fan .Also check the cooling fins of the radiator if the cooling fins are worn out then replace them. You should also check if there is a leak in the radiator and then repair the radiator .The radiator fan ,check it also if the the pulley of the fan is working and if not then replace it or repair it.And the engine oil should be check if the engine oil is dirty or diluted then change oil because of sometimes dirty or diluted oil can cause engine over heat.
No the coolant radiator is a sealed system, oil and water do not mix; as far as I am aware manual gearboxes do not have coolers.
If you have oil in your coolant water this will be an engine problem. Check the engine oil is not frothy and caramel coloured.
If your gear box oil is is a brown colour or dirty looking, this is due to water ingress, either through the breather hose or seals, try changing the fluid. If you can check the seals and breaher hose.
Suggest you get a owners manual and Haynes or workshop manual.
There are plenty of free files on line, do a search on Google, Alltheweb, Lycos, etc
×