Dark liquid in radiator tank

MrSarcastic13 · Post by **MrSarcastic13** » Mon Apr 17, 2006 7:21 pm

Hey all,

I am getting ready to do the sunroof fix on my car and in a completely random check I wanted to see if the tank next to the radiator needed any topping off. I open it up to see not only does it not need topping off, it is full of a dark liquid, which probably shouldn't be in there. I checked the tank next to the engine and that area was full and the liquid is green.

http://bbs.legacycentral.org/viewtopic. ... ght=liquid

I have read this thread and I am pretty sure what the problem is, I just want some backup/advice on the subject. This is a new problem, one I just noticed and comes shortly after a transmission flush. They had to unscrew the tank to get to the tubes and I think something happened there. Thanks for the help all.

Damien
FYI 1994 Turbo Wagon

Manarius · Post by **Manarius** » Mon Apr 17, 2006 10:15 pm

Dark fluid in reservoir tank almost always equals headgasket. The tank next to the engine is the washer fluid tank

greg donovan · Post by **greg donovan** » Mon Apr 17, 2006 10:30 pm

Manarius wrote:Dark fluid in reservoir tank almost always equals headgasket. The tank next to the engine is the washer fluid tank

not on a turbo wagon. i am sure he means the coolant expansion tank still has green fluid.

Manarius · Post by **Manarius** » Mon Apr 17, 2006 11:40 pm

But he said the tank next to the radiator has dark fluid. The only tank next to the radiator is the coolant reservoir...

greg donovan · Post by **greg donovan** » Tue Apr 18, 2006 2:53 am

Manarius wrote:But he said the tank next to the radiator has dark fluid. The only tank next to the radiator is the coolant reservoir...

but the tank next to the engine is the coolant expansion tank.

dzx · Post by **dzx** » Tue Apr 18, 2006 3:24 am

that's dark matter radiator fluid, normally you have to pay more. j/k

MrSarcastic13 · Post by **MrSarcastic13** » Tue Apr 18, 2006 3:52 am

See, i knew i should have used proper names for these things but I didn't want anyone to get confused, which happened anyway. It is the tank next to the radiator and it is a turbo engine. So it is definately the head gasket?

Or could it have to do with the transmission fluids since it wasn't like this until i did my tranny flush...

dzx · Post by **dzx** » Tue Apr 18, 2006 4:29 pm

You could pour some into a shallow pan and take a picture so we have a better idea.

rallysam · Post by **rallysam** » Wed Apr 19, 2006 11:44 pm

Probably just really old coolant. Drain the whole system and put in new fluid. Inspect the drained coolant better after you've drained it to be sure, but I'm guessing it's nothing to worry about.

IronMonkeyL255 · Post by **IronMonkeyL255** » Thu Apr 20, 2006 1:47 am

+1 for old, nasty coolant.

I pulled out my expansion tank and soaked it in Simple Green for a while, then tried bleach to get out all of the nastiness in the inside.

MrSarcastic13 · Post by **MrSarcastic13** » Thu Apr 20, 2006 4:57 am

My mechanic was over to play poker at my roommate's weekly game and took a look at it. We are leaning towards either oil or tranny fluid. Took out the tank, cleaned it out and refilled. Not sure how dirty the coolant is. While I haven't done a flush I did have a leak in the tank next to the engine (really gotta start memorizing parts) and replaced it. Had to refill the entire thing because of loss of coolant. I have a picture of it in a styrofoam cup to show once I get it hosted. Needless to say we are hoping that it was just an accident spill when I got my tranny flushed recently.

Damien

rallysam · Post by **rallysam** » Thu Apr 20, 2006 2:49 pm

Haha, you're killing me with the lack of names!

If part of the system was black, the whole system was almost certainly black. You should drain and flush the whole coolant system - it's just regular maintenance (incl. raidator and engine block not just the tank).

I'm kind of skeptical about how tranny fluid could have gotten in there.

MrSarcastic13 · Post by **MrSarcastic13** » Thu Apr 20, 2006 3:38 pm

Well here is the pic...

And as for the tranny fluid, they used the line that is next to the tank, which they removed, when they did the flush. My car iq is on the Forrest Gump level as you can tell. But here's the pic...

yes, there was some coolant in there somewhere.

rallysam · Post by **rallysam** » Thu Apr 20, 2006 3:42 pm

That ain't right.

I am still have reading comprehension problems. Are you saying that when they tried to put oil in the tranny they may have actually put it all in the cooling system?

MrSarcastic13 · Post by **MrSarcastic13** » Thu Apr 20, 2006 3:49 pm

That was the fluid I found in the coolant resevoir (now I can't spell) tank earlier this week. When I went to get my tranny fluid flushed they used the line by this tank, which they removed to reach the line.

I randomly chekced the tank this week and that was what I found in it. The last time I checked there was nothing leaking into the tank. My mechanic and I aren't sure if they place accidentally put the wrong fluid into the tank when they filled it up after they were done with the tranny flush, or if there is, in fact, a leak.

I'll know for sure soon once I check my tank again. I just wanted to see what you guys all thought might the fluid be and possible problem.

dzx · Post by **dzx** » Fri Apr 21, 2006 7:17 pm

wow

that would suck if it they put oil in there.

MrSarcastic13 · Post by **MrSarcastic13** » Thu Apr 27, 2006 4:15 am

Looks like there is a leak after all. Going to get it to my mechanic ASAP.

Once again, I want to thank everyone who not only has posted in this thread but in any thread. Since I have joined I have been spending time in each technical thread from the very beginning to learn as much as I can from those who have come before. I am learning lots and appreciate everyone's help.

Damien

BAC5.2 · Post by **BAC5.2** » Thu Apr 27, 2006 6:02 am

rallysam wrote: That ain't right.

I am still have reading comprehension problems. Are you saying that when they tried to put oil in the tranny they may have actually put it all in the cooling system?

Remember Sam,

Turbo Wagons are Automatics. The Automatic Legacys run the trans fluid through a copper coil in one of the end-tanks (the drivers side endtank to be specific) to help stabilize the trans fluid temp. Could be a leak there.

No reason to unplug that line from the radiator when changing trans fluid.

How is your gas mileage?

THAWA · Post by **THAWA** » Thu Apr 27, 2006 6:44 am

If you're doing a powerflush, that is one of the better lines to use.

MrSarcastic13 · Post by **MrSarcastic13** » Thu Apr 27, 2006 3:21 pm

My mileage has been craptastic, at least for the "city mileage" half. When I have driven long distances, couple hours of highway driving, I'll get about 18 mpg or so. City driving, which is the most of what I do since both jobs are about or less than 5 miles away, i get a Hana-esque 8mpg approximate.

The check engine light was one when I bought the vehicle, which was brought to the dealer's attention, and he said he would fix it. He "fixed" it. So once we get that re-connected we'll take a look to see what code, if any it was throwing before and track down the leak.

BAC5.2 · Post by **BAC5.2** » Thu Apr 27, 2006 4:19 pm

Mileage could be CEL related. If it's an O2 sensor, good indicator of a blown head gasket.

8mpg is worse than MY Legacy gets.

MrSarcastic13 · Post by **MrSarcastic13** » Thu Apr 27, 2006 5:54 pm

With the mileage aspect I guess what suprises me most is the difference between city and highway. I figured both would be significantly diminished.

BAC5.2 · Post by **BAC5.2** » Thu Apr 27, 2006 6:04 pm

Not if the problem is an oxygen sensor.

When on the highway without an O2 sensor, I actually got near 23mpg. The car was just running horrendously lean, and there was no Oxygen sensor to tell it any different.

MrSarcastic13 · Post by **MrSarcastic13** » Thu Apr 27, 2006 6:29 pm

You'll have to forgive the newbness...but what does running lean mean?

IronMonkeyL255 · Post by **IronMonkeyL255** » Thu Apr 27, 2006 9:29 pm

It's getting less fuel than it should be getting.

When things run too lean, things get too hot and you start melting stuff.

Feel free to rip apart my answer, but it's about the simplest way I can think of to explain it......

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Dark liquid in radiator tank

Dark liquid in radiator tank