okay so ive been finding this redish colored stuff that definitely is not coolent in my radiator. a friend thinks the head gasket it bad but suggested that i try flushing the radiator and refilling it first. can anyone explain in realllllly good detail how to do that? is it a pain in the @ss?

 

Some coolant is a redish color.

A head gasket wouldn't cause the coolant to turn red. that would be transission fluid.

Here is a how to on flushing.

https://www.f150online.com/forums/ar...ntifreeze.html

Here is another thread about transmision fluid in the radiator.

https://www.f150online.com/forums/tr...reservior.html

good luck!!

 

well the coolent im using in it right now is yellow. and what i see in there is a real rusty colored red and its thick.

 

If it was the head gasket, it would be oil in the coolant. It sounds like no one has performed the maintenance on your truck before. The radiators have to be flush periodically or they rust. The green or the red coolant is for different applications. I never owned a Ford of your year model, so I'm not sure which coolant should be in there. If you are lucky, you can just flush it out and it will be OK. But check you owners manual to make sure which coolant goes in your engine. But I'm sure someone will chime in to tell you.

Are there any other problems that helped decide the head gaskets were bad?

 

wow, i get a full service every time i go...that makes me really mad because i just had a feeling they werent doing what they were supposed to. is a radiator flush included in a full service or what?

well what made him decide that was a few things. i can smell coolent VERY strong after my truck runs, or when im driving with the heat on and i stop at a light. there are no leaks on the ground at any time...which made him think that i was burning coolent, rather than leaking it. in the summer when i dont need my heat, i always use a liquid leak stopper in the radiator and it takes it right away (but clogs up the heating system), but in the winter i have to refill the coolent reserve very often. so its all just really confusing to me...also, the reddish crap is in the reserve too, but usually only a tiny bit

 

Your heater core in the dash is most likely rusted out. That's why you don't smell it in the Summer time. Most likely your radiator is in the same shape. This can also lead to the head gasket issues, water pump and others.
Sorry but it is very bad news

But some of the stuff you see in the radiator may be the leak stop. You may get lucky.


A radiator flush is not included with oil change service. It is a 60 to 100k issue.

 

Couple of questions, why are you using leak stop? Do your windows fog up? Do you have strong heat?

Adrianspeeder

 

hmm. well thats just great! is there any way i could know for sure about the heater core and radiator being rusted?? are there any other signs? everything always appears to be perfectly clean and good under the hood.


adrian, because when i smelled the coolent, i figured there was a leak. and when i use it, there is no more smell so i figure it helps? the stuff ive used was a liquid aluminum. and yes, my heat gets very very hot. the heat is cold as ice when i use the leak stoppers though...which is why i dont use it in the winter

 

Well, you are lookin' at a little bit of work right now, but nothing you can't handle.

Step one you gotta start from scratch and clear out all the not cool stop leak, unknown coolant, and trash floating around in there.

A three gallon bucket under your radiator drain would be a good start with a garden hose pumpin in the radiator cap to clean that out. Run till clear.

Simple take off of the two 5/8" heater hoses to the heater core connections by your passenger side hood hinge. Pump water though there with some scrap hose into a bucket and note if the flow in equals the flow out.

Adrianspeeder

 

lol so basically youre telling me to do a radiator flush, right

 

Yes, along with the heater core to get the lowdown on yer cooling system.

Adrianspeeder

 

How is this working out for you. Have you made any new discoveries.

If you are blowing colant out of the exhaust you should smell it when you get close to the exhaust pipe. I'm sure up in Michigan all of the exhaust has a vapor trail(because it's so cold). But down here where it is warmer, you can spot a headgasket problem just driving down the highway, because stem is always coming out of the tailpipe.

 

nope there is definitely not any coolant coming from the exhaust pipe. i didnt drive the truck at all yesterday so ill probably take a better look at it today. i also forgot to mention that theres a tick from under the hood...its been there for as long as ive had the truck (over a year) and hasnt caused any problems.

 

From your first description of smelling coolant in the cab in the winter,


I'll say that you do have a leak in the heater core.
The thick reddish water is probably a combination of the aluminum sealer, rust and coolant.
Do you know what color the coolant was originally?

 

yes, the most recent stuff i put in was yellow. the one before that was orange i believe