Coolant Brown? Rad just replaced

7 VII 7 · Post by **7 VII 7** » 09 Sep 2008, 07:50

Ok, so I have never had this issue before... I have always put 50/50 coolant in there from AdvanceAutoParts and never had any issue

I broke my radiator (it was leaking from the upper rad hose area) so I had the volvo shop replace the radiator with a new OEM one.

When I picked up the car the coolant was green and I did no think anything of it.... well 1 month later the coolant is brown!

there is NO over heating, the oil in the car is fine the transfulid is fine and the car runs fine.

the brown coolant is kinda clear but not completely... it is not chunky or look to have oil sitting at the top.

they did a block leak test while the car was on and the fluid turned from blue to green http://www.arrowheadradiator.com/head_g ... k_test.htm which they said showed exhaust gases in the coolant which means a blown head-gasket...

well I did some more reading and it looks like if the rad is replaced and a coolant flush is not done it would and could show false positive... pretty sure they did not do a coolant flush since i did not ask for it or pay for it... just the radiator replacement and refill of coolant

could the brown be from mixing of my 50/50 AdvanceAutoZone coolant and the VOlvo Shop coolant? car runs perfectly and has NEVER overheated

madorion · Post by **madorion** » 09 Sep 2008, 08:48

Hi 7's
I'm pretty sure your right about this. A lot of stuff accumulates in the radiator and engine block over the years, Volvo recommends that we
not change coolant unless there is component failure in one of the cooling related items. I DISAGREE. Volvo has been wrong before. I would not run coolant more than four years, especially in hot climate. I would have flushed it. Virgin coolant has a propensity for loosening up like material in the system. I would just flush and call the problem solved. Volvo techs, pressurize my 99' to 21psi to hydrostatic test the system. Unless you got bubbles with the engine hot with varying rpm steps(you have to over fill
the coolant reservoir to do this) I would say you just need a flush and 50-50 refill.
Anyone agree/disagree?

A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on.
Winston Churchill, Sir (1874-1965)

7 VII 7 · Post by **7 VII 7** » 09 Sep 2008, 08:51

i have drained the coolant in the radiator plenty of times before they replaced the radiator and refilled it.

never had a brown coolant issue

could it be a mix of the 50/50 that I put in and what they put in?

I ran the heater for 5 mins yesterday in 85 degree heat... no weird smells and no change in RPM or temp gauge.

when they did the block leak test why would the fluid go from blue to green in the coolant tank showing exhaust fumes in the coolant?

Gimpster · Post by **Gimpster** » 09 Sep 2008, 09:01

Is it possible the shop used a "long life" coolant in the vehicle? If so, big nono to mix normal green/glycol coolant with that stuff. At least its a big nono if they didn't do a total flush of the cars cooling system (which, like you, I doubt they did).

If not that, I might suspect the shop put just tap water in the vehicle.

If it were my vehicle, I'd be performing a through flush and re-full just so you KNOW the coolant is fresh and up-to-snuff. I'm not a huge fan of the long life coolants. I typically flush my cooling systems every 2 yrs at a minimum. Coolant has the habit of building up acidity, amoungst other things, which is hard on stuff. Everything from gaskets/orings, heater cores to engine blocks and heads.

I might even consider replacing the themostat too while I had the coolant out of the car.

ON the other issue-

So are you saying they did a leakdown test on your car with some dye? There are a number of reasons that exhaust can get into your coolant. Blown head gasket, cracked head .... the list goes on and on. However, as I posted above... I would flush the coolant and start from scratch. Are you seeing any sugaring of your spark plugs, cream on the dipstick and/or oil cap? White from the exhaust?

Post by **Maxbaby** » 09 Sep 2008, 09:14

My experience is that the brown colorcomes from the usual (and not to worry about) corrosion in a cooling system that is many years old. What you describe is very normal when the system has not been flushed regularly. Flush it and refill. You may find it happens again and still needs a good flush after that. don't be alarmed at this point. And after these flushes, you'll probably find the already good heating system is kicking out even more heat in the cold weather.

...and only use the Volvo coolant and not some multi purpose brand.

7 VII 7 · Post by **7 VII 7** » 09 Sep 2008, 10:25

Gimpster wrote:Is it possible the shop used a "long life" coolant in the vehicle? If so, big nono to mix normal green/glycol coolant with that stuff. At least its a big nono if they didn't do a total flush of the cars cooling system (which, like you, I doubt they did).

If not that, I might suspect the shop put just tap water in the vehicle.

If it were my vehicle, I'd be performing a through flush and re-full just so you KNOW the coolant is fresh and up-to-snuff. I'm not a huge fan of the long life coolants. I typically flush my cooling systems every 2 yrs at a minimum. Coolant has the habit of building up acidity, amoungst other things, which is hard on stuff. Everything from gaskets/orings, heater cores to engine blocks and heads.

I might even consider replacing the themostat too while I had the coolant out of the car.

ON the other issue-

So are you saying they did a leakdown test on your car with some dye? There are a number of reasons that exhaust can get into your coolant. Blown head gasket, cracked head .... the list goes on and on. However, as I posted above... I would flush the coolant and start from scratch. Are you seeing any sugaring of your spark plugs, cream on the dipstick and/or oil cap? White from the exhaust?

they did not use tap water... the green coolant they put in is pretty green looking almost forest green and can not see through it. they did not do a leak down test... they just did a block leak test in the coolant expansion tank...

no sugaring from the spark plugs... no cream on the dipstick and or oil cap.... no white from the exhaust

Post by **billofdurham** » 09 Sep 2008, 13:00

Drain and flush, remembering to set the heater at its highest setting to get the flush through there as well.

I do not hold with long life coolants and mine gets drained and flushed every two years regardless of what Volvo say. I always back flush the radiator but as yours is new this may not be necessary.

Bill.

850FLA · Post by **850FLA** » 09 Sep 2008, 13:15

The Vovo coolant is brown. My guess is it mixed in with what was left in the block.

7 VII 7 · Post by **7 VII 7** » 09 Sep 2008, 13:16

850FLA wrote:The Vovo coolant is brown. My guess is it mixed in with what was left in the block.

I have never put volvo coolant in

volvo shop put in green

I have always put in green

is there a good write up for a coolant flush?

7 VII 7 · Post by **7 VII 7** » 10 Sep 2008, 06:54

So anyone have a write-up for a coolant flush for a 850/s70/v70 P1??

ok, so went back to the shop

checked spark plugs... everything OK
checked exhaust fumes... everything OK
tested overheat... everything OK
tested compression... everything OK
coolant still at regular level

coolant brown not milky not chucky no oil in coolant

they did the block leak test again with the engine off and slowly turned from dark blue to dark green