Brown stuff in my coolant (1 Viewer)

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Joined
Jan 22, 2019
Threads
2
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Location
Miami FL
Need help with info or ideas... so this is what I found in my radiator 😳 however already flushed the coolant changed coolant, there is no coolant in engine oil no loss of power no missing oil and no smoke of any kind...the engine is running nice and smooth no hesitation whatsoever...recently changed spark plugs and valve cover gasket...

E061596B-7764-4606-9710-F0FDC86A3C92.jpeg


D88FB972-CF73-45F0-A475-8D5C85CAA754.jpeg
 
Year model Cruiser, mileage? Give us something to go on here?

Possible mixing of oil into the coolant at your engine oil cooler (if never serviced). ???
 
Year model Cruiser, mileage? Give us something to go on here?

Possible mixing of oil into the coolant at your engine oil cooler (if never serviced). ???
It is a 1997 land cruiser fj80 215000 miles on it ! When I bought it had the same issue since than flushed coolant changed coolant and thermostat plugs and the mechanic said that I might have a leaking head gasket so he recommended me Kseal I poured it in the coolant... since than changed again the coolant and I still have the issue... it beats me
 
looks like some rust too; got a magnet?
 
Looks like oil and rust like @rolliges suggested
 
Difficult to get ALL the old coolant/stop leak products/rust....etc....from these engines unless ou remove the block plug, thermostat and flush the heater core separately. Anything short of that is bound to leave you with a mixture of old and new.

No question....it needs to be thoroughly flushed again. Oil mixing with the coolant will typically happen from one of two sources:

  1. Head gasket
  2. Oil cooler (passenger side of block under your exhaust manifolds) if you do a 'search' you will see where others have experienced that and how 'gunked up' it can become there.

***3. Transmission fluid can enter the radiator (and vice/versa) IF the built in heat exchanger at the bottom of the radiator fails, but the pics you provided suggest engine oil and rust.

Last thought: Sometimes folks use the term 'flush' to describe a process where they basically 'drain' the radiator, (MAYBE run a little water through it) and then refill. That falls well short of 'flushing' of the cooling system, which is what should be done every 2-3 years IMO.
 
Looks to me like a little milky oil ran through a dirty cooling system...headgasket possibly, or oil cooler has corroded.
 
I freaked out when I bought my LX450 a little over 10 years ago. I had a loss of coolant and could also see this small amount of brown stuff under my radiator cap. I'd been reading the forum for months, so I just KNEW this meant my HG had failed. When I dug a bit further, I found coolant dripping from my heater value near the fire wall. I'd just done a flush and didn't quite get the hose seated back on properly (user error). The tiny amount of brown fluff was likely due to lots of short trips around town or who knows what else. 10 years and 70k later and my head gasket is still fine.

Yes, you may have early signs of HG failure, but just take it easy, keep monitoring everything and don't over commit.
 
My radiator was letting ATF and it looks similar to this. I still can’t get it all out and my hoses show it. They look wet from saturation all the time. My mechanic ran a soap water mix, then a flush with water. Still brown slime everywhere
 
Time for new fluid. Definitely take out the block plug. Run two to three times through with water, then one time with distilled, then back to Toyota Red.
 
It is a 1997 land cruiser fj80 215000 miles on it ! When I bought it had the same issue since than flushed coolant changed coolant and thermostat plugs and the mechanic said that I might have a leaking head gasket so he recommended me Kseal I poured it in the coolant... since than changed again the coolant and I still have the issue... it beats me
Hey mate did you find out what the problem was with the brown sludge in the radiator cap??..hopefully it wasn't the cylinder head
 
Hey mate did you find out what the problem was with the brown sludge in the radiator cap??..hopefully it wasn't the cylinder head


Either someone put coffee in the radiator or some kind of oil was getting into the cooling system.
 
Seems like HG failure... oil is mixing with the coolant. Maybe start with a blackstone lab report to confirm and then prep for a HG job.
 
I think the OP is gone, thread was started two years ago and he hasn't been online for a year.
 
I think the OP is gone, thread was started two years ago and he hasn't been online for a year.
I bet he came to the conclusion his head gasket was toast. Than he quit posting and sold the rig....
 
I found little globules of oil in my coolant this week. The truck also stuttered and threw P0301. I was fearing the HG (I’ve done it twice on my ‘93) but I did a leak-down on #6 cylinder and it was solid. I didn’t have time to do it on all cylinders. Does the HG *always* happen on #6? I’ll also do some studying up on oil cooler issues ‘cause like a dumbass I have added non-distilled water to my cooling systems and my son who now has the ‘93 just reaped the rewards of that by having to replace the oil cooler cover which got a hole.
 

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