Lots of Grey Gunk

[tucsonlx]

Well I just spent the last 4 hours flushing the piss out of my coolant system, and unfortunately I have a lot of grey residue covering the radiator that I was unable to flush out. This crap was everywhere. I flushed the heater cores separately like E9999 did in his right-up and there was a lot of green-grey residue that came out of there as well. Luckily I found very little come out of the block. Would it be necessary to take the radiator out to get a better flush and if this is the case would I be better off just getting a new radiator? The rest of the truck is in great shape, I only have 34K on it now.
Thanks
Aaron

 

[e9999]

could not get the gunk out of the rad with a full blasting hose right on it? dang. I managed to scrape a little bit out of my overflow tank. What I found is that it was hard at first but when you stirred it, then it stayed in suspension for a while and was easy to move. So maybe you could try blasting the stuff from the top of the rad, hopefully to break down the clump and then flush out?

this is 34K total?
if so, wow!

E

 

[tucsonlx]

I was able to remove the deposits in the overflow tank. They broke up pretty easily with a long scewdriver. I also flushed the radiator from the top and it cleaned the deposits off of where it dirrectly sprayed but I can still get a good amount of it if I get my finger down in the filler neck off to the side. I am just currious what the rest of the radiator looks like. And yes, 34,000 total miles on it, unfortunately no lockers (yet).
Aaron

 

[landtank]

I'd get the rad professionally flushed.

 

[Beowulf]

Aaron,

There is a good chance that a significant amount of the sludge is still in the rad. In the archives you can find a picture of a radiator that Slee Offroad cut open. Follow Rick's advice or get a new radiator. At 34k miles, that truck is basically new and you don't want to deal with the consequences of a cooling system problem, especially since you live in the desert SW.

-B-

 

[medtro]

I took mine to the rad shop for leak and clog tests. They flushed it for free, this is how they test if it is clogged. Most shop provides free testing. Just find out how they test it.

 

[e9999]

isn;t this unusal to have such severe clogging at only 34K?
E

 

[GXO]

I bet it sat a nice long while to get that low mileage

 

[tucsonlx]

Thanks for the replies. I have a feeling that the truck did sit for quite a while. I think that I will be calling around to some radiator shops and see what they will charge me for a good flush.
Aaron

 

[tucsonlx]

Well I took it back to the dealership that I bought it from and they were more than happy to help. They are going to replace both the radiator and the fan clutch, both covered under the 6 month warrenty that they provided with the vehicle. I didn't even have to yell at them. Plus I get to drive around a new Lexus for the next couple of days while it gets done.

 

[cruiserdan]

Try to get them to install a 16400-66040 radiator instead of a 16400-66081.

Oh, do be sure that you get a genuine radiator, not a mickey mouse aftermarket one.

 

[e9999]

right, that sounded very suspicious... probably will give you a plastic core one... :-\
E

 

[tucsonlx]

Well I got the truck back from the dealer the other day. Unfortunately I couldn't get them to put the Brass radiator back in but they did use the OEM aluminum radiator. They also replaced the thermostat, fan clutch and coolant (which of course I just changed). So what did it all cost? Five bucks for gas for the 2004 RX330 that they let us barrow for the week. It looks like at least once, buying from a dealer has its advantages. I will tell you, anybody looking for a truck or car in Arizona should take a look at Scottsdale Lexus. They are definitly a class act and treated me very well even though I bought the cheapest car on the lot at the time. Now it is off to Costco for some Mobil1 to change the fluids, who know what else is wrong.

 

[bkgiii]

Dan, you answered a question I meant to ask on this subject: 16400-66040 is the better radiator PN? (And I assume it fits mine?) Also, thoughts on the 160 deg. TRD thermostat......

Oh....and you know that 'test' you mentioned? "Bubbles bubbles everywhere @ 3k rpm." FIgured I'd do the other things, above, at the same time.

 

[robbie]

To me the 160 degree thermostat is not required. TRD did this in response to the cooling issues that started to develope with the SC. They needed to fix the real problem and that was the Head Gasket. We have never needed a 160 DG thermostat here at the shop. I have installed one by request of the owner. If you have a truck that is running hot, fix the real problem. Find the cooling system problem, either the Fan clutch, pluged radiator, or head gasket. That thermostat will set you back a easy 50 dollars from the right source. If you have the tiny bubbles then fix the head gasket. later robbie

 

[bkgiii]

Yep...as a result of the bubble test, HG has been moved to the front burner..I was just wondering whether or not there was any value to (a) the 'better' radiator and/or (b) the stat at the same time. thanks for the advice, Robbie. Anything ELSE you'd recommend at the same time as the HG? (Just replaced the fn clutch about a month ago..)

 

[Riley]

When doing the bubble test, should the engine be warm?

Any other tips on this? I keep forgetting to do this check.

 

[SteveLCetc]

To me the 160 degree thermostat is not required. TRD did this in response to the cooling issues that started to develope with the SC. They needed to fix the real problem and that was the Head Gasket. We have never needed a 160 DG thermostat here at the shop. I have installed one by request of the owner. If you have a truck that is running hot, fix the real problem. Find the cooling system problem, either the Fan clutch, pluged radiator, or head gasket. That thermostat will set you back a easy 50 dollars from the right source. If you have the tiny bubbles then fix the head gasket. later robbie

A 160° Thermostat won't help when you need it, except for a very short time. If the engine is running hard and it's hot, the extra time might be enough, but it's still a crutch. If the engine's going to heat up with a regular thermostat, it's going to heat up to the same temp with a 160 deg thermostat.

Were you running Water Wetter? I've heard that will gunk up a radiator, but I'm not sure it doesn't just move it from the engine, where it's hot, to the radiator where it's relatively cool and deposit it there.

I've never heard of it gunking up a freshly flushed engine.

 

[bkgiii]

When doing the bubble test, should the engine be warm?

I was told 'Yes'.......but if testing it cool will make the problem NOT be the HG, I'll sure try it!