my Grand Marq overheated last night. The shop says the entire system needs to be replaced? The main cause of O/H was nipple at back of block worn and caused hose to fall out. A rust colored liquid was sprayed all over the engine (from radiator). Can the coolant turn to a rust color quickly or is it mainly do to time. Would a couple of flushes clean the radiator out enough to call it good?
redbyrd
what kind of antifreeze due you use? the new antifreeze looks like rust color, could be that kind that sprayed all over your engine. i agree with joe try flushing it out first.
Year, mileage, use, service history.. these are some of the things that would help form an opinion. Since your coolant was rust coloured, I would hpld much hope.
With time and use, antifreeze coolant will loose it ability to protect against corrosion... the Ph balance of the mixture will change and it can become acidic. The coolant effectiely becomes "electrolyte", causing the dis=similar metals to become the plates in an ad hoc battery. This also means that material will start transferring between the anodes and cathodes in the system.
Radiator core tubes will lose material and can become very thin and brittle... solder joints can become weakened by thermocycling.. Indeed, the nipple that signalled your current round of grief is most likely the victim of corrosion and/or material erosion through electrolysis.
Patch-ups can be a gamble... for my part, I would study my situation and be sure that I avoid having my smiling face on the 6 o'clock news as being the driver at the very front of a major traffic jam....
... $1300 later (that was the estimate for an entire cooling system overhaul) Did I mention the year of the car '91. After talking with the mech, we determined that yes the system could probably use an entire overhaul, But in my case I just want to fix the major problem. The cause was a "nipple" that sheared off. It somehow connects the lower cooling hose from the throttle body to the block I think. I saw the evidence. I asked that he replace the sheared "nipple" and two throttle body hoses, run a pressure test- then call me. After that I will probably ask that he flush the system and call it a day.
Q: anyone know the name for the part I referred to above - I called Ford and it possible is a part of an EGR spacer? w/o seeing it he could not be sure.
redbyrd
That's what I thought. The original coolant is green, the heavy rust color indicates it's now mostly water. It's very likely this is only the tip of the ice burg. Expect the soft plugs to be a future problem. The radiator and heater core are most likely filled with rust deposits, which I doubt very much a flush of any kind will help. Look at the nipple very closely, I'll bet you find it did not shear off, it rusted to the point that it fell apart. The nipple is for cooling the EGR valve, there are two of them. They are long enough that nothing is going to sheer them off. Fixing the major problem is the whole cooling system. So $1300. dollars if the car is important enough to you might be justified. But you have to look at the hidden damage the rusty coolant has caused, something to think about.
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