Coolant problems

TBH, it looks more like a Radweld type stuff which would tie in with the leak you mentioned.

Fix the leak, flush out the cooling system and put a fresh antifreeze mix in. See how it is then. It's not a grey/brown sludge so it's not headgasket. Take it out for a run - chances are it's spent its life doing short journeys.

Cheers Conor, good idea.

Pete

That's Radweld, flush it out, buy a new hose & relax :-)

Thanks Duncan, feeling better already :o)

The next thing to go will be the heater matrix. I have seen it so many times when people try to sell a car with a radiator leak, water pump leak or if old enough, broken core plug! They tip radweld in. All that does is disrupt all the corrosion from inside the engine. That is what those bits are. Flush it and fix it before all those bits form in to a hard lump in the heater matrix. Your neighbour has lied to you, what a decent friend.

In message , Clive writes

I can go back several decades to my Radflush/Radweld days. :-(

Then I found a little back street radiator specialist who took the radiator off and repaired it while I had a wander round some shops.