Is rust in the coolant OK?

[Iwannabongo]

I have been checking my coolant and noticed it is a pale rusty orange colour with a bit of sediment in the bottom of the tank.
Tank is quite rust stained itself, as you cannot check levels without taking the cap off.
Is this all quite normal to have a bit of sediment or should this be flushed out and cleaned asap?
thanks in advance

[MAZABON]

id change it but also give it a realy good flush out, also i would probably refill then give it a good run and dump it all again just to make sure all the rubbish is out

[Iwannabongo]

id change it but also give it a realy good flush out, also i would probably refill then give it a good run and dump it all again just to make sure all the rubbish is out

Cheers MAZABON,
Do you think this will be OK for another couple of hundred miles (throughout summer) or should it be done as a matter of urgency.
I don't really want to do it myself, so would rather book it into a garage that knows what they are doing,
thanks again

[dandemann8]

To be honest I'd change it now rather than later

[MAZABON]

i can only suggest that although it's a bit of work and a few quid to do it, with all the known bongo coolant and head issues in mind the sooner you do it the better if you need to use a garage for the work get a bongo savvy one to do it

[mikeonb4c]

To be honest I'd change it now rather than later

Ditto - I'd get onto it ASAP, and include a serious back flushing session)

[Iwannabongo]

Cheers all for your comments,
What sort of price would a bongo garage charge to give it a good flushing?
I have watched the video on here showing the bleeding and although seems fairly straight forward, I think I will be driving around the next 6 months getting very paranoid the thing will blow!!

[mikeonb4c]

Cheers all for your comments,
What sort of price would a bongo garage charge to give it a good flushing?
I have watched the video on here showing the bleeding and although seems fairly straight forward, I think I will be driving around the next 6 months getting very paranoid the thing will blow!!

It's the kind of job I would prefer to do myself it poss, as I can then be sure it's been done as throughly as I would wish, plus I could observe what crud comes out of the system and how much of an issue that might be.

There may be a member near you who knows how to bleed Bongos and would give you a hand. I've done mine twice. It's not rocket science provided you know the rules to follow. In my case I cheat and don't drain the rear heater matrix, but I think you might be sensible to do the lot, and to backflush things as much as possible. Also, check any metal pipes (such as the one that joins the bleed hose to the engine block) for signs of corrosion, as if the car has been run without antifreeze for a while, what is the corrosion that has cuased rust to be in the cooling system.

[Timnz]

Use some radiator flush and leave it in for at least 50km, last time I flushed mine. Worth flushing the system, heaters on full, then reconnect and run for a minute or two, let the water circulate, then stop the engine, and reflush, with a hose in the header tank.
I also used some antileak radiator treatment (designed for mixed metals) , to add some extra corrosion protection.

[321Away]

I'd flush it with clean water before you put rad flush through it, if its full of crud, loosening it up will only block your rad, so do a clean water flush, then put cleaner through it if you insist on doing it, if your cooling system is worse for wear then a cleaning product that will loosen up more bits will more than likely kill it off.
Are you sure you dont have the pink anti-freeze? sometimes that looks like its rusty.
Julian

[mikeonb4c]

I'd flush it with clean water before you put rad flush through it, if its full of crud, loosening it up will only block your rad, so do a clean water flush, then put cleaner through it if you insist on doing it, if your cooling system is worse for wear then a cleaning product that will loosen up more bits will more than likely kill it off.
Are you sure you dont have the pink anti-freeze? sometimes that looks like its rusty.
Julian

I have long suspected this - good to hear it from someone in the business. If I had rusty looking coolant, I'd be taking a strong interest in the flow rate of my various radiators, and in any deleterious effect on the thermostat and on the water pump (possible abrasive effects?). And I'd be inspecting my metal cooling system pipes for any signs of corrosion. I think I might want to reassure myself to that the temp sensor has not been affected by the gunge. I'm not speaking as one who knows much about these things, just as one who would be seeking advice over my suspicions.

Oh and if my header tank was obscured by rust staining so that I couldn't see the coolant level, I'd be tempted towards buying a new one (see thread on Header Tanks for those thinking of doing a 'group buy').

Of course I would already have an LCA fitted

[mikexgough]

I'd flush it with clean water before you put rad flush through it, if its full of crud, loosening it up will only block your rad, so do a clean water flush, then put cleaner through it if you insist on doing it, if your cooling system is worse for wear then a cleaning product that will loosen up more bits will more than likely kill it off.
Are you sure you dont have the pink anti-freeze? sometimes that looks like its rusty.
Julian

Good advice and the method I use when changing suspect coolants from the classic vehicles that I maintain, flush is used by me only where absolutely necessary on any older vehicles, clean water flush usually does the job effectively if you "open" up the system to allow the water to flush all the pipework/block etc through...

[bigdaddycain]

Hi Iwannabongo... Rust coloured coolant is more than likely occured due to insufficient coolant in the system. The coolant, or anti-freeze doesn't just have anti freezing properties, it has other chemicals to help stabilize coolant temps when it gets hot, and also anti corrosion additives to stop the water in the coolant turning rusty.

As suggested above a good coolant flush should ensure all the old coolant is cleaned out (original japanese coolant maybe?) As previously mentioned elsewhere on here, japanese coolant colours, and euro coolant colours don't mean the same thing (from a compatibility point of view) Incompatible coolants can possibly lead to sludging/gelling, which isn't a good thing.

[haydn callow]

The most likely cause of "rusty" coolant is a previous "boil up".. this causes all the "rusty crud" to be disturbed from the depths of the system and colour the coolant....at the same time leaving a brown deposit in the header tank,

[teenmal]

The most likely cause of "rusty" coolant is a previous "boil up".. this causes all the "rusty crud" to be disturbed from the depths of the system and colour the coolant....at the same time leaving a brown deposit in the header tank,

This guy knows his Stuff.