cooling system question. please help ASAP

Yellomantis · 11-23-2006, 02:00 PM

Popped the hood to check the oil and coolant before we head out to the family gathering and I saw a kind of "spray" in the engine compartment that wasnt there before. So, out of curiosity, I took the radiator cap off and this is what I saw....

It is kinda freaking me out. Has anyone else seen this on their trucks? Is this mormal for the Titans? It almost looks like oil residue in the cooling system! Do you think I might have blown a head gasket? The truck only has 7000 miles on it! Attached is pics of the "spray" if you can see it, the radiator cap with the water neck, and the coolant resivoir. Please HELP! I don't want to be worrying about driving the truck today!

BKW · 11-23-2006, 02:07 PM

If the oil is milky...you have a blown something.....have you ever added anything like Bars Leak to the radiator?

That's what the residue looks like to me.

there's a tsb on faulty rad caps.

Yellomantis · 11-23-2006, 02:09 PM

I checked the oil. It is nice and brown/clear. No milk. Never added any kind of additive to anything. The tan goo is only on the radiator cap and also is in the coolant resivoir as a thin film on the sides.

BKW · 11-23-2006, 02:15 PM

well that's all i could think of...maybe someone else can help...might try asking over at ct also.

Demondw3 · 11-23-2006, 02:47 PM

It's prolly just a bad radiator cap. A few people have had the cap replaced due to leaks.

Radiator Trouble...PLEASE ADVISE!!!

Yellomantis · 11-23-2006, 03:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Demondw3

It's prolly just a bad radiator cap. A few people have had the cap replaced due to leaks.

Radiator Trouble...PLEASE ADVISE!!!

Checked the thread, and the tsb, but my cap does not have the secondayr seal with a spring. Just one solid gasket without any kind of spring.

V8 TITAN · 11-23-2006, 03:07 PM

i would just get a new radiator cap. Im guessing you have the same problem as the guy in the other post but im not sure. I would deffinatly take it in ASAP. I always take mine in whenever i detect anything, even little small things. But let us know how it works out, i hope its for the best.

Yellomantis · 11-23-2006, 03:47 PM

I will most likely take it in to the dealer after thanksgiving. Hope it don't blow up on me today. I have never seen this kind of goo collect on just the radiator cap and resivoir. Usually it's all over the entire cooling system if a head gasket is the culprit. Hopefully that isn't the issue.

miketan · 11-24-2006, 04:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Yellomantis

I will most likely take it in to the dealer after thanksgiving. Hope it don't blow up on me today. I have never seen this kind of goo collect on just the radiator cap and resivoir. Usually it's all over the entire cooling system if a head gasket is the culprit. Hopefully that isn't the issue.

I've seen goo like that just on the radiator cap and coolant tank, but mostly in older cars that haven't had their coolant systems maintained that often. On a newer truck like yours, that's pretty unusual. The coolant inside the resevoir tank looks very dark too. The coolant in mine is a bright to medium green.

One thing it could be is the mixing of the wrong types of coolant in the system. Has anyone ever serviced the truck other than you?

Perhaps a clutzy service tech at a dealer topped off the coolant tank with the wrong type of coolant instead of using the correct glycol-based coolant?

The reason I say this is because a friend once put orange long-life Dexcool into his '91 Camaro Z28. He flushed out the old green glycol-based stuff and put in the orange coolant thinking it would be better for the car. Wrong! Even after flushing out the old coolant multiple times, a tan goo coated the resevoir tank, radiator cap and radiator neck after about a week. He had to flush out the Dexcool about 5-times before the tan goo eventually disappeared.

From the pics you've posted, it looks like you're getting coolant seepage from the overflow hose where it connects to the radiator nipple as well. A new hose clamp should fix that though.

Good luck!