Oil (?) and metal particles in Coolant

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steve@highrez.co.uk - 03 Oct 2006 21:28 GMT

Hi I really could do with some advice please...

I just checked my coolant levels on my Renault Megane Coupe, 1996, 60k
miles. The coolant bottle was so gummed up that I could not even see
the water level.

Upon opening the bottle there was significant amount of gunk like stuff
that went from dark brown to a creamish colour coating the entire inner
surface of the bottle. The coolant was a medium dark brown.

This mouse stuff is very thick and difficult to break up with soap, it
dissolved very easily in Petrol and WD40 - so I`m guessing it is oil
based.

Interestingly I scooped up some of this gunk on a screwdriver and put a
lighter under it - after the water was driven off it burnt like a
sparkler!

Looking at some of the dissolved gunk it seems there are thousands of
time metal particles, varying from about 1mm square downwards.

I would start to guess that my head gasket is shot, but there does not
seem to be any sign of water in the oil.

Does this sound reasonable?? Also where did all these bits of metal
come from?

Obviously this gunk has got down all the coolant tubes, causing who
knows what to block up. Can any one suggest a way of thoroughly
cleaning the coolant system?

Thanks in advance..
Steve

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Scott Dorsey - 03 Oct 2006 21:33 GMT

>Hi I really could do with some advice please...
>
>I just checked my coolant levels on my Renault Megane Coupe, 1996, 60k
>miles. The coolant bottle was so gummed up that I could not even see
>the water level.

Have you done this before? Have you had anyone work on it since you did
it last?

>Interestingly I scooped up some of this gunk on a screwdriver and put a
>lighter under it - after the water was driven off it burnt like a
>sparkler!
>
>Looking at some of the dissolved gunk it seems there are thousands of
>time metal particles, varying from about 1mm square downwards.

This sounds like someone dumped a huge amount of Stop-Leak into the radiator,
more than a head gasket issue. Could a previous owner have done this?

>Obviously this gunk has got down all the coolant tubes, causing who
>knows what to block up. Can any one suggest a way of thoroughly
>cleaning the coolant system?

Change the water a couple times, give it a week or so, and then run a
radiator flush. Almost certainly stuff will start leaking after you run
the flush. That's how you know the flush worked. Fix whatever is leaking
and see if the problem returns.
--scott

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"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

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