Dark Green coolant

[thewishkah]

I replaced my heater core today and when I went to drain the coolant before hand I got this lovely dark green coolant out (almost as dark as my paint) it was pretty gross I gotta admit, I flushed the system then but other then age what would cause this, It was not rust colored at all though no trace of any rust , could it just be from age?

 

[ma96782]

If you want you could test it? Reuse it?

Or just replace w/ proper mix.....and go on from there.

Aloha, Mark

 

[walterd140]

Sounds like someone added coolant & no water. Should be a 60 coolant / 40 water mix depending on where you live. Your right below me so that should do you nicely. I usually guestamate with the mixture. Every gallon of coolant I put in I will refill the jug about 1/4 to 1/2 with water & put that in.

 

[thewishkah]

I use the 50/50 peak 150,000 mile coolant, but I still change it every year or so.

 

[Creager]

It might mean you are due to flush the system. Make sure you are using the right coolent, i found some places dont even carry the antifreeze i need anymore. Aslong as its not MAROON (you would see flakes and fineparticals comming out) or a rainbow effect in it, you should be good.

 

[thewishkah]

There was no rust or praticles in it at all it was very "clean" just dark. The coolant I bought is "safe for all makes and models with any color anti freeze".
I flushed it yesterday and refilled with new fluid even though I just did it 2 days ago but I just wanted to be sure. The 2 day old coolant was pretty clean but I still didnt want to reuse it. So I replaced it anyway and its running nicely, heat works well, and since I replaced the blower motor at the same time I know have a/c for summer and defrost for when it rains and my windows fog ,that was the worst part, couldnt see a thing.

 

[unpredictable1]

Was this your first time changing the coolant? I know coolant additives like Stop Leak etc can change coolant to darker shades when they dissolve into the system.

 

[thewishkah]

no it has been done within the past year or so, and my radiator is only like 3 years old so Im pretty sure its not that, could it just be the age of the coolant?

 

[unpredictable1]

shouldn't change to that dark like that if its an isolated circulatory system.

 

[walterd140]

Old collant gets lighter green or brown from rust. Dark green says no mixture of water was added......... getting odd, but how long was the original dark coolant in the truck & how was the heat when it was in there? Did your defog work OK?

Walter

 

[wired_af]

Look like this? In my case it was just really old coolant.

 

[BrooklynBay]

I use the Prestone brand. I use a gallon of antifreeze, then I refill the container, and use a gallon of water with an antirust solution. I also use a flushing chemical to thoroughly clean out the system in addition to flushing it out with water. Green antifreeze is Ethylene Glycol. Orange antifreeze is Propylene Glycol. By the way, the next time you drink fruit punch, check the ingredients. A lot of companies will list Propylene Glycol in the ingredients!

 

[thewishkah]

yeah thats exactly what it looked like, I use the pre mixed stuff so I dont have to worry about adding water to the coolant, I and like I said before I had no signs of rust whatso ever. The old fluid was texaco I think? but the only reason for me thinking this is while I cleaned out my garage today I found 1/2 a container of this. but it was a 50/50 mix. Well I dont really know if my defoger worked or not, I had a heater core and blower motor problem(they didnt work) lol the core leaked a little bit, so I found this dark coolant when I drained to replace my core. Now everything works great heater, defoger,and a/c all work great. This weekend and monday were spent fixing all known issues with my X, from blower and heater core to replacing multi function switch, tail light socket, and weather stripping on passenger side door.

 

[walterd140]

You have me stumped my friend. I always believed old coolant got lighter in color, not darker. But you are talking about pre-mixed fluid rather than non-mixed. I only use non-mixed so not sure on the pre-mixed stuff. Is it possible that as the water evaporated the only thing left was antifreeze? That would then tell me pre-mixed does not mix too well. Make any sense??
Walter

 

[Vanquish502]

Maybe your headgasket(s) are pooched and oil is getting into the coolant? Just a guess d:-]

 

[thewishkah]

I dont think thats the case because the fluid would be thicker and also I check the oil regularly and I dont find any mixing of the 2.

 

[Creager]

if oil was in the system it would make a rainbow effect. That looks like old coolent to me.