Radiator Cap Crust

[LS1 2001 Z28]

Tonight i noticed a small crust of dryed coolant around my radiator cap, can this be normal or is my cap bad. Any common problems i should look for, or anyone else notice this. I have never had an overheat or any steam come out of my hood either.
Thanks in advance,
Tony

[JUS]

normal.....check your coolant dipstick for a brownish residue, as this is your Dexcool breaking down.

[LS1 2001 Z28]

I have noticed dexcool does get nasty after a while so i think i wil have it flushed this summer, but i am gona stick with dexcool because its suposed to be better for the aluminum. But is it normal for the crust to be on the outside of the cap if i have never opened the cap?

[JUS]

are you loosing coolant?

[LS1 2001 Z28]

Dosent apear that way but then again that dipstick blows. Are the caps cheap? should i just swap it out just in case?

[JUS]

how long have you had this car? clean it off and see how long (if ever) it takes for a new crust to form. evaluate from there. If there were a significant leak, it would GUISE out when the motor is hot.

[LS1 2001 Z28]

The car is 3 years old i have had it for almost 2 years. Good plan i will try that out thanks for the help. :)

[bRa_DeN]

how often are you flushing out your radiator, might be time:)

[LS1 2001 Z28]

well i got 40k miles now and i am gona do it along with my tranny, rear end, oil and plugs in a couple months when it gets warmer out.

[bRa_DeN]

Originally posted by LS1 2001 Z28
well i got 40k miles now and i am gona do it along with my tranny, rear end, oil and plugs in a couple months when it gets warmer out. as long as you dont put it off too long then there shouldnt be a problem:)

[LS1 2001 Z28]

I would never leave that stuff in my car 150k miles.

[Rich30N90W]

POWER STEERING FLUID LOW

This -exact- thing happened to me last year, I checked the coolant overflow "stick" and it had this granular, chalky crap all over it - asked the tech section on ls<censored>.com, thats exactly what it was on my car - checked PS fluid, stick was dry - added more, sludge went away. HTH.

[JUS]

why would there be power steering fluid around the radiator cap?

[LS1 2001 Z28]

I will check it out, but i cant figure out what one has to do with the other. ????? :confused:

[Immortal_99SS]

if i were you, i would go ahead and get a new radiator cap. alot of the stock rad. caps have been found to be defective. any air that gets into the coolant system causes the dex cool to break down turning it into brown sludge which causes all kinds of problems
http://www.consumeraffairs.com/automotive/gm_dexcool.html
http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/news/7oys/072503_7oys_dexcool.html

[killer01ws6]

Originally posted by LS1 2001 Z28
I have noticed dexcool does get nasty after a while so i think i wil have it flushed this summer, but i am gona stick with dexcool because its suposed to be better for the aluminum. But is it normal for the crust to be on the outside of the cap if i have never opened the cap?

DO stick with the Dex Cool.
Change it as soon as you can work it into your schedule.
But for now and the cheap cost, get a new cap and clean the neck of the radiator when you put the new one on.

[bRa_DeN]

one time i took my car up to my local dealer and un did the cap to my overflow tank and ask one of the mechanic's what that brown sludge was and he said it was an additive! What is this guy talking about was what i was thinking? Needless to say i dont trust many gm mechanics:D

[jmd]

Originally posted by LS1 2001 Z28
Dosent apear that way but then again that dipstick blows. Are the caps cheap? should i just swap it out just in case?

Yes. Despite the intent of the Dexcool lasting "a really long time" a yearly flush is a real good idea, esp. w/ an aluminum engine.

[wannafbody]

well susposedly GM adds stop leak tablets at the factory just in case

[Blacker]

I had so much sludge in the overflow tank, it had to be replaced.

[stevews602]

Dex Cool does not like air.
If you see it starting to act funky, change it as soon as you can, when it turns to sludge it will cause all sorts of trouble.

As for PS fluid in the coolant, a lot of F-Bodys have power steering cooler's and when they start to fail they mix PS fluid and coolant. You then need to replace the cooler and flush the PS and cooling system asap.

[jumpcable]

That was exactly what I was going to state steve. My Power Steering seems to always get low, but I think my PS cooler is leaking where the hoses attach to the PS cooler. - Patrick :D

[LS1 2001 Z28]

Thanks for all the replies i am going to swap out the cap now and then the cooolant this summer

[LS1 2001 Z28]

Well it has been a while but i finaly replaced the cap and problem solved. The old cap was leaking worse and worse. I tryed cleaning it many times and thought i was putting on wrong but after the new one is one i see no leakes and looks great.

[killer01ws6]

:) :)

Good job fixing it.

Don't take so long next time.. ;)



:jk: :)

[LS1 2001 Z28]

Yeah after reading the date i originaly posted it i feel sick as to how lazy i was. LOL :rolleyes:

[LS1 2001 Z28]

though its not too bad cause i havent really driven that car.