JBurt

So I bought the truck a year ago and didn't want a strawberry milkshake so I decided to add an external cooler. Because I don't know the maintenance record for my 4runner I decided to flush the coolant and change the Thermostat.

The main reason I wanted to flush was because I saw green coolant under the rad cap and wanted to put toyota red back in there. When I drained it I found an unholy mixture of red and green.



Is this anything I should worry about? I would assume that a good flush would take care of it.

Second is the scary part. This is what I found under my rad cap.



What is that weird brown stuff. I don't know if it is dissolved crap in the radiator or a blown hg. Ugh! At least worst case scenario I'll only get hit by one milkshake. I've never had to add oil, or coolant, it's never been low, no noticeable leaks but it could be a small hg failure and burning up in the combustion chamber. I know that the green coolant is supposed to contribute to silicate build up. Hopefully it's just that.

I don't think I see an oil sheen on top of the drained coolant but oh well. If anyone has any good advice I'll take it. Looks like a compression test for me.

JBurt

Here is the radiator gunk on a paper towel if it helps.

mwc0404

Im a diesel mechanic at TA and work on 18 wheelers everyday and have seen this happen plenty of times, as i cant say for sure not seeing it for myself but when red and green coolant are mixed and ran they will create a "sludge" similar to oil in coolant. if that is the case flush it very good and possibly more than once and you be okay as long as you run flush through the system to get it out of the water pump, lines, etc...

JBurt

So I removed the radiator to use the zip ties only to find out that the zip ties are too big to fit through the air conditioner condenser. Oh well. The tranny cooler came with mounting hardware so I used that. I've got about an inch between the cooler and the radiator. Is that good or should I try to get closer? Any comments on the set up? I probably won't plumb it up until tomorrow about noon.





On a side note I found out that the wire for the horn on the passenger side was broken. I soldered it back together and then the horn wouldn't fit because of the cooler. Any ideas on where to mount the horn?

Sorry for the image quality. Something is up with my camera.

JBurt

And then I took out the coolant reservoir to find this sludgy junk in the bottom:




Mwc I hope your right. Thanks for your reply.

mwc0404

an inch will be fine, as long as the fins are clean the air will pass through regardless of how close it is, i also am running a trans cooler and i fit mine in between the radiator and condenser.
As far as the horn goes you can always extend the wires if necessary and mount it anywhere you have room.

Oh and just wondering is there anyway you can zoom out and take a pic of the bare front end for me? Seeing the entire front end would really answer alot of questions i have.

mwc0404

you should probably pull that out and wash the gunk outta there too!!

JBurt

Yeah I washed out the reservoir. That's a good idea. This is as far out as I can get the the truck in the garage.