i got my truck about a week ago. the PO told me that the original motor had blown a headgasket about a month ago. he said he replaced it with another 22re and a new radiator. yesterday i did a radiator flush and noticed a strange, milky fluid in the reservior as well as in the radiator. it wasn't a whole lot, but it definately wasn't coolant. should i be concerned about the headgaskets on this engine, or is it possible that some of the parts he used transfered from the old engine and had some of the old HG byproduct? it definately is the original reservoir and i wonder if perhaps he didn't clean that out very well. opinions?

 

drain it, flush the system, fill it again see wat happens. check ur oil for contaminants and is it smoking? if it has white smoke then yes its a hg. and u should lose some coolant to.

 

smoking where? exhaust or engine itself?

 

Exhaust.

 

look for white smoke, the truck may over heat. There could also be a lot of air bubbles within the coolant (I believe when this happens the engines will usually over heat as well).
with HG failures the coolant will either leak internally, or externally. If it's internally then you will see coolant in the oil and the truck could be burning some coolant and you'll see the white smoke...

if it's leaking externally - that speaks for itself.
Good luck.

 

thanks, it sounds like i'll need it.

 

i just thought of something. the last two times i have run the engine have been with either only water in the radiator or water and flush fluid and yes i have seen some very clear/white smoke out of the exhaust. is that normal for when there is only water cooling the engine or does that still indicate a problem?

 

so i just talked to the guy i bought it from and he said they are the original hoses, which leads me to believe that there are some other original parts on there since the blowup. should i just drain the oil and coolant and continue to flush the system and be careful of overheating?

 

if you had rad flush in your cooling system I would flush that (how long was that in there for? You don't want to leave that in for too long). Refill cooling system, ensure there are no air pockets (after filling the rad/reservoir just after starting the engine remove one of the heater hoses at the back of the engine {3vze} just long enough to get the air out of the highest point in the cooling sys). Change oil...Then like you say be VERY VERY careful of overheating - but you cannot rely totally on your cluster gauge - they are not accurate. If it goes anywhere much above normal turn off the truck.

That's where I would start anyway. If problems persist then check back here...people are great for helping out on here!



blah blah blah...
Is the truck overheating, or are you just concerned with the dirty coolant? Dirty coolant does not necessarily mean bad HG.

 

So true, when I bought my FJ60 the coolant was flat out BROWN, but no real cooling problems etc. I honestly thought I had just bought a truck with a dead HG but it didn't overheat ever. I flushed it while running with a hose for about 30 minutes, drained it and refilled with coolant mix and everything was fine.