Guess What’s In My Radiator

[THE DONALD]

Hey Guys, I wrote last week with questions just before I would replaced my radiator. I noticed that the coolant I saw leeking was green despite coming from factory with DexCool. I had this car since new and it was NEVER SERVICED EXCEPT AT MY DEALERSHIP. Six months ago I had a leaking hose that goes to the radiator that the dealership replaced and topped off the cooling system according to the receipt I don’t know if the coolant was bastardized at this time, or at several other times that I have brought it to the dealership. But it was never serviced any place else.Tonight I took. A good look in the tank and saw a brown and green fluid mix. The truck has a heavy duty cooling system with the oil cooler built into the radiator. See attached picture. Now, is this engine oil or the mixture of DexCool and green antifreeze. Can it be anything else? I am sure I have no recourse with the dealership as they will just deny that they were the ones that did this. What should I do next ? thank you guys in advance for the help.
I want to add that this has never caused me to have any overheating problems with the coolant being in this condition. The car has no issues except a leaking radiator. I have no idea how long this issue has been going on.

 

[OR VietVet]

That looks terrible. The orange looks rusty brown. It is also separating in there. I would confront them about it and please post here what they say. I would demand they flush it and put DexCool in it, at no cost to you. Make sure you have all your paperwork with you because I can bet you this, they will not be able to find all your visits in their computer system.

 

[B-train]

Eww....

What he said ^^^^

 

[Doubeleive]

I would go to the dealer tomorrow and bypass the counter monkeys entirely and just ask to speak directly to the service manager, just say I want you to take a look at this and take him/her to your truck, as you are walking to the truck explain it has not been to any other shop or dealer and that you happened to be under the hood and noticed this. explain in detail that a coolant hose was the last thing replaced on it at there service center. be calm while talking and after saying the above statement let the service manager handle it.
that is the best way to handle it, don't even bother with anybody else. period. If for some reason the service manage does not immediately remedy the situation then ask to speak to the general manager this will generally be in his/her office in a nice comfy chair, again be calm and explain the situation again and state the service manager was unable to resolve the issue so that's why I am here now.
getting mad and upset and all that kind of stuff is not generally necessary in a professional environment.
good luck.

 

[THE DONALD]

BUT is this a mix of 2 different coolants or engine oil???

 

[B-train]

Dip some out and shake it up. If it blends and doesn't settle out, then it's probably coolant.

If it looks like your dorm room lava lamp, then you probably got oil in it.

Also, check your oil dipstick and note the level and condition. Pull the filler cap and look for snotty gunk.

 

[OR VietVet]

Also, even if it is oil, hope not, there should not be green in there. Also again, they need to change the thermostat when they do the work.

 

[91RS]

That looks like you've got oil in your coolant likely from the separation in the radiator for the oil cooler failing. You are going to have to replace the entire system and flush the heck out of the engine and probably multiple times going forward to get all of that out. The oil will swell up the rubber in the hoses.

 

[asand]

Green coolant isnt the end of the world, but oil in your coolant (and more importantly coolant in your oil) IS. Drain all fluids and replace radiator ASAP. I prefer external oil and ATF coolers for this reason. Running like this will kill the crank and rod bearings REALLY quick.

 

[Geotrash]

How does your oil and transmission fluid look? If there is a breach in the oil cooler in one of the end tanks, I would expect one of the two to be milky and possibly beginning to gel.

 

[Rocket Man]

Looks like oil to me. FYI you can cut the end tanks off the radiator if you’re replacing it anyway and inspect the in-radiator oil and transmission coolers to see if they failed. This is the reason some transmission builders won’t warranty their transmissions unless that cooler is bypassed and the only cooler is external. Coolant in your trans will destroy it quickly so hopefully that one isn’t leaking, if you have an internal trans cooler. It’s also the reason I replaced my stock radiator at 150k with a new OEM one. You didn’t mention how many miles are on yours. Follow others suggestions as to draining flushing and filling oil and coolant if you determine that’s indeed what it is. Unless it’s a mix of Dexcool and green antifreeze, you have no recourse at the dealership. It doesn’t look like that to me.

 

[ivin74]

Hey Guys, I wrote last week with questions just before I would replaced my radiator. I noticed that the coolant I saw leeking was green despite coming from factory with DexCool. I had this car since new and it was NEVER SERVICED EXCEPT AT MY DEALERSHIP. Six months ago I had a leaking hose that goes to the radiator that the dealership replaced and topped off the cooling system according to the receipt I don’t know if the coolant was bastardized at this time, or at several other times that I have brought it to the dealership. But it was never serviced any place else.Tonight I took. A good look in the tank and saw a brown and green fluid mix. The truck has a heavy duty cooling system with the oil cooler built into the radiator. See attached picture. Now, is this engine oil or the mixture of DexCool and green antifreeze. Can it be anything else? I am sure I have no recourse with the dealership as they will just deny that they were the ones that did this. What should I do next ? thank you guys in advance for the help.
I want to add that this has never caused me to have any overheating problems with the coolant being in this condition. The car has no issues except a leaking radiator. I have no idea how long this issue has been going on.

What did you end up finding out?
Radiator cooler failure?
Was the tranny oil in good condition?

 

[Rocket Man]

What did you end up finding out?
Radiator cooler failure?
Was the tranny oil in good condition?

I found another thread he started. Not good news.

Tranny fluid in coolant

Hi guys. I will keep it Short. I confirmed that there is transmission fluid in my coolant of my 2011 Tahoe LTZ. It has heavy duty cooling system for the transmission and oil cooler. What exactly do I need to do to clear the cooling system out of the transmission fluid? I do not see coolant in...

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