I bought my car used in november 04 and i never changed any type of oil. This morning i was bored and i went to check if all the oils are at full level and i realized that my coolant were like sh*t color........ so im worried and wanna know if this is normal or not. If its not then how do i change it? i tried taking it out but the hose that it attaches to the radiator is under the stock intake thing........ so how do i get all the coolant out? and what kind of coolant do i use, just any type? i have some preston 50/50 antifreeze, it says do not add water. Does that work? it would be great if someone can show me step by step including how to drain, flush, clean and all those..... THANKS a lot!

heres a pic of my coolant

 

Personally I would take it to the shop and get a flush and fill done by someone that can also analyze the fluid.

 

how much would that cost? and is that coolant normal at all?

 

that coolant doesn't even look anywhere near what it should. looks like the previous owner put some oil in there by accident or something cause that looks like oil. get it flushed like what slovak said. it'll probaby cost a bit but it's better than spraying that shxt on your windshield. IMO

 

There is a little valve under the radiator usually on the extreme left or right of it. You can turn it and drain it from there. The 50/50 you have will work.....its already mixed. Take the radiator cap off and see if you can see coolant, if you cant, your low. If you dont understand what Ive written here I would take it to a shop because this is basic stuff.

 

Your coolant is suppose to be greenish. The 50/50 will work fine

 

ugh.... i found that the coolant under the radiator cap is bluish green, and i looked down the coolant bottle and its like a mixture of bluish green liquid with like some brown crap.... like when u look into the toilet after diarrhea...... so im guessing those are still coolant but are really old? and i dont seem to be able to locate the valve..... maybe i'll just take it to a shop. but around how much would flushing cost? it doesnt seem that hard and i already have coolant at home so i dont really want to waste money..... can somebody show me exactly where the valve is for flushing?

 

not knowing much about cars ? take the car to a shop and have it done... cause next youll be posting why dont i have any heat..

 

haha okay

 

Actually, that coolant is NOT a good idea. Prestone has silicates that will eat up your aluminum radiator (I learned this after topping off my radiator with Prestone ) You want to use Mitsubishi, Toyota, or Honda coolant. But yeah, sh*t brown is not a good color, and you need to change your oil every 3 months at least!!!

 

since when do cars use oil?


on a side note, that looks nasty, alot of shops do radiator flushes cheap.....have them flush it, ask for a sample(hand them a jar or something), then go have it analyzed and see whats the deal.....


and on a side note, i try not to look in the toilet after a muddy river

 

a little off topic but: EeeEwwWwwWwwWwwW

 

So; not to hijack the thread but has anyone else had problems with 50/50?

 

From what I have read in other threads, you won't have a performance problem, but in about 50k miles your radiator will be corroded away like swiss cheese, and eventually eat a hole in itself and leak. But the damage is slow and unnoticeable other than that. It works just fine raising the boiling point, but makes pits in the aluminum of your radiator.

 

not necessarily true, many coolants now are orange