bottom or radiator bottle was full of rusty sludge

[comfortablynumb]

i havnt owned my vs s2 for that long and noticed that there was just water in the radiator bottle so i unscrewed it and tipped it out and a whole heap of rusty colored sludge came out the bottom of it.i cleaned it out but is it possible that it could also be blocking coolant from getting to the motor?it seems to be running hot and when i feel the top hose that goes from the top of the radiator to the top of the engine it seems very hot and expanding!

[Brett_jjj]

Id go buy a radiator/cooling system cleaner, follow its instructions precisely and clean out the cooling system, giving it a good flush out. Make sure to use a quality coolant (like nulon long life coolant), mixed at the proper water/coolant ratio of 50% when refilling the radiator, I also buy a couple of 4 litre bottles of distilled/demineralised water to put into the radiator with the coolant as this water has no minerals like calcium etc to clog up the cooling system, and will keep the cooling system cleaner and working more efficiently for longer. I also make sure the cars front is up higher then the rear when refilling the cooling system,(you need the opposite, with the rear end higher up when first draining the cooling system) having the front end up higher will help air bleed out of the cooling system as its filled up. Also make sure the heater is in the hot position once the car is first started as there will be air pockets trapped in the heater system which is also part of the engines cooling system. (the heater tap wont stay in the hot position with the engine off as the cars heating system uses the engines vacuum to hold the heater tap in the open position,so any trapped air wont be able to bleed out of the heater system until the engine is running)

[Manta_268]

Agree totally, if the last owner had straight water or dirty water in the system it will be full of gunk. Calcite and other impurities in the water will give you red sludge in spades.