Weird Stuff in Radiator

[Dr HaxZaw]

hey all
was just checking the oil and coolant on my car when i noticed this weird stuff around the radiator... it looks like cold, congealed oil (like olive oil after youve cooked chips in it and its gone cold)... it also looks like its been leaking some coolant from the cap as well... anybody know what it is???

[whitevrboi]

I had a similar thing a while ago, cant remember what it was though...oil? not sure.

[Dr HaxZaw]

yeah at first i thought it might be oil but then i dont know why it would congeal like that... unless its cause its sitting in the water... i just wanna make sure its not the headgasket

[vs commo]

Could be transmission fliud mixed with a corrosive build up of rust.it could also be a build up of rubbish thats been dislodged from sumwhere.

[Dr HaxZaw]

yeah i figured it could be just be some junk thats been cleaned up... ill see if it gets any worse

[vs commo]

if its been a while since u changed the coolant then id be dumping the coolant and reverse flushing the system but before u dump it put sum radiator flush and a small amount of low foaming degreaser and run ur car for an hour then dump it while its hot.that will get rid of any garbage

[Dr HaxZaw]

im pretty sure the mechanic changed the coolant last service which was only about a month ago... it was done about 6 months ago as well so its not that old... might flush it anyway

[bulldog79]

i have just been threw this it turned out to be the inlet manifold gasket was rooted

[Dr HaxZaw]

i have just been threw this it turned out to be the inlet manifold gasket was rooted

ok ill get the mechanic to check it tomorrow... how much did it cost you??

[bulldog79]

i got a few prices around the $400 but i got the gaskets for $80 and done it my self

[Dr HaxZaw]

how hard is it to change??
any tips??
also anyone know somewhere i can get a set of instructions... i kinda dont wanna experiment on this one lol

[bulldog79]

its easy to change get the gregories manual it help me to do it

[Dr HaxZaw]

ok i got the mechanic to check it this afternoon and it seems most of it has dissappeared... the mechanic said that holden use little grease pellets to lubricate the water pump and that when one goes through it takes a while to get through the system... although he did say a good coolant makes these unnecessary... apparently if it had been a gasket there would have been a lot more white stuff and it would have been all over the radiator cap
the mechanic isnt a holden mechanic he runs his own business if that makes the info any more reliable... i also know him reasonably well and he knows what hes talking about

thanks for all the info anyway