My 5 speed 4.3 v6 s10 pick up with 160,000 miles has been over heating bad lately. To the point where I can hear coolant boiling, and it lets a lot of fluid go through the overflow when stopped. Also truck runs like crap now, it’s bogging in every gear.
I read somewhere that this may mean bad head gasket, but if it was that, then the oil would be milky. I pulled the dip stick multiple times and the oil looks normal.
I’ve flushed the radiator and put in fresh coolant, and it runs mint for like 400 miles or so and it starts doing the same thing. If I look in the radiator and coolant reservoir, their both really THICK with brown mud stuff.. It looks bad.
Why is this happening? And will replacing the radiator with a new one solve this problem? I’m worried if I buy a new rad, it will just get muddied up like the old one.
Hi,
Muddy coolant is usually due to oil mixing with it and it forms a sludgy emulsions as you described. The most common place for oil to find a way into the coolant is through a gap in the cylinder head or past the gasket. I don’t think a new radiator will solve your problem. Might be an idea to get a quote for a new gasket and get the cylinder block and head re surfaced while you are at it. The thing to think about is that if water is mixing with your oil the oil wont be doing its job properly.
There is a chance that it might just be that the breather pipes or filters on the rocker covers are blocked and are producing lots of condensation, these used to be open but now tend to feed back to the engine to keep emissions down,might be worth stripping them down and giving them a good clean with paraffin or similar, cheaper than a head gasket!
Best of luck!
OK FIRST OF ALL DONT TELL ME I CANT DO SOMETHING….. WHEN PEOPLE TELL ME I CANT DO SOMETHING… 99% OF THE TIME I GET IT DONE
Shane Cardwell and Clint Smith in Heat 2
Compilation video of the MS Mud Run held on 9/10/2011 here at Trollhaugen Ski area. This is no ordinary 10k race… Watch the video and see for yourself!