did oil got into my radiator - Toyota Nation Forum : Toyota Car and Truck Forums

ilovecorollale · 10-19-2010, 01:49 PM

When i opened my radiator cap i can see a slight rainbow color and i can see little white yellowish bubbles floating around.Usually when i opened it just looks plain color.
Is it because of my head gasket????

NutsNBolts · 10-19-2010, 02:05 PM

Its unlikey the headgasket has gone,unless you've had other issues....
Change/flush the cooling system first and re check it after a week or two.Coolant sometimes gives that impression when looking at it in a dark bottle or into the radiator

sam333 · 10-19-2010, 02:29 PM

Its hard say without seeing your coolent, but from what you describe ,yes it sounds like you have oil in your coolent.

Pull your oil dip stick and see if your oil has coolent /water in it . Even if you dont see it on the dip stick, pull your oil drain plug and watch the first stuff that comes out ( the coolent/water will settle at the bottom of the oil pan) It will be a muddy brown color.

Dont drive the car until you find out.

Why did you check your coolent?

Yes a blown head gasket will cause this.

Have you been burning / loosing coolent?

Do you have steam coming out your exhast?

ilovecorollale · 10-20-2010, 10:49 AM

no steam or anything....well my refill coolant bottle has been going down and i need to refill it like almost once a week or two. And besides i dont think i am burning coolant but it is leaking from the top of radiator where all those metal teeth grips on.

NutsNBolts · 10-21-2010, 04:41 AM

Best to sort out those leaks first before doing anything else.Use jubilee clips on the hoses rather than those spring clips they get weak with age

sam333 · 10-21-2010, 06:55 PM

My radiator started to leak from the plastic top( tiny cracks that would just weep coolent) at about 140000.

You can either replace the top, or in my case I just bought a new radiator, also at that point I replaced all of my coolent hoses because they were starting to fall apart inside .

Dont be tempted to run just water because you are having to refill it so much. It will really damage the block and head with scale and corrosion.

ilovecorollale · 10-23-2010, 10:37 AM

I know about water so i never put in water.So yeah i mite plan to buy a new radiator.

ilovecorollale · 10-24-2010, 06:22 PM

but how is it possible that it can break or leak...

sam333 · 10-24-2010, 10:47 PM

The plastic just gets old /hard from the heat/ chemicals.

ilovecorollale · 10-28-2010, 02:01 PM

If i were to buy a new radiator, which brand would be best and maybe aluminum radiators???But dont they get too hot.

And besides, has anyone had this issue with your corolla at all or yet?

sam333 · 10-28-2010, 02:28 PM

Check rock auto for a good price .

ilovecorollale · 10-28-2010, 02:50 PM

I could've been mistaken about oil in my radiator...but yeah sure it is leaking from the top of the radiator but those bubbles could've been when i added the green kind of coolant because it says it can be add with any color and my actual coolant color is red so adding those green ones could have cause those look alike oil bubbles floating around. But however i do see i have lost a little tiny of oil in my engine and i believe that is due to the leak of oil behind the engine by the exhaust manifold and belt tensioner leaking very little by little.

fishexpo101 · 10-28-2010, 04:03 PM

^^^

I got 180K on my 2002 - radiator is perfectly fine, no leaks at all. Original water pump and thermostat too - but will check the hoses before the next time around, as their damage cannot always be detected from the outside.

Coolant flush every 60K miles with Toyota Red and distilled water. Though motor oil is starting to leak by the timing chain tensioner which sounds like you have as well.

It is OK to mix coolants if you are in a rush, but I'd recommend sticking with one and premixing a batch of the same to keep in the trunk. Since it sounds like you were going though it pretty quickly, not much of a problem now.

Once you fix or replace the radiator - then you can still with the a single type of coolant. It is OK to run aftermarket - just make sure it has no silicates, no borates, be careful of the super-long life ones, as they usually use some OAT additive package that can cause headaches.

ilovecorollale · 11-08-2010, 01:09 PM

Well i am going to receive my new radiator all aluminum (core is thicker by like an inch or so) this week hopefully.I'll post some pic up on the pic thread.