Here’s a first-hand account of long-term problems from the orange coolant.
It looks like the only time my father had the coolant flushed on my hand-me-down 2000 MGM was at ~96,000 km (~60,000 miles). The thermostat was replaced at ~67,000 km (~42,000 miles), but the system was apparently not flushed at that time.
When he gave me his car in 2008 after ~128,000 km (~80,000 miles), he said it had a lifetime coolant that never had to be changed. This sounds great in theory, but here’s a link with some photos showing the problems that develop:
I didn’t know any better, so I didn’t bother changing the coolant until my rad started leaking in the fall of 2011. It was probably at that time that I checked the owner’s manual and learned that you’re not supposed to use the orange stuff. I did a ‘full’ flush at that time, essentially running the engine with the upper rad hose draining into a container and pouring a 50/50 mix of a yellow five-year coolant into the reservoir. When I changed the heater core a couple of months later, I did a partial drain and fill. The coolant already had a rust color, but at least it was an improvement.
When I replaced the intake manifold in May 2013, I did another drain and fill. I could see red staining in the coolant passages, but at least they otherwise looked clear. After letting the old coolant sit for awhile, a bunch of red stuff settled out. The color of the old coolant wasn’t too bad after that.
Two years later, I decided to replace the red-coated coolant reservoir since I couldn’t see the level without taking the cap off. This time around, I tried pouring in 7+ jugs of distilled water before pouring in two jugs of concentrated antifreeze. Here’s what I got:
The stuff in the bottles in that photo was old coolant that I’d already drained out of the rad drain. Here are some shots showing how the stuff settles out:
I can still see red stuff lining the inside of the upper rad hose, but my hoses otherwise seem okay. I’ll probably replace them next time. Here’s a shot of the red coolant reservoir after my efforts to clean it with bleach:
I’ll wrap up with some comments about flushing procedure. I had once bought a Prestone kit that included a plastic sleeve, a funnel attachment, and a coolant recovery bag. Their suggested method was to cut the upper rad hose, put the sleeve on the engine side and into the bag, put the funnel attachment on the rad side, run the engine, and pour in fresh 50/50 while the old stuff drains out. I wasn’t about to cut my hose (even though they included a connecting piece with clamps to join it back together), so I probably used a piece of old hose for the funnel side.
Nowadays, I drain about two gallons through the rad drain first (easy enough when the car is on a downslope), and I use a bucket (or two) instead of a bag, and a 4ft piece of drain hose instead of a plastic sleeve. Here’s a pic of a $10 sump pump drain hose kit with a hose that fits nicely into the upper rad hose:
And another pic with my setup:
I tape a piece of plastic over the rad inlet to avoid spillovers.
Since I’m dealing with so much red crap in my system, I tried using 7+ jugs of distilled water and then pouring in the concentrated antifreeze. The system capacity is roughly four gallons, so two jugs of concentrated antifreeze should be good enough. A problem I noticed was that there’s a possibility that the antifreeze might mix enough to come out with the water. I would suggest shutting off the engine when you’re done with the water, draining two gallons out of the rad drain, adding the two gallons of concentrated antifreeze, reconnecting the upper rad hose, and then using more distilled water for topping up.
It looks like the only time my father had the coolant flushed on my hand-me-down 2000 MGM was at ~96,000 km (~60,000 miles). The thermostat was replaced at ~67,000 km (~42,000 miles), but the system was apparently not flushed at that time.
When he gave me his car in 2008 after ~128,000 km (~80,000 miles), he said it had a lifetime coolant that never had to be changed. This sounds great in theory, but here’s a link with some photos showing the problems that develop:
I didn’t know any better, so I didn’t bother changing the coolant until my rad started leaking in the fall of 2011. It was probably at that time that I checked the owner’s manual and learned that you’re not supposed to use the orange stuff. I did a ‘full’ flush at that time, essentially running the engine with the upper rad hose draining into a container and pouring a 50/50 mix of a yellow five-year coolant into the reservoir. When I changed the heater core a couple of months later, I did a partial drain and fill. The coolant already had a rust color, but at least it was an improvement.
When I replaced the intake manifold in May 2013, I did another drain and fill. I could see red staining in the coolant passages, but at least they otherwise looked clear. After letting the old coolant sit for awhile, a bunch of red stuff settled out. The color of the old coolant wasn’t too bad after that.
Two years later, I decided to replace the red-coated coolant reservoir since I couldn’t see the level without taking the cap off. This time around, I tried pouring in 7+ jugs of distilled water before pouring in two jugs of concentrated antifreeze. Here’s what I got:
The stuff in the bottles in that photo was old coolant that I’d already drained out of the rad drain. Here are some shots showing how the stuff settles out:
I can still see red stuff lining the inside of the upper rad hose, but my hoses otherwise seem okay. I’ll probably replace them next time. Here’s a shot of the red coolant reservoir after my efforts to clean it with bleach:
I’ll wrap up with some comments about flushing procedure. I had once bought a Prestone kit that included a plastic sleeve, a funnel attachment, and a coolant recovery bag. Their suggested method was to cut the upper rad hose, put the sleeve on the engine side and into the bag, put the funnel attachment on the rad side, run the engine, and pour in fresh 50/50 while the old stuff drains out. I wasn’t about to cut my hose (even though they included a connecting piece with clamps to join it back together), so I probably used a piece of old hose for the funnel side.
Nowadays, I drain about two gallons through the rad drain first (easy enough when the car is on a downslope), and I use a bucket (or two) instead of a bag, and a 4ft piece of drain hose instead of a plastic sleeve. Here’s a pic of a $10 sump pump drain hose kit with a hose that fits nicely into the upper rad hose:
And another pic with my setup:
I tape a piece of plastic over the rad inlet to avoid spillovers.
Since I’m dealing with so much red crap in my system, I tried using 7+ jugs of distilled water and then pouring in the concentrated antifreeze. The system capacity is roughly four gallons, so two jugs of concentrated antifreeze should be good enough. A problem I noticed was that there’s a possibility that the antifreeze might mix enough to come out with the water. I would suggest shutting off the engine when you’re done with the water, draining two gallons out of the rad drain, adding the two gallons of concentrated antifreeze, reconnecting the upper rad hose, and then using more distilled water for topping up.
I rinsed the tank out real good and put in some vinegar, and it's been sitting for about a week with some occasional shaking. It doesn't seem to be doing anything on the surface, though it has developed an orange color. At this rate, it might take a year to do something useful, and I might just end up leaving it that long before trying more bleach.
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