Just bought this car about 9 months ago, and everything has been fine with it until I was driving yesterday and the coolant light came on for a second (I didn’t know what it was at the time but the light went off a few seconds later).
I parked my car got what I had to in Target and tried finding out what the symbol meant. On my way back the same coolant symbol came on and then my car started to overheat. I quickly pulled off to the side of the road, opened the hood and there was a brown milky mixture all over the bottom of the hood and all in the engine compartment.
I opened the coolant cap and it was empty but was not clean at all, it was the same brown milky consistency (I haven’t filled or drained the coolant since I got the car)
I asked my friend who is BMW certified and he says it’s the head gasket that is blown but the car runs fine if you put water and coolant in it. I brought it to a uncertified mechanic down the road and he thinks its the radiator that needs to be replaced.
The engine and dipstick oil looks the way it should be and the same milky consistency isn’t in the engine.
WHAT SHOULD I DO? Replacing the head gasket was priced at 18 hours roughly $1500 on top of parts...
Run a clean coolant mix, and check it after a day. Maybe the previous mixture was brown for some reason.
The head gasket takes under an hour to do, and the part isn't expensive. Where did you go? Kia dealership?
My friend did the same thing, I replaced his upper radiator hose, filled and bled the system and his ran fine.
Usually thats a really bad sign, but somehow his car ran just fine and had no problems. He ended up getting rid of it a few months later but it ran just fine up until then. So not sure how it ran in the long run.
TRD Power said a head gasket could be replaced in about less than a hour - no way. Folks were just pointing out that a valve cover gasket could be replaced in about an hour and that is what TRD Power was likely referring to...
the only thing to keep in mind is that if the PO used Zerex - G-05 which is an approved coolant, its more of a beer color, which when it gets dirty would probably turn brown. When I did mine between the Zerex, the Blue and and Green it was quite the interesting color. That said, milky is another problem i suppose unless you had the totally wrong coolant. I would maybe try a cooling system flush and overhaul, including a new water pump and thermostat and see. If you blew your head gasket (IIRC) you would have oily coolant, shitty power, and a lot of smoke.
thanks jgold, would I be able to install a water pump and thermostat on my own or is there a lot of programming that needs to be done after the installation?
Another HG test, which should be done before draining any fluids, is to check for pressure building inside the cooling system before it heats up. Clear the pressure when cold, start it and rev it up to 4k-5k RPM a few times then shut it down within 10 seconds. Then crack the ET cap again and see if any pressure releases. It should not.
However in the event you find your car overheating again, do the obvious and pull off to the side of the road. Instead of turning the car off all the way, keep the key in position 2 and turn the heater on high. This will help the engine cool and may even save a few people from getting warped heads.
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