Oil in coolant?

[CrazyRalph]

Hi , I have someting floating around on my coolant. Its not solid pieces so I’m worried it might be oil. The oil dipstick looks fine though , no sign of anyting but engine oil

What do you guys think?

 

[Gold Rush]

That tiny bit of film could be anything. At this point you probably don't have any worries but it does deserve an occasional check. That is something we all should do from time to time.

 

[Bob Sawyer]

I agree with Gold Rush. Take a white paper towel and dab it on the surface of the coolant, it will absorb the coolant, but will also pick up the oil film.

 

[miller]

Might be worth the trouble to do a cooling system pressure test.

 

[Curiousyellow71]

It almost looks like rust in the picture. Every cooling system I have seen oil contamination in ...the oil floats to the top and you would never see the radiator cores from the top and it looks milky. If it there is a little oil it will be in small round dark droplets floating on the top since oil does not mix w water or antifreeze. Most commonly water cooled oil coolers are the culprit if its oil. On automatics the oil in the radiator could be tranny fluid. But I agree w above on not to worry. I think it's just time to change fluid...until your sure its oil.

 

[PurpleBeeper]

To me, that just looks like a little bit of the corrosion inhibitor in your coolant starting to come out of solution. I wouldn't worry about it, but if the coolant is 3 yrs. old maybe change it? My coolant looks just like yours and it's fresh.

 

[Ironbuilt]

I would drain your oil and check for coolant in the oil. That would be a bigger problem. Like others mentioned, that doesn't look like oil so much as corrosion.

 

[khryslerkid]

I don't think you have anything to worry about in those pictures. A drop of WD-40 in a bucket of water would look the same.

If it would look like this you would have a problem

 

[zyzzyx]

Why does it look like you have nothing but water in the radiator? No obvious color to the
coolant. Maybe it is rust as previously stated.

 

[CrazyRalph]

To me, that just looks like a little bit of the corrosion inhibitor in your coolant starting to come out of solution. I wouldn't worry about it, but if the coolant is 3 yrs. old maybe change it? My coolant looks just like yours and it's fresh.[/QUOTE

I’ts actually just a few months old. My thermostat failed to open a couple weeks ago. Drained a few quarts to change it. I did notice the coolant was already bit rust Coloured. At least not 100% fresh looking. I’m planning on draining and flushing everything within the near future

 

[CrazyRalph]

Why does it look like you have nothing but water in the radiator? No obvious color to the
coolant. Maybe it is rust as previously stated.

It sure looks waterish in the pictures.
It’s 50/50 mix of this

 

[zyzzyx]

Did you use distilled or De-mineralized water? Tap water really screws things up for sure!
take some of the coolant out and put it in a clear glass container. Let the water/oil settle
out so you can be sure.

 

[CrazyRalph]

Did you use distilled or De-mineralized water? Tap water really screws things up for sure!
take some of the coolant out and put it in a clear glass container. Let the water/oil settle
out so you can be sure.

I did use tap water. The coolant was somewhat rust coloured after about 2 months.
Before that the radiator had ben sitting empty for about a year and a half. Flushed it about 1 year before that though

Flushed it. Used about year, then sitting empty for about 1.5
Put on car with a reebuilt engine. After about 2 months or so the thermostat didnt open so I drained some to change the thermostat. That’s when I noticed it was slightly rust coloured .

didnt notice anything floating on the surface until a couple days ago though

 

[zyzzyx]

You need to flush the cooling system with a rust remover and use distilled or Demineralized water along
with the coolant. Keep the ratio at 70% coolant and 30% water.

 

[PurpleBeeper]

Yes, drive it with distilled water & radiator flush for a couple days, drain & replace with new 50/50 antifreeze (or other blend as mentioned above). That coolant you used is a "dexcool type" and works just fine in our Mopars. There aren't really any "inorganic additives" in that type of coolant, so I think you're seeing a little bit of dirt or rust floating in there.

 

[zyzzyx]

DEX-COOL varies from other coolants in that it is made up of different materials. Regular antifreeze is composed of water mixed with methanol and ethylene glycol. These products are mixed and placed into your cars engine to allow higher boiling points to prevent your car from overheating. DEX-COOL, as well as other organic acid antifreezes, are not glycol based. Instead, DEX-COOL is created out of a combination of different phosphates and silicates as well as the organic acid technology itself.


Color
To differentiate DEX-COOL coolant from regular coolants, the manufacturers often produce the coolant in a different color. Regular coolant is often green while DEX-COOL is orange or red. With respect to regular coolant, the green color is utilized to interact with rust and corrosion, letting you know visually when the coolant inside your vehicle needs to be replaced. Due to the orange color of DEX-COOL, it is harder to visually tell when the coolant must be replaced.

 

[zyzzyx]

The product you are using is what's known in the U.S.A. as "Peak" and it is 97% Ethylene Glycol,
not acid based. Anyone who puts DexCool in their cars is asking for problems. Sorry, but you have
to do your own research to find out what to use in your Mopar. DexCool is famous for screwing up more
G.M. cars and trucks because of it's acid content. There are four different coolant compositions out there
and it's up to you to figure out which one to use.

 

[PurpleBeeper]

DEX-COOL varies from other coolants in that it is made up of different materials. Regular antifreeze is composed of water mixed with methanol and ethylene glycol. These products are mixed and placed into your cars engine to allow higher boiling points to prevent your car from overheating. DEX-COOL, as well as other organic acid antifreezes, are not glycol based. Instead, DEX-COOL is created out of a combination of different phosphates and silicates as well as the organic acid technology itself.


Color
To differentiate DEX-COOL coolant from regular coolants, the manufacturers often produce the coolant in a different color. Regular coolant is often green while DEX-COOL is orange or red. With respect to regular coolant, the green color is utilized to interact with rust and corrosion, letting you know visually when the coolant inside your vehicle needs to be replaced. Due to the orange color of DEX-COOL, it is harder to visually tell when the coolant must be replaced.

Uhhhhh…...the color part is ok, but the first half is off a little bit. Methanol hasn't been used as "antifreeze" since maybe...1930? It's highly flammable. Dexcool is "organic acid based", but it does contain ethylene glycol (roughly 95% in dexcool concentrate is ethylene glycol). Dexcool does not contain any phosphates or silicates. Dexcool is based on 2-ethylhexanoic acid and sebacic acid (organic acids-OAT)

Phosphates & silicates were used in old-school "Peak Green" which is similar to what our cars came with originally. (inorganic acid type - IAT)

 

[BSB67]

I don't see anything to be concerned about.

If you had coolant/water in your oil, you wouldn't need to go looking for it.

You should use distilled or deionized water.

Do not use any more antifreeze than needed for freeze protection.

 

[ESOXER]

Get a block tester. You can rent em. Just have to buy the fluid. I just kept mine. It'll check for exhaust in your coolant