Right, I took this photo after doing about 50 miles in the Zed (letting it cool down first obviously). The radiator took about a pint of water, there is no obvious water leak but this is a regular occurrence.

 

There is water in the radiator expansion bottle and the hose from radiator to said bottle is not blocked or kinked.

 

I was thinking of putting some radflush through the system....what do you think?

 

Cheers - Andy

Yes do a rad flush and then replace with a 50/50 mix of antifreeze and water, looks like you have no antifreeze in your engine so your engine is rusting away.

 

Paul

Holy mackerel! That's a LOT of gunge, mine is getting bad too, but not that bad.

 

I'm just putting my engine back together and noticed all sorts taking it apart, mould, rust, gunge, lol. I'm rad flushing it and then as 300_zedx says, water and antifreeze, best way.

Looking at your picture's again you may have some sort of rad sealer in there as well, so keep an eye out for any leaks that it may be hiding.

 

Paul

Yep, the gunge has quite a thick consistency - hopefully a good dose of radflush will shift it :yes:

Yeah I had that on an old Ford Capri, I ran some rad flush through it and it sprung two leaks in the radiator and three in the water pump, it was literally like one of the cartoons where Daffy Duck gets shot several times, then drinks a glass of water and it all pours out of the bullet holes. lol

Oh, I'm looking forward to that right enough :D

best bet mate is disconnect return pipe and stick hose pipe in the header tank first just to flush the worst of it out before using something that might open up blocked holes.

 

then if you want to use rad flush. then fill 50/50 as said before.

TBH, if you do have a sneaky leak, I rather find it! At least you can sort it out, I'd blast a hose pipe through everyhere I could, then flush it, then hope it's ok matey.. Don't put your antifreeze in straight away though, just water at first, it'd pee you off if there is any leaks and you lose it all...

with all that crap, expect to be replacing a few things to get the flow back to the engine as well, IE: thermostat and hopefully not, but might even need to replace the heater matrix as well.

 

good luck though

if i can make a suggestion, buy a bottle of forte cooling conditioner, 1 it helps keep your cooling system clean and also helps reduce the temp if she over heats, but 2 turns your coolant neon green so if you ever have a leak its very easy to find. Ive been using it for years and its brilliant stuff.

if i can make a suggestion, buy a bottle of forte cooling conditioner, 1 it helps keep your cooling system clean and also helps reduce the temp if she over heats, but 2 turns your coolant neon green so if you ever have a leak its very easy to find. Ive been using it for years and its brilliant stuff.

 

Top tip there mate, will get myself some of that stuff I think, chars! Do Halfrauds stock it?

I dont think they sell it fella, I get mine from DS Automotives in aylesbury but it will be available somewhere on line fella, its cracking stuff

 

if your gonna use it deffo worth running a good collant flush first though

Forte products are top trade quality products & better than you will find in Halfords - often available on ebay so worth a look.

 

I generally use Wurth products now but used to sell Forte stuff years ago :)

That is a whole load of sludge, need to get as clean as possible before going further.

Remove what you can get too, rad, pipes and flush it all though with a hose.

I would even remove the thermostat to help with flushing. get it to the point of running clean water, then put it all back and use some flush. make sure you get it up to temp with the cleaner in. it will probably show up why its like it is. but could also clear any blocked waterways. then start again.

Dont go down the route of using antifreeze until you can be sure its clear. then drain the system again. get back to basics, start from as all new.

Lots of cleaning mate.......

I have this aswell.No leaks that i can see and there is no expansion tank. I thought it could have been someone put some rad weld in there before. Car never overheats either.

If it is a rusty rad then its an excuse to buy an uprated new one :D

I have this aswell.No leaks that i can see and there is no expansion tank. I thought it could have been someone put some rad weld in there before. Car never overheats either.

If it is a rusty rad then its an excuse to buy an uprated new one :D

 

the rust wont be coming from your radiator as its made of plastic aluminium and copper, the rust is coming from the large cast iron block.

 

lack or low concentrate of antifreeze is the culprit! completely flush it out and put some anti freeze in it!

I checked the antifreeze at christmas to make sure i wasnt in line to cracking the block, was all fine. Must have been like this for a while. Ill give it a good flushing.

thats really really bad, would get that sorted asap.

You sure it's not oil sludge?

matey this isn't oil sludge i can tell you that now. its orange, oil sludge has the color of cream leather or there abouts, and its not very bitty like that photo looks.

Agreed, not oil sludge - I do know the difference :rolleyes:

 

All being well, I'll get the radflush and coolant tomorrow.

 

Thanks to everyone for their help and advice :bow:

That is deffo a Turd!-or better known as leak stopper LOL!

Forte products are Top BTW!:chinese: