coolant is brownish

[potoba]

I found out that is was brown, so i changed it (and flushed it with the coolant flushing solution as well). 2 months later, it became brown again.

Can anyone tell me what's wrong?
It's a camry 1999.

 

[redgtxdi]

"Ain't no rust on this bus"........ (Sorry, inside joke)


Anyway........basically you've got rust somewhere in the cooling system.


Could be radiator or water pump. (Miiight be comin' from within the block or heater core, but not as typical).

Unless you're willing to concede to just buying a new pump and/or radiator, I'd have it checked out. A good radiator shop may nip it in the bud.

 

[potoba]

thanks, redgtxdi. I'll have it checked soon.

 

[potoba]

One more quick question: is it a bad thing if i keep running the car for some time? I've been kinda busy to get this fixed.

 

[redgtxdi]

Nawwww..........no biggie. I've been drivin' a '95 Corolla for 2 years now w/ questionable cooling system. I flushed, cleaned, refilled, flushed, cleaned refilled, recharged & it's still a little brown now & then, but I plan on runnin' the thing into the ground & it shows absolutely no signs of the rust getting the better of it just yet.

However...........

I *too* have a Camry ('98) and if this were happening to it, I'd probably treat it with a little more urgency than the Rolla, but a couple weeks ain't gonna hurt.

 

[potoba]

thanks again, redgtx

 

[andylawcc]

ya man, my previous celica had rust in the raditator AND the water pump. it must have been already a year since the problem began. I just flushed it out and poured a slight higher coolant-to-water ratio to prevent it from further rust. it wasn't a big deal, but the raditator had to go eventually. (then I crashed the car and junked it)

 

[natto fire]

Yeah, it can be a pain having an iron block for this reason. While ethylene glycol is supposed to be a corrosion inhibitor, it can break down quite easily, and does not protect against all forms of corrosion, especially galvanic. While this is not necessarily a big deal, it can clog coolant passageways and make the engine overheat with time. Your radiator and heater core are especially susceptible to this because of their smaller passageways. Just keep an eye on your temp gauge and you should be ok until you can fix it.

 

[programmer]

It might not be rust. If it is oily looking, it could be ... oil. That would be a sign of a crack in the block or head which is serious. Check the dipstick too for signs (appearance or odor) or coolant.

Hopefully its just rust.

 

[JulesMaximus]

Originally posted by: redgtxdi
Nawwww..........no biggie. I've been drivin' a '95 Corolla for 2 years now w/ questionable cooling system. I flushed, cleaned, refilled, flushed, cleaned refilled, recharged & it's still a little brown now & then, but I plan on runnin' the thing into the ground & it shows absolutely no signs of the rust getting the better of it just yet.

However...........

I *too* have a Camry ('98) and if this were happening to it, I'd probably treat it with a little more urgency than the Rolla, but a couple weeks ain't gonna hurt.

Agreed. Just make sure you use a proper mix of coolant/water instead of straight water which is probably how this happened to begin with.

 

[jagec]

Originally posted by: JulesMaximus

Originally posted by: redgtxdi
Nawwww..........no biggie. I've been drivin' a '95 Corolla for 2 years now w/ questionable cooling system. I flushed, cleaned, refilled, flushed, cleaned refilled, recharged & it's still a little brown now & then, but I plan on runnin' the thing into the ground & it shows absolutely no signs of the rust getting the better of it just yet.

However...........

I *too* have a Camry ('98) and if this were happening to it, I'd probably treat it with a little more urgency than the Rolla, but a couple weeks ain't gonna hurt.

Agreed. Just make sure you use a proper mix of coolant/water instead of straight water which is probably how this happened to begin with.

Yeah. And I've been guilty of using hose water quite a few times, but *really* you should go down to the store and get a gallon or two of distilled water for the mix.

 

[CycloWizard]

I've been driving my car for the last 10 years with "brown" coolant. I've changed the cylinder head, water pump, radiator, most of the coolant lines, flushed the system, you name it. The coolant is still brown. I didn't do any of those things because of the brown coolant though. There are other products in antifreeze that can oxidize and cause a brown color to form. There is enough air in my overflow reservoir to cause this. It doesn't give me any less cooling capacity or pose any risk to my car. Bottom line: if you're concerned about rust, there are some simple tests you can do to check for dissolved iron oxides in your coolant.

Also, if you overflush the system, you can remove helpful scaling that forms due to the corrosion inhibitors in the antifreeze. This scaling is common in most heat exchangers and, while it inhibits heat transfer slightly, it keeps your parts around for a much longer time. So don't over-flush your system by doing it too often or with too much intensity.

 

[potoba]

thanks for the inputs, guys. I really appreciate it.