1995 Coolant Change

[Real_Maverick]

Looking for some input. Doing fluid changes on my 95 and when I drained the coolant from the bottom radiator hose, it looks pretty good and green as expected. However, when I took the upper radiator hose off, the fluid still in the hose looked much murkier and almost grey with lots of black sediment. Grabbed a sample that you can see in the pictures. Will be getting the radiator refurbished and re-cored prior to a proper flush, but should I be concerned about oil in the coolant?

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[MoparMap]

Did you feel the fluid with your fingers by any chance to see if it felt oily? It does seem strange that the lower hose stuff would be clean and the top hose more dirty. I wonder if the rubber hoses are deteriorating and if that's where the color and particles are coming from.

 

[Real_Maverick]

Did you feel the fluid with your fingers by any chance to see if it felt oily? It does seem strange that the lower hose stuff would be clean and the top hose more dirty. I wonder if the rubber hoses are deteriorating and if that's where the color and particles are coming from.

Ya, I did feel the coolant up top and it did feel oily. I also ran my finger along the inner upper hose and black liquid rubbed off on my finger. To your point, I'm not sure if it's the old hoses deteriorating and mixing with the coolant or if actual oil is in there. I'll be ordering new hoses to at least eliminate that part of the equation.

 

[MoparMap]

I know the early gen 1s also had some head gasket issues when they sat around a lot, but not sure if the leaking went both ways. The paper style gaskets would weep over time and you'd get some coolant trickling down the side of your block when the car would sit. I don't think they were a full on failure between oil and water passages, but I suppose that could maybe happen as well. Do you know if anyone has replaced them over the years? I believe you can tell if you have them or not by looking at the back driver's side. I think part of the gasket sticks out between the head and the block so you can tell the construction of it.

 

[ricktessmer]

Ya, I did feel the coolant up top and it did feel oily. I also ran my finger along the inner upper hose and black liquid rubbed off on my finger. To your point, I'm not sure if it's the old hoses deteriorating and mixing with the coolant or if actual oil is in there. I'll be ordering new hoses to at least eliminate that part of the equation.

If you have not purchased the hoses yet, I just posted my new OEM hoses in the classified section.

 

[Real_Maverick]

If you have not purchased the hoses yet, I just posted my new OEM hoses in the classified section.

Dang! Already bought some silicon ones that were WAY more than what' you're asking. If no one else buys them, I might return and buy yours

I know the early gen 1s also had some head gasket issues when they sat around a lot, but not sure if the leaking went both ways. The paper style gaskets would weep over time and you'd get some coolant trickling down the side of your block when the car would sit. I don't think they were a full on failure between oil and water passages, but I suppose that could maybe happen as well. Do you know if anyone has replaced them over the years? I believe you can tell if you have them or not by looking at the back driver's side. I think part of the gasket sticks out between the head and the block so you can tell the construction of it.

Ya, I'll check the gasket and add a pic. I doubt they've been changed.

 

[Real_Maverick]

I think I found parts of the issue. It appears to be a combination of old rubber hoses and the peeling of the paint on the metal cooling tubes. Taking the hoses off and quite a big of corrosion/gunk around the area where the hoes overlapped the metal. Not 100% sure that's the only issue, but cleaning the area and hoping that helps.

However, one other issue after checking the head gaskets is they appear to be original? No leaks now, but looks like they've leaked in the past. Not sure if that's affecting the cooling system with oil, but from what I see this needs to be replaced soon.

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[MoparMap]

Yeah, that's not really great looking. Probably cheap insurance to get them replaced.