I was checking the coolant overflow tank and noticed on two separate occasions an oily like substance on the dipstck. And then this morning when I pulled the dipstick it had a few small pieces of debris on it.

Also, now that my paranoia radar is up I'm wondering why my cat is taking an interest in my radiator. Lately, when I let him into the garage he spends a little time sniffing the radiator...never did it before.

The car is running fine. It has been a few years since the radiator/cooling system was flushed but I haven't put many miles on it.

Any thoughts would be appreciated...

 

careful with the cat...coolant has a sweet taste to animals..he'll drink it and die if you're not careful....

 

Are you the original owner of the car and do you know the complete history of the thing?

I bought my car mebbe 6 months ago with a new PFS-installed motor on it. The coolant overflow dipstick was covered in some nasty gray sludge, like 10x worse than in your pic. No sludge aparent in the AST or the thermostat housing though. I've flushed the coolant twice in the car in those 6 months and it's been completely clean both times. However, every time to this day I check the overflow dipstick it has more nasty gray sludge on it.

Now I know the previous motor blew it's seals and overheated a lot before it was replaced - my guess is the previous owner used some radiator stop leak goo or whatever to try and fix the problem and that's what I've been removing all this time as it built up in the overflow tank and the tank wasn't flushed or replaced when the motor was replaced. The not knowing for sure really bugs me, but like I said I've completely changed the coolant twice and it's always been clean. So I don't worry too too much.

 

^more likely you are removing engine assembly lube...etc.

 

Dunno, I've extracted several ounces of this stuff so far and who knows how much more is left in there.

 

I wouldn't be too worried BUT i would flush the cooling system as soon as possible. I try and do mine once a year. Also, check your rad and ast caps to ensure they aren't leaking, if you think they might be bad replacing them is cheap insurance. last thing, listen to rxobsessed: coolant spells death for kitties!

 

Not to mention that it's tremendously painful for them - it crystallizes their urinary tract. So even if kitty survives, it won't be cool. I imagine you're already aware of that though.

I wouldn't stress much about it - I'd just do a full drain/replace and see what happens. Time taints coolant as well as mileage. Maybe also do a pressure check to see if you have a slow leak somewhere.

Dave

 

I've had the same stuff floating around, sometimes it gathers on the radiator cap. I strongly believe it to be the rubber from the coolant hoses breaking down. Several of my hoses have been replaced recently and I found this same-looking stuff around the failure point.

 

I manage a vet hosp and we see several cases of antifreeze poinsoning each year.

The animals appear drunk for a few hours then act normal and as little as 12 hours later their kidneys shut down and they go into a coma and die.

The stuff is extremely leathal.

2 ounces will kill a big dog

1 teaspoon will kill a cat

Animals are really attracted to the sweet smell of antifreeze and it actually doesn't taste bad so please keep your cat out of the garage

Now back to your dipstick

It's perfectly normal and actually I'd give it a B+ grade for cleanliness.

Flushing your coolant is always a good idea but don't neglect to clean your overflow tank or better just buy a new one.

 

I'm the third owner so not all is known but it is a low mileage car and the second owner put very few miles on it himself.

 

Yeah I agree, I think a good flush is in order and I put in a RP aluminum AST which should have been done ages ago but now that's it's done I worry less.

As for Moose, I watch him pretty closely..if I leave him in there too long he likes to climb up on the car=not good for the finish.

 

Ditto on the bigger garage now that I have an 8.

 

Thanks for the reassurance and advice!

 

I almost promise you that crud is oil. I dont know how familiar any of you folks are with cars with problems, but i work at a Mazda dealership if its crud in a rotary coolant system, its usually oil, never seen any big problems with um, and we have a specialty rotary mechanic so i dont get a lot of hands on, but fore SURE flush the coolant, and watch your oil level religously.

 

If the cat ingests coolant, all you have to do is get it fucked up. Taken from Wikipedia: "The most effective treatment after recent ingestion is either ethanol or fomepizole. Ethanol (usually dosed in the form of a strong spirit such as whisky, vodka or gin) acts by competing with ethylene glycol for the enzyme alcohol dehydrogenase thus limiting the formation of toxic metabolites."

 

^--Wikipedia isn't exactly a credible source for medical advise...I think the best suggestion so far is to keep the cat out of the garage....

 

Yeah, drink some coolant and try that.

Dave

 

Bringing this back from the dead with a little observation. I used to have to clean the gunk off my coolant overflow dip stick every time I checked it. Since I removed the AST, there hasn't been *any* gunk in there. Not sure if that gunk was related to the AST itself or maybe just the decomposition of the OEM rubber hoses that used to run to/from the AST... Anyway just something I found interesting...

 

roflmao .. lol. i can see someone making a video trying to get their cat drunk with some Stolichnya which would smell horribly bad to a cat! lol.