coolant incredibly dirty

[festifrank]

Hi, i have a 1992 automatic ford festiva 300 000 km and when i look in the radiator the coolant is very dirty like brown. I change the coolant and clean the inside of the radiator twice but when the engine runs for 20 minutes the coolant is dirty that much as i just can't see through it to do a coolant test. The coolant is like brown a bit like rust or dirty engine oil. The transmission fluid stay at the same level and the oil is red clean and smell nothing when i look on the gage. The oil of the engine is dirty (300 000 km) :wink: and the engine burn a little bit of engine oil but absolutely no coolant in the engine oil.
I change the engine oil and filter frequently.

that dirt in the coolant really look like oil

that problem cause heating problem and low engine temperature.

Is that the head gasket or something else??

[festivaWES]

Did you do a whole coolant system flush or you just flushed the radiator??? My advice get a newer radiator.....and flush the whole coolant system

[packrat427]

Mine was like that , I bought one of those Prestone flush kits that you put in-line , on the heater hoses , and some Prestone flush stuff .

I drained all the coolant I could , then added the flush and topped it off with water , let it circulate .

Then I hooked up the garden hose to the flush coupler , and just let it go till it was clear .
Drained all the water ,and added the proper mixture , It was so clean ,I could see all the tubes and it looked brand new inside .