build up of crud on the rad cap
 

hi folks


i changed the coolant of my 93 wrx winter just gone. i used pink, high performace coolant from halfords 50/50 with tap water.
i am now getting crud building up on the rad cap very quickly. its defo not oil, more like a paste, its almost chalky but pink in colour. is this normal?
perhaps due to the hard tap water we have around here?

check your oil cap to see if there is any white gunk there too

no its clean as a wistle.

i have the same problem? with mine, dont know what it is tho:wonder:

Would you say it looks like mayonase? If so oil and water mixing most likely.

no its not mayo. just a an almost fibre like chalky paste. no oil at all.
can you describe what your is like rad boy? i think its either wrong coolant from halfords or hard water. ill take a pic next time

heres a pic, this took only a few days to build up
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v3...957/cap001.jpg

Looks like the coolant isn't mixed properly and i for the last 4 years only use de-ionised water for mixing with performance coolants.

I notice that my coolant, pipes, rad, water pump all last longer and keep the engine clean as well.

Oh and just why did you change the coolant? and what was it like once discharged from pipes?

hi,
i changed the coolant cos i got the car with no service history and it was very dirty. i flushed the system and filled with halfords pink stuff.
wrong coolant then/bad mix then?

I personally say it's because of chalky tap water, try loads of de-ionised water mix with the pink stuff. If no good then it could be something else.

ok thanks, i do live in a very hard water area, so it must be that.

You could try loads of mineral water? hehe

ive just check the cap again tonight and it was absolutly covered in this crap. i could not see any of the metal on the cap atall! i think it might be the coolant i have used. i have used a organic acid OAT type from halfords (pink). I might flush and try a different type this weekend.

Ok, but ensure you replace with de-ionised water.

yes mate i got comma a normal comma anti freeze and some de ionised water too :)
this stuff is blue.