Colored Coolant

[regularcat]

02 Honda Civic EX

First off, apologizes for the long post.

Yesterday we noticed that my coolant reservoir was low on coolant, had enough to fill it half way between min/max line.

Took it out for a drive and when i returned home i noticed the sound of pressurized air and seen spots of fluid under the hood.

Clearly the cooling system had some air still trapped in it, let it cool and removed the radiator cap to release the air, fluid is where it should be.

My issue is the fluid has a whitish tint to it, so after shi**ing my pants thinking head gasket immediately i proceeded to check my oil and trans fluid, they turned out to be fine, car runs well, no smoke out of the exhaust and the coolant doesn't have that oily feel nor does it smell like oil, smells, feels and tastes exactly as coolant should.

Not too sure what type of coolant was previously in the vehicle, i added some most likely mixing the types.

As of right now i am hoping it is not the head or inlet gasket or turbo seal leakage. (did tear the turbo down and back together again making sure everything was tight just to feel good about it, this was before the fluid addition)

Is it possible that the mixing of the fluids or the fact the car was sitting for a few days in weather ranging from cold to hot, moist and humid (i am in south carolina) be the reason the coolant looks like it does ?

 

[Spades]

I would do a full flush and change and see what happens. Never heard of this result from mixing them but I guess it's possible.

Like you I would lean towards a blown seal or gasket somewhere. If you do the flush without issue then carry on.

 

[Garyd]

I would definitely flush the system first like the previous post states and then do a compression test on the motor. I had the same issue with my 03, it never overheated, no white smoke, found out low compression in cylinder 1

 

[RonJ]

You can buy a test kit that can detect exhaust gases in the coolant. You might want to try it.

 

[regularcat]

i will do all the above to see what the outcome is, lately i have noticed low power in boost also which is why i had torn the turbo down and then put it back together again making sure everything was tight.

if this is a gasket issue i'll be upset seeing i already have to remove the transmission to replace the input shaft (mainshaft) bearing too since i thought it was the throw out bearing and it wasn't.

i'll keep you fellas informed as i progress, thanks for the replies.

 

[TigBitties]

another method is a leakage tester. set it all up and look for bubbles in the coolant or air coming out of the exhaust

 

[regularcat]

the radiator cap was releasing trapped air pressure and a little fluid after an hour drive and now has since stopped doing so.

the coolant is still frothy though, this weekend i will flush the system and add new coolant to see if the coolant become frothy once again.

since i posted there is still no coolant in the oil, no overheating and no smoke from the exhaust, once i was told that a barely visible bit of white smoke came from my exhaust, could it be due to the trapped air or moisture ?
i know white smoke is caused by either a leaky head or water/condensation in the exhaust.

other than that all seems good for now with the exception of a now fluttering boost gauge.

before plug changes the gauge would steady read a vacuum of 20 and now it is all over the place and i seem to be feeling loss in power except in 5th gear where boost seems to kick in a soon as i step on the pedal.

i am guessing i have a boost leak or my wastegate actuator is acting up.

this weekend i will also do a compression test and a boost leak test, until then does anyone have any thoughts on the issue ?