Is coolant supposed to be thick and gold?
 

As I've had to replenish my coolant a couple of times in the past month (a week ago, the level was down to minimum and red light came on), I got a new cap and put it on this morning. When I got to work, I checked it and found a lot of coolant had leaked out.

What's frightening, however, is that the liquid oozing out is gold colored, thick, and very sticky.

I have a hunch (!) something ain't right but before taking it to my mechanic, thought I'd get some diagnoses from you fellas. What do you think the issue is?

The dex-cool coolant that Porsche uses is thicker than the typical green stuff that most people are used to. But it's not gooey or anything like that. If you've got really thick coolant, like syrup or worse, someone probably tried to mix in an incompatible coolant and they've reacted with each other. If it's Porsche coolant, it shouldn't be gold, but color really doesn't tell you much. There's no standard on colors.

My Porsche coolant is pink - but I've always had it for awhile!

If your coolant is thick/goopy/syrupy/gelatinous, then most likely it's had a reaction that caused it to gel.

Not good if that's the case. Flush it immediately, flush the entire system thoroughly with distilled water, and then replace with proper coolant.

Thanks, I'll have it flushed tomorrow. I have stupidly used coolant other than Porsche coolant, so I hope that's all it is. My biggest fear is that there's oil leaking into it.

http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c1...ns7/photo1.jpg

yeah thats not normal at all.

i would guess oil & coolant got mixed, but i am no mechanic.

Looks like coolant/oil mix to me. Pull the dipstick and if you have the same gooey mess on the dipstick, then remove the oil filter houising to double check. If ithe same, or similar goo is in the oil, do not drive the car.

Not to be an alarmist, but it does not look good. Best case scenario, the oil cooler failed, worst case, head gasket or cracked head/block.

Why is it overflowing? Was it overfilled? That's way different than what I had in mind from your description, that realy looks like a coolant/oil mix to me. I wouldn't start that car again until you get it looked at.

If all your coolant looks like that, you are going to need more than a simple "drain and refill". That looks more like an intermix issue (coolant/oil), which would mean that somewhere in the system, oil is getting into the coolant. That would need to be located and corrected, then the system would need to be cleaned out throughly with a cooling system cleaner like Prestone, until only clear water came out of the system. Then, and only then, could you refill the system......

I got a new cap and didn't put it on properly this morning. After work, I put it on properly and had no overflow on drive home. Temp stayed 180-190* in 82* weather.

I pulled the oil dipstick and found the oil was low 2 qts. There wasn't any evidence of goo on the dipstick.

I'm taking it to my mechanic and I'll let you know what he comes up with.

that looks like intermix . bad news

In my somewhat limited experience with oil + coolant, they don't blend together smoothly because coolant = water based and oil = oil based. There's no emulsion.

Though it'll look like chocolate milk, it won't be a smooth even consistency and you'll see oil seperation. I can't see any in that photo.

Though you certainly could have an issue with oil getting in your coolant, it seems odd that you JUST CHANGED YOUR COOLANT with non-porsche-approved version and now this happens. If you didn't notice abnormal coloring in the coolant when it came out, then it would be odd to suddenly be down 2 quarts of oil due to it being leached into the cooling system (which, by the way, would be over-flowing if it absorbed 2 quarts of oil).

I could be missing alot of info, but I'm guessing the following:

1. The photo is distorting the look of the coolant a bit.

2. You mixed two coolants together and they created that color and density and are in the early stages of gelling.

Let the mechanic look of course - but this is my guess.

Very logical analysis, my friend. I did put in distilled water and a bit of Prestone prior to this situation occurring, after the red dashboard warning light came on and I found my coolant level was really low.

The colors in the photo are accurate. The stuff (which seems to rise to the top of the coolant liquid and bubbled out first when I took off the cap to readjust) seems perfectly "mixed" - not what you'd expect from oil and water.

My temp seems to stay between 180-190. I don't know what is considered normal. My longtime mechanic is really busy and I can't get in until Tuesday. I spoke with him and gave him all the details, and he assured my the car will be OK until then, as long as it doesn't overheat. So I'm driving with one eye constantly on the temp gauge. :(

What temp do you guys usually see?

ouch...

which "cap" did you put the coolant into? yellow (like the color of the coolant) or blue (like the ocean)?

it's your car and you can drive it if you want to, but personally i would not have started or run it at all. flat bed it to the shop and walk / bike / call in sick.

even if it's not oil/coolant mixing and is "simply" the wrong coolant it's not doing anything good.

It's your car, but I wouldn't be driving it around if I knew there was something wrong with the cooling system.

I got a new blue cap from the dealer. And I'm driving it as little as possible. Thanks.

Took it to my mechanic and here's what happened.

1. The oil cooler (which apparently sits on top of the engine) had an internal leak. Since the pressure is higher than that of the coolant, the oil leaked into the cooling system, producing the sludge. They had to flush out the cooling system four times to get the stuff out.

2. The threads on the coolant expansion tank, being plastic, had just worn out. So even with the new cap I had bought, the coolant leaked out the top.

Looks like the bill will be about $2000. Bad, but not as bad as a blown head gasket or other serious problem.

Thanks to everyone that responded to my question. :cheers:

Nailed it.

Man, you ARE good! Now who do you like in the 3rd race at Del Mar?

OK… You have my attention on this one. Can someone answer a couple questions; is the Oil Cooler on the maintenance routine for replacement after so many miles? Do the coolers have a high failure rate after X number of miles? Thanks in advance for your reply.

I’m going to replace the oil cooler on my 01 tomorrow. It’s the original cooler, let’s see how it looks after 213,000 miles.