JUST when i thought things were home free.
Weekly i checkup under the hood for fluids, and recently i have noticed the antifreeze reserve was getting darker in color. Today the light went off that i should unscrew the lid of the reserve, and its a dark orange/black.

The radiator has 9,000 miles on it. Its the orange kind for a 2001 SE


By the way, my 2001 is finally back to "brand new condition" after her 4 year abuse trip from the previous owner. if there are any meets, id show up if i can.

is it dex-cool in there?

to the best of my knowledge

its would probably be best to get it out

check this out:
http://www.bonnevilleclub.com/forum/...ic.php?t=78871

The one time I had blackish antifreeze, my radiator broke internally and mixed fluid with water. Is it oily when you open the pressure cap or foamy?

ugh ohhhh thanks for the headsup

ill check that out tonight when the engine cools down

Here'* the deal.......The reserve is black. the radiator cap is bright orange.
I dont get it. Im sure with it being a new radiator (9,000 miles ago) some of the old stuff sitting in the block could have mixed.
What are the odds of perhaps a crack in the block, allowing oil to mix in?
especially in the 3800'*. its probably never happened before.

i jsut dont wanna hurt my engine.

I looked at a 96 SSE earlier this month and it had a new upper intake. The antifreeze in the radiator was pink but the overflow bottle was black, real dark. My guess is it wasn't cleaned with the flush. Did you clean yours out when you replaced the radiator?

No, i did not flush it at all.

The car was hit in November 2006 in the front end. It needed a new radiator. The radiator they gave me was aftermarket and leaked everywhere, so we put a 3rd one in and its OEM. The aftermarket radiator (2nd one) i had to fill every other day with coolant for 1 week til 3rd new radiator came in. So it wasnt "cleaned/flushed" but it certainly got a few gallons worth of dexcool.

I may just in this case take the reserve tank and drain it...and refill with fresh fluid. However im wondering still, What would have caused that tank to turn black.

What gets involved with flushing the antifreeze? is there techinfo on it? ill look, but help is appreciated. thanks guys

If your overflow turns black, the DEX turned acidic on you. Which means it'* eating your LIM gaskets.

Go to the autoparts store and get a flush/fill kit.

And DON'T refill with DEX after you flush your engine and clean the overflow.