Baja820

so last fall i changed the fluid in my radiator making sure to use distilled water and prestone anti-freeze. fast forward to today.... engine over heats. im like what the hell?!? its 5 degrees outside..... limp it home uncork the radiator and this is what i find..... WHAT THE HELL!?! what would cause this?

DEVILSTOY

check your oil , you might have a blown head gasket

96xj4x4

wow i have no idea since you said you recently changed the fluid. that looks like radiator "stop-leak" stuff.

Thermostate

Well that looks like someone put some bars leak repair in it when you started to use the heater this winter it let it get loose and now you have that build up and the engine in now overheating 1. because its pluged up or 2. you have a leak somewhere .And a far distant 3. some one might have jammed mud in your radiator!

Baja820

oil looks fine... no milky stuff on dipstick....

Baja820

I park it in the garage every night. I have never had it leak any thing on the floor....

96xj4x4

i'm out of ideas then...i can see why your posting the question up on the forum.

DEVILSTOY

i would drain it , flush it out really good and refill it and see what happens

Baja820

upon closer inspection there does appear to be a leak.... calling around for replacement prices for radiator now....

Ranger187

Look for a double or tripple core if you run it all the time like I do.

PolarXJ

I'd check it the valve cover for the water/oil mixture (milky stuff). How long did it sit before you checked the dip stick, its possible that the oil and water seperated. Another oil check would be to open the drain plug and drain some oil off. The water should be at the bottom if there is any.

Baja820

Update.... Pulled radiator. no noticeable leaks. going to have it checked at shop. im just baffled by the reddish crap...

96Cherokee113

Kinda looks like the signs of a blown head gasket, but if you checked the oil and it's fine then I'm unsure. If the coolant recovery tank is filled with that same crap, it could be a blown head gasket. My buddy bought a 99 Blazer and that's how it looked in there. The coolant recovery tank had similar crap. He flushed the radiator, put fresh fluid in, changed the oil using Lucas Engine Oil Stop Leak and it held up fine.

Baja820

nothing in overflow tank.

00XJ

mine was like that to, but i did a real good flush ( filled with water, ran, then drained like 10 times). and it never did it again but that was only 5 months ago.