We have a 1996 Jeep Cherokee with a chronic problem. 5 years ago, the water pump blew. We had the water pump and the radiator replaced. About 6 months after that, we went to have the oil changed and the mechanic told us our radiator was filled with rusty sludge and he had never seen a radiator so bad. They did a power flush. 2 years later, we had the same rust problem. Now, we are back to square one. The water pump and radiator are shot and everything is full of rusty sludge. What is happening? How do we keep it from happening again? Where is this rust coming from? Help!!!!! I LOVE my Jeep (named Homer).

 

you might have a slight head gasket leak and the sludge could be the oil getting into the cooling system, check your oil and see if its milky

 

OK. I will check. We did replace the head gasket about 18 months ago.

 

Hi.
I was just wondering whether you are using plain tap water with your antifreeze. Your local tap water may have corrosive elements in it. After dealing with the same problem in the past I switched to using distilled water with my antifreeze (Dex-Cool) after a good power flush, and the problem has disappeared. Hope this helps.

 

Hmmm...don't know about the water but I will check.

 

Maybe you ought to speed up your maitanince a little bit and stop waiting for stuff to break down and get into a schedule. HMMMMMMM maybe thats why its called routine or scheduled maitanince.

 

My husband just came home and reminded me that the head gasket was replaced about 18 months ago, the mechanic did an entire engine flush along with the cooling system. The shop only uses a premixed anti freeze. We've only put about 5k miles on the Jeep since then.

 

yeah but they shouldnt have to replace a water pump every 2 years, they should last longer than that, and as for flushing it you shouldnt have to do it that much unless you have a leak or some other issue, i havent flushed my cooling system in almost 2 years and its still fine, no sludge or brown coolant, still bright green

but yes i agree with the upkeep of maintainence, im not disagreeing with you in any way