Engine overheated, brown clay or rust colored gunk in the radiator

Tiny
AWOCHAMP11
  • MEMBER
  • 2005 PONTIAC GRAND PRIX
  • 3.8L
  • V6
  • FWD
  • AUTOMATIC
  • 120,000 MILES
I had a build-up of some brown clay or rust colored gunk under my radiator cap. I figured I had a minor clog because everything was working fine. I would just have to add water on a bi weekly or so basis. About a month and a half of doing that, all of sudden (while stationary) my car overheated to about a 1/3 into the "red zone". I opened the radiator cap, and brown water came out. I added clean water, and let it cool for about 4 hours. Then I drove it home, and when I almost got there (which only 3 miles away), it started overheating in the same fashion, and smoking slightly. So I parked it, and added water again. When I cranked the engine back on, the engine ran of course, but it was making mechanical noises, like something was screeching, or grinding. Any idea? Or did I ruin the engine by not properly handling my radiator situation? Thanks in advance.
Friday, June 20th, 2014 AT 10:35 PM

1 Reply

Tiny
KASEKENNY
  • MECHANIC
  • 18,907 POSTS
There are a couple of things that could cause this overheating but when paired with all the other info, I am confident that the head gasket has failed.

The brown sludge that you found is oil and coolant mixing. Here is a guide that talks about this in more detail. Basically as the head gasket begins to fail it allows the oil and coolant to mix. Once this happens the coolant no longer cools the engine as well so it overheats. Most likely leading to mechanical failure which is where I think you are.

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/coolantantifreeze-in-the-engine-oil

Clearly the adding in the other issues you are left with a head gasket. Here is a guide that talks about how to do a head gasket test:

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/head-gasket-blown-test

If you want further proof, you can perform a compression test.

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/how-to-test-engine-compression

Please read through all this material but I think you are going to have to prepare for major engine repairs to get this corrected. Thanks. Let me know if there are questions.
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Thursday, April 2nd, 2020 AT 4:56 PM

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