Brown Sludge and an Unkown Alternator Wire

[travislaw]

Okay first things first. I was checking my fluids today and looked in my coolant overflow tank. It was empty except for some funky thick brown sludge on the bottom of the overflow tank. I went and opened the radiator fluid cap and I couldn't see any coolant. I filled a small pitcher up and it took 2/3rd's of the pitcher before the fluid came to the top. My first question on this is what is the sludge, second question is where is my fluid going? I haven't noticed any puddles or leaks, my engine is 1 year old and had a new water pump put on it when it was rebuilt.

Part 2: I also noticed a wire coming out of the harness by the alternator that has a bare end and is not connected to anything. I traced the wires coming out of the same harness. One plugs into the alternator and is there and plugged in, another one goes to the oil level sensor and is there and plugged in, and another one goes to the Oil Pressure Sender and is there and plugged in. What does this wire go to? My alternator still charges and I don't seem to be having any drivability issues. Any ideas guys?

 

[DarthBulk]

I don't know about a 2G, but on my 1G there is a wire coming out of the harness by the alternator that plugs into the pressure switch on the power steering pump.

 

[wolf20043]

I would assume the same as above, on a 1g it is on the front side(by rad) on the 2g it is on top of the p.s. pump. If not, let us know, and I will be happy to look at the 2g in the garage and see what I come up with. The brown "sludge" could possibly be from a blown head gasket at one time and the overflow was never cleaned of the oil?
Mike

 

[diablos991]

The sludge could be dirt in the system or oil mixing with your coolant.
To diagnose a coolant leak and clean the system, have your local radiator shop pressure test and power flush the coolant system.
I am hoping that since your engine is only 1 year old the head gasket isn't bad. But its always a possibility. Is your car smoking?

 

[travislaw]

The sludge could be dirt in the system or oil mixing with your coolant.
To diagnose a coolant leak and clean the system, have your local radiator shop pressure test and power flush the coolant system.
I am hoping that since your engine is only 1 year old the head gasket isn't bad. But its always a possibility. Is your car smoking?

Not smoking at all, thankfully. You could be right about old dirt and oil mixing, I blew a headgasket before the engine replacement, and then threw a bearing shortly after which is why I replaced the engine. I doubt the shop flushed the radiator properly.

 

[spatulahunter1]

it could also be from your oil cooler. I thought that myhead gasket was going out because i had a sludged up overflow tank but it turned out to be my factory oil cooler needs replacing and thats allowing coolant and oil to mix

 

[travislaw]

I'll check on the oil cooler thought. Is there anyway to get rid of the stock oil cooler and use and aftermarket one?

The wire turned out to some how have pulled out of the connector for the power steering pump. Thanks for the advice on that part.

 

[DarthBulk]

Yes, there is a way. You can get a new oil filter housing from Mach V Motorsports, that has the ports for connecting lines to an external air-cooled oil cooler.

http://machv.com/exoilcoolfil.html

Another option would be to use a oil filter setup off of a 90 car, I believe. They had a factory air cooled oil cooler.

 

[MrBoxx]

If you're still losing coolant, check the rubber gasket on your radiator cap. If it's never been changed, it have gotten hard and brittle or otherwise torn and damaged. Mine was torn earlier this spring, causing me to lose coolant. Luckily I had a free Greddy cap that I won online a few weeks prior, so I put that on.

Try to clean out your overflow bottle and do a coolant system flush to see what comes out. Keep an eye on the coolant and coolant levels over the next few days for any changes or oil in it.

 

[travislaw]

If I go with the Mach V kit that eliminates the stock oil cooler, in replacing the oil cooler unit, will I need to remove the timing belt? Or is it pretty straight forward?

 

[travislaw]

If I go with the Mach V kit that eliminates the stock oil cooler, in replacing the oil cooler unit, will I need to remove the timing belt? Or is it pretty straight forward?

Okay so I ordered the following:

(Stock Oil Cooler Remover Kit; All Parts plus the 2g Oil Filter Housing)
http://www.machv.com/exoilcoolfil.html

(Oil Cooler for transmission or engine oil)
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/e...m=140017705666&ih=004&sspagename=STRK:MEWN:IT

(Adapter for NPT to -8AN)
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/e...d=1,1&item=8049184702&sspagename=STRK:MEWN:IT

(Adapter for Autometer Oil Pressure Gauge Line Connector)
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000C2A5QA/104-0642220-1213547?_encoding=UTF8&v=glance&n=15684181

Other than the gasket for the oil filter housing and the actual -8AN lines, do I need anything else? Can someone give me an idea of how long it takes to change out the oil filter/cooler housing?

 

[DarthBulk]

You might also need to make a bracket to mount the oil cooler somewhere on your car I had to fabricate a bracket to hold mine behind where the driver's side fog light used to be. It also involved moving my horn out of the way. But mine was on a 1G, so I'm sure yours will be different.
I honestly don't know how long it will take to change that housing, because I did mine with the engine out of the car and the front cover removed. Just be careful to watch the length of the bolts as you remove them, because I recall that just about every bolt that I took out of there was a different length, and you have to put them back in exactly the same holes you took them from...or a bolt might bottom out and you will snap it off while trying to tighten it.