Coolant consumption ?

[Starship Enterprise]

Yeah, that’s not good. If you brought in the car to your dealer with the coolant reservoir looking like that and they said nothing, they should be slapped.

It actually could be a blown head gasket. That could also explain your coolant loss as it might have been leaking into your block.

Check your oil for coolant. Dipstick look weird Or foamy?

Take it in ASAP! Good luck and I hope it’s easily resolved…under warranty.

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[MustangNoob]

I'm definitely taking it to the dealer. No doubt about that. But correct me if I'm wrong , if any oil present wouldn't it be confined as a topmost layer rather than a homogenous color as in the picture? The car was actually sitting for a full day when I took the pic.

 

[Neggytive]

I don’t care about coolant change intervals…if mine ends up looking like used motor oil, I’d flush and fill. That looks awful in OP’s pic.

Almost makes me wonder if there’s a gasket leak or something.

Actually you can use a Ph strip to check the condition of your coolant, as well as a regular tester that will tell you freezing point by way of specific gravity

If you think there is a blown head gasket there are strips and test chemicals that will indicate the presence of hydrocarbons in the coolant ( exhaust gases)


Same with brake fluid, rest strips to determine the boiling point because brake fluid absorbs water and lowers the boiling point. It can also be tested with a volt meter . If you stick one end into the reservoir and ground the other side to a metal part of the master cylinder if you have less than .3 volts the fluid is good.

 

[MustangNoob]

I decided to run a little experiment. Took a small sample of coolant in a glass container (stored in a safe place in a garage). if any oil I would expect to accumulate at the top . I will leave for a day or two and see how ti goes. Here is the sample. Coolant seems to age like wine lol

 

[DT-GT]

How many miles on your car?

I decided to run a little experiment. Took a small sample of coolant in a glass container (stored in a safe place in a garage). if any oil I would expect to accumulate at the top . I will leave for a day or two and see how ti goes. Here is the sample. Coolant seems to age like wine lol

 

[Starship Enterprise]

Your coolant doesn’t look as black as it did in your first pic, and I don’t see any oil sheen. (If anything, oil and water don’t mix.)

Another factor you haven’t mentioned is how many miles on the car.

al that considered, it still looks a little darker than I would like to see in my car.

But I looked at the manual and it stated that fluid discoloration usually means nothing and recommended change interval for coolant is a staggering 200,000 miles!

So based on your more detailed pic of the jar, you might be OK After all.

 

[MustangNoob]

@Starship Enterprise @DT-GT , car has almost 18k miles. Got it new back in April 2024. It's a daily. Regular oil changes every 5k miles. First oil change at 3k miles

 

[Starship Enterprise]

Based on what you have shown in more detail, and what the manual says, you might be OK. Still surprised the coolant darkened after only 18K miles though.

 

[AZ_Ryan]

I had a little pucker seeing those pictures until the jar one. I certainly dont see any oil in the jar. If there was any, it should float to the top in the over flow tank. Maybe just some bad lighting under the hood?

Just for giggles, have you checked your oil?

 

[MustangNoob]

Yeah, oil looks ok. With regards to the discoloration, I went through my images today. it seems that shortly after two months of ownership the coolant changed color.

 

[AZ_Ryan]

Probably nothing to worry about.

The fluctuation in the over flow tank level is most surely due to temperature variations.

 

[LouG]

I decided to run a little experiment. Took a small sample of coolant in a glass container (stored in a safe place in a garage). if any oil I would expect to accumulate at the top . I will leave for a day or two and see how ti goes. Here is the sample. Coolant seems to age like wine lol

Looks a little dehydrated. Oh wait, sorry, wrong golden fluid.

 

[DT-GT]

Everyone thought that — you said it!

Looks a little dehydrated. Oh wait, sorry, wrong golden fluid.

 

[D/\rK•650]

Good question. I t has been like that for a ling time. I just checked the engine oil level and its in the 3 rd x - with in the limits. As for the coolant I opened the cap and I noticed an "oily" surface. It could be actual oil ...definitely taking it to the dealer this week. Here is a pic

Yes definitely get on this to stealership , MustangNoob hope it goes well

 

[Starship Enterprise]

I just don’t know if it should be that color at such an early stage. One theory I have is…it might be possible someone added Stop Leak for whatever reason. Just a possibility…but you said you saw it change color. Was it ever bright green at any point???

When I had my Prowler my coolant was brownish, and it was confirmed Chrysler added Bars Stop leak at the factory in Prowlers and I think Vipers….for whatever reason.

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