Oh bummer, I hit the wrong key. I do want folks to answer that read @Ken Anderson lead post so I copied at bottom. ..ok, if I take my truck down to my mechanics, how should I ask them to look over my truck, and tell me what I need fixed to make it as road-worthy as possible? I have red guck that continues to show up in my radiator plus it flies all over under the hood. I have already gotten new brakes, clutch recently, new tires, oil changes, and keep antifreeze in year-round. I do have my heater working now because my mechanics at George's flush out my radiator and it will work for a time. I probably should just ask this question above but I am nervous about getting my point across, without them knowing what I have to spend. I guess I'm hoping for the guys to answer that know about mechanics, and what "they would do" if they were to sort of replace or rejuvinate an old auto? My truck is a '94 Mazda B3000 w/188,000 miles on it. http://www.seniorsonly.club/threads/welcome-to-how-do-i.22153/
THAT could be a very tough question, being that, no matter how much you like/trust your mechanic, your request to them, concerning an old vehicle, might turn sour for you. I mean, making a vehicle "road worthy" can become very costly. Don't know about yours, but that could happen. Good Luck with the results of your request.
What does the radiator guy say about that red gunk? If flushing the system fixed your heater, there is/was stuff in the cooling system. That in and of itself should not be some catastrophic issue. I had a 1990 Volvo that had 200,000 miles on it. I ran into the "good money after bad" decisions several times. But when I thought of getting a new car and making payments, plus high insurance, plus high property taxes, I put the money into it, since the engine and transmission were fine. The only reason I'm not driving it is because I hit a deer. I'm making the last payments on a new 2019 Mazda I bought, and generally wish I had put the money into fixing the Volvo instead of spending the money on a new car. As I may have mentioned before, the wildcard is how crucial reliability is in your situation. I am in a rural area so have no rental car companies near me. So the upside for me in getting a new car has been that I don't have to worry about the major region-driven inconvenience. If your engine is running OK and you are not burning oil and the transmission is OK and you had all that other work done, what else are you concerned about besides the radiator gunk? Flushing a system on a vehicle that old has probably cut a whole bunch of stuff lose (I bet your mechanic told you that was a risk.) Go ask the guy about the red gunk. If you need a new radiator, I'd pay to have one put in. I guess it all depends on what your finances are relative to buying a new vehicle and getting the "new vehicle" enjoyment out of it.
Hi John, thank you for the reply. Just talking about it to someone is going to help. I did ask about the red rusty looking crud, and honestly, didn't get a straight answer, except if my heater stops again, then come down and they'll reflush it again for me, no charge. That radiator was brand new in 2010. I still saw the red crud showing up recently after if not very, very soon after. My gut feeling is all that attaches to radiator is rusting, full of gunk that hasn't come out, maybe won't ever. I am very ignorant about an engine, and all that makes it go, or not go. I have transportation here but it's rough for me to give up my independence, like many I've driven myself since I got my driver's license at 16. I think that's right, I had my permit first, then passed my driving test first time, can't forget that. Another topic. But anyway, I need to real clear with George's. I need to tell them I have money to spend but not tell them how much, and get an estimate. Especially I want to know about my transmission and radiator gunk, and why I have to worry about it getting clogged up again?? Also, something is funky when I drive out of town, 46 miles RT or if I go South 2 hours 2.5 hours to Eureka. It's like when I have to come to a stop at a light in one town or another, my engine keeps revving as if I have my foot on the gas. I've checked to see if something like my mat is blocking the gas peddle, nope! It's partially my fault as they don't look at anything unless I specifically ask. You can bet I will this time, as I know I may have enough to pay to get things working better. Forgot my gas tank, upper part, had a hole in it so I didn't pass the inspection and was alerted when that happened. That's all new too. Not the tank itself, but the part the gas flows into first. I still don't know why that happened. I have also had new serpentine replaces and other hoses as well.
Your gut is right on "things that attach to the radiator" thought. The water flows through channels throughout your engine block to keep the engine cool. It also flows though your heater core (which is a tiny radiator.) Then it comes back through the radiator to disperse the heat. Over time, crud builds up through the entire cooling system. That stuff you see in the new radiator originates elsewhere. I take it you've not experienced overheating (due to crud breaking free and blocking the channels in the engine. There's a balance between flushing every bit of gunk out and doing "just enough" without breaking large chunks free. This is only an issue with older engines that have built up stuff over time. Is this just for the radiator rust and the over-revving? This might be something relatively simple. It sounds like a vacuum leak. Could be as simple as a tiny hose, could be the intake manifold bolts have come loose and are letting air in when it gets hot and things expand. Or it could be that the carburetor linkage needs to be cleaned (I assume it's not fuel injected and it does have a carb.) I'm not a mechanic, but if it's only happening when the thing gets hot, it does not sound like too big of an issue. I'd get this looked at first before putting money into other things, just in case.
Yes, thought I'd test out to see the price of what that would cost @john. Ok on my gut feeling, but how would the big chunks be "taken out". Maybe a drone, lol ?? I hope I'm not getting to the root cause because they're so busy and they know I am not rich, and also, I'm not knowledgeable about these things. I won't say it's because I'm a woman. Not everything is because I'm a woman, learned that long ago
I don't think you can get big chunks out, @Denise Evans, but I am not a mechanic. There are varying opinions over flushing things in older vehicles (radiators and transmissions.) If flushing the system fixed your heater core, there was something in the system. The flush likely pushed out a blockage. So there was probably no other choice. But if something gets stuck on one of the passages in the engine, I don't know that you can get it out, AND be guaranteed that there's not something ready to break free in the near future. That gunk is from deposits and rust that's formed on the sides of the channels. Flushing could clean it out, or it could break stuff free that might have been fine if left alone. There is no way to tell. And we all get anxious and mistrustful on areas we know nothing about. My brother owned his own shop, so I understand how you can't guarantee that one fix won't lead to something else, or that the apparent cause was not the actual one. Years ago I had a problem with an old oil floor furnace that spewed oily soot all throughout the inside of my house. You accessed the furnace in the crawlspace. I had to call a furnace company to fix it. So the poor mechanic crawls out from under the house, all covered in soot, carrying the ignition unit. I was not making much money at the time, and I actually started to yell that the part was not broken! Of course, I had no idea. My attitude was born of ignorance and fear of getting ripped off (and of being financially strapped.) Fortunately, I caught myself and immediately apologized. Trust is hard to come by. Sometimes you just go with your gut and let go of control.
We just lost all power here John so I have to get back to you on this I'm using the hotspot but it's not very good and I can't recharge my phone until I get down to my truck and recharge it with the battery in that I'll talk to you later thanks so much for all your help I'll be back to read this at some point
You love your vehicle, I know, but it might, and note the word "might", cost you more for repairs than simply selling it for whatever and getting a newer one. We never added up all of the repair costs for our old 2005 Dodge Durango SLT, but I had "folder after folder" of repair receipts of what we had done. Oil leaks, fuel injectors replaced, main computer replaced among other things. Even with replacing the main computer, our Engine Check Light would still come on at times. I have a ECL (Engine Check Light) Code Reader, but the same codes kept showing up, so I would just erase the codes and hope for the best. IOW, we had already put enough money into the 2005, with 182,000 miles on it and decided "enough is enough". At first, I simply wanted to replace the engine, but my wife talked me into getting a newer Durango and now we are both super glad we did. But, a newer vehicle full of computerized electronic stuff, like ours is, definitely isn't for everyone, especially many old/older folks.
Cody please stay on the topic at hand I'm not ready to talk about anything else to do with my truck only the mechanics please read Ken's introductory instructions on this special board that he's built I thank you for wanting to help but I want to stay on the topic like John and I are discussing you're welcome to join that with us
The antifreeze I have seen is usually green. The brake fluid I've seen is red. They each have a unique smell. What your seeing may be some kind of after-market "stop leak" additive to stop a leak. To see where it's spraying, lift the hood and start the car.
I wasn't staying on topic??? You were asking about how to ask your mechanic to check out your vehicle for "road worthy" and I was giving you my advice. I know you want to keep your old vehicle, however there are good points and bad points about doing that. But, if you insist on spending money to keep it going, as we did for way too many years, that's entirely up to you. IOW, there are those that have the money for upkeep and those that don't, but wish they did. John has the money for upkeep. Your mechanic may tell you things that you don't want to hear, then again, you probably already know that. Bottom Line here is...........GOOD LUCK, you may need a lot of it!
What you are saying is kind of confusing, @Denise Evans . The special board that you quoted Ken’s post from is only for the How Do I. Section of the forum, and does not apply to regular threads like this one you started in the automotive forum. That section is set up totally different and all posts that go there have to be moderated before they are even posted onto the forum, whereas all of the other sections of the forum are like this one, where people just contribute to the thread and it does not have to be moderated before it is posted on the thread.
Ok, maybe I was wrong. I have weighed out other options already and decided I want to keep this truck going. But it's hard to go down to George's and know what and how I should make them understand. I think I've got it figure out with what I've heard here though, so all I need is an appointment to take it down. They are very busy, best in town, great reviews plus they don't charge as high an hour as others I've talked to. It's still horribly high, but that's another topic, or sub-topic according Ken, we can talk about more things once I get enough replies on the main topic which is my question in first of post.
OMG, I am so done here, I put this in the totally wrong forum after reading in Ken's new board, I have no idea how I managed that. I'm off off of here, I just can't get much right at all.