Your car has definitely sustained serious engine damage.

 

The milky fluid could be that radiator sealant gew. did you try any of that previously, it could have clogged worse than you wanted it too.

 

And if you look online you can find some really great prices on radiators.

 

Ok, so my radiator has been replaced. I don't think the coolant has ever been drained/flushed - ever. The stuff that came out of the bottom when I removed the temp sensor was greyish green and had white chunks floating in it.

Also the stuff that's inside the return hose port where the hole formed is weird. It's fibrous - I'll try to take a decent pic. Like when you make a spit ball. Before anyone asks, no, I did not leave a paper towel in there. I use blue shop rags.

Another thing I noticed is that the tranny is now leaking. Never had any leak before this whole debacle. The more I poked around, I started to think that maybe my water pump isn't working or I had a HUGE air pocket in the system.

I'll keep ya posted.

JNeezy

 

Yeah, I found one on eBay for $75. I know a lot of guys say go with OEM, but I'm sorry, $300 for a radiator is too much.

I had an old Chevy pickup and some dude tried to tell me I had to have this specific GM certified radiator in order for the engine to function correctly and optimally. $250? uh-uh. I spent $80 and that thing ran like a top - until my ex couldn't follow simple directions on priming the carb and lit the engine bay on fire.

Women.

 

Could you elaborate on what damage you think happened please?

 

he likely thinks your car has a BHG

 

Yup, radiators aren't complicated devices, so you might as well take advantages of the improvements in manufacturing that have been made since the car was produced. I put a 130$ aluminum radiator in mine after the stock one's plastic disintegrated on me, and it's been working great.

 

Check it.

Flushed the system after installing a new radiator. Followed the instructions at lexls.com to a T and no problems! Hot hot heat comes out of the vents and the temp hovers in the normal range. Only had to fill the res once and there does not appear that there is any air trapped in the system.

I'm glad I got this straightened out. I was getting tired of walking to and from the transit center. Now I just gotta get that pesky brake issue figured out and I'll be sound as a pound.

I'm of the mind to think that the fluid is shot. Judging by what came out of my old radiator, I don't think I'm too far off base.

 

My 1993 SC300 is on its 3rd radiator. My 2002 Mercedes AMG came with the Valeo radiator which was known to fail allowing the coolant and transmission fluid to mix. The big concern was the potential damage to the Transmission! If you blew your radiator due to a failure of the barrier between the two chambers be certain to flush the tranny as well as the coolant system.