Brown coolant

Schorpio

Hi all,

My Dad complained to me yesterday of a bad smell when driving his 2007 Skoda Superb 1.9 tdi. The car was cold when I had a look, but popping the bonnet, I noticed that coolant is brown - very brown. From memory, it should be a purple colour.

The car also isn't getting up to temperature, sticking at 70 degrees, rather than 90 (even on longer drives). The cabin also isn't getting anywhere near as hot as it should - even with the climate set to max heat.

I spoke with my mechanic yesterday, and he says he's not worried about the coolant. He's encouraged me to drive the car more myself to see if I detect this smell and get back to him. Something to me still doesn't seem right. Any ideas?

Thanks all!

conor2469

Sounds like it is along overdue a coolant change, also the thermostat sounds like it may be stuck open, or maybe the body of it has disintegrated. Has the heater ever worked in his car? Maybe it has no thermostat in it at all. The bad smell could be a multitude of things and may not necessarily be related to the heater/coolant issue.

biko

When was coolant last changed?
If you cannot remember then it's time to flush it out and put fresh in.

As said, the t'stat may be stuck open. The mech can change that and flush coolant at same time.

Schorpio

conor2469 wrote: »

Sounds like it is along overdue a coolant change, also the thermostat sounds like it may be stuck open, or maybe the body of it has disintegrated. Has the heater ever worked in his car? Maybe it has no thermostat in it at all. The bad smell could be a multitude of things and may not necessarily be related to the heater/coolant issue.

Yes, Dad has had the car from new. So it definitely has a thermostat, and the heating has previously worked fine.

It does seem like the coolant is long overdue a change, which is mildly annoying given that it has been serviced at the same main dealer (from which the car was bought) every year on time. This is the same dealer who told me they 'weren't worried' about the coolant being so discoloured.

My gut is that the smell isn't related to the coolant issue. Having not being able to smell it myself I haven't a clue what it could be (if anything). The car has had to be taken in for the water ingress issue which affects Superbs of that vintage....twice! So I'm hoping it's not that, but Dad described the smell as pungent.

For now, I think I'm more concerned with the coolant issue/non-issue. i just thought I'd mention the smell in case anyone thought it could be linked in someway.

conor2469

Perhaps the smell could just be the damp underlay sodden with stale water. The lack of a heater would mean the car wouldn't get hot enough inside to properly dry out the underlay and carpet.

Miley Byrne

RE the smell. Try the windscreen washer bottle. I have seen some of these give off a smell like rotten eggs if they are not used very often, therefore the water inside just gets manky.

tphase

also try swapping the pollen filter, frequently a source of bad odours

CJhaughey

Miley Byrne wrote: »

RE the smell. Try the windscreen washer bottle. I have seen some of these give off a smell like rotten eggs if they are not used very often, therefore the water inside just gets manky.

A good dose of Mouthwash will kill off offensive bacteria, empty it out as much as you can afterwards to stop crap blocking the jets.

toyotafan

Is there any issue of oil leak into your coolant, a fault head gasket?? I would say that a long time coolant would not change its color like that.

Schorpio

toyotafan wrote: »

Is there any issue of oil leak into your coolant, a fault head gasket?? I would say that a long time coolant would not change its color like that.

That's what I was thinking, which is why I called up my local garage. I described it as I have here, but he wasn't concerned in the slightest. Reckoned it was pretty normal.....

I will say, the oil doesn't look milky, nor is there any gunk built up on the oil cap. So if there is a leak, it's going one way.

toyotafan

Schorpio wrote: »

That's what I was thinking, which is why I called up my local garage. I described it as I have here, but he wasn't concerned in the slightest. Reckoned it was pretty normal.....

I will say, the oil doesn't look milky, nor is there any gunk built up on the oil cap. So if there is a leak, it's going one way.

Why dont you ask you mechanics to perform a pressure test for cooling system to confirm ? Do you smell something strange at the exhaust pipe when the engineer is ruining ? Just wondering if coolant was burnt also.

greasepalm

if i see brown coolant car has overheated at some time and will leave a brown ring inside bottle,if car has oil issues globules should be seen and felt between fingers,cold engine not hot for safety.
do water hoses feel soft which happens with oil contamination?

plenty of plastic items fail to seal in 5 or 6 years and if so low coolant light would come on ,but if not topped up in a month i might be looking elsewhere?

Schorpio

greasepalm wrote: »

if i see brown coolant car has overheated at some time and will leave a brown ring inside bottle,if car has oil issues globules should be seen and felt between fingers,cold engine not hot for safety.
do water hoses feel soft which happens with oil contamination?

plenty of plastic items fail to seal in 5 or 6 years and if so low coolant light would come on ,but if not topped up in a month i might be looking elsewhere?

No overheating (that I know of anyway!), but I suspect that the thermostat isn't doing it's job anymore, so maybe you're onto something....

Although what I can;t understand is why the engine temp doesn't read past 70 degrees. 90 is the normal running temperature, but the needle never goes beyond 70 anymore. Unless the thermostat is royally broken and doesn't read past 70.....hmmm....

No visible globules, but I haven't had a feel (yet) - so not ruling it out entirely. The coolant hasn't been topped up since the last service at least, and the levels are right, so I don't suspect a leak.

greasepalm

as with the good quality german cars temp sensors also go faulty,but when you mention not hot-stat+pollen filter would be a starting point. timing belt due is it?