Red Solid / Mush In Radiator

[KTMsm]

Bought an E46 BMW off eBay - seller clearly was an "enthusiast" so alarm bells rang when I saw the water tank was full to the brim but I'd travelled a long way and it was cheap

I'm used to the copper sparkles of K seal and the mud of bars leaks - but red solids and mush are new to me

Has he mixed anti freezes ?



I've driven 30+ enthusiastic miles so far with no problem

[paintman]

I'd be inclined to take the hoses off & see what the inside of them are like - esp to see what drops out of the bottom radiator hose & the bottom of the radiator.

Then a really thorough flushing & see what gets rinsed out.

And keep everything crossed that that doesn't reveal major problems.

Edited by paintman on Sunday 13th February 11:49

[Chris32345]

If it was a vag group car I'd have said burst silica gel packets


But don't think bmw do that? Give it a good flush though regardless

[Tyre Smoke]

Yeah, good flush, correct coolant and fingers crossed I'd say.

Enthusiast who may have never done anything other than top up his radiator/expansion tank and never changed the coolant or flushed the system.

[tapkaJohnD]

KTMsm said:

Bought an E46 BMW off eBay - seller clearly was an "enthusiast" so alarm bells rang when I saw the water tank was full to the brim but I'd travelled a long way and it was cheap.



I've driven 30+ enthusiastic miles so far with no problem

Certainly solid, but not red at all. Looks like kettle scale - was the car living in a hard water area? If it dissolves in a weak acid, like vinegar, giving off bubbles of gas (C02), then it could be. Flush out with a weak acid (that's chemically 'weak' - not a 'strong' acid like sulphuric!) but buy it as a stronger solution - vinegar is only 5% acetic acid usually. Leave the filler cap off as you circulate the acid!
John