Hi everyone -

I have a Mazda Tribute 2002, 4cyl, manual trans. 146,000 miles.

Got a bit of a pressing problem. A couple days ago I noticed that my coolant reservoir was dark. As in brown dark. No leaks under the car. No coolant in the oil. Oil looks great. Smells a bit oily, but I can't be sure if it's different than what it smells like normally. Car runs well, no issues with overheating. At least yet. and I did quite a bit of driving this month. I did 4. 5 hour drives Friday and Saturday, so 9 hours on the road with the coolant that color.

I know I need to get it looked at ASAP. I just wanted to know what you guys thought this issue might be. I have a check engine light on for my catalytic converter, but that's been on for a while (over a year, failing but not plugging). I have a manual transmission, so there would be no trans cooler in my radiator, right? Would it be a cracked head/head gasket if there was no coolant in the oil?

Other thought: back in February/March I had a coolant leak, and it turned out to be a cracked temperature casing, or something like that, positioned behind the water pump. What I did notice was that they mixed orange coolant in with my blue/green, or at least it sure seemed that way. Could this be a chemical reaction to these two types of coolant? I know it's been months, but I don't think I have even looked at it since they replaced it. I know that theory is highly unlikely. Maybe just rusty/dirty system?

However, another theory I have is that the mechanic at Firestone (where I got my oil changed last) put oil in that reservoir on accident when I had my oil changed a few months back. That is more likely, knowing how they do things at that particular store.

Any thoughts would be great. Weirdly enough this morning when I turned on my car, my radiator fan turned on right away on the cold engine. It went off a minute or so later. I thought that was strange.

Thanks again!
Jennifer

 

Jennifer: when you mix a few colors you end up with brown very quickly. Since everything seems a bit murky I would have a trustworthy shop look at the coolant. Maybe have the whole system flushed and replaced with a coolant of one color. Then see if the color changes in the next few days/weeks.

Don't jump to conclusions just because that color is weird. You know, for some time Japanese manufacturers used a brown colored coolant. How the heck would anyone notice rust if the original color is brown?

But l would jump to one conclusion: avoid that Firestone place like the bubonic plague!

 

Hi Tan-

Thanks for the feedback. I feel better about this now. I am taking it in tomorrow to have the system flushed. I've asked for a pressure check also, but not sure I need that. I really hope it's just a mix of the two types of coolant. I will post an update when I know something.

J

Jennifer

 

UPDATE: Got the system flushed. Pressure test indicated no problems. Mechanic said he didn't find anything wrong. Must have been the mixed coolants. Will keep an eye on it.

Thanks again!

Jennifer

 

Nice. Now you can trust your vehicle again.

 

I've noticed in alot of Mazda's the coolant does go from green to yellow to brown ( not rusty) if not changed for a long long time. Also the overflow bottles/tanks will be stained too.