Hey guys I have another problem... just what I need.
This past weekend I decided to get a radiator flush because the person who owned the car before me probably put it off for a good year or two. The fluid inside the coolant resivour and the radiator was rust water brown and soo dirty you could not see through it at all. So finally I had some time and went to get it done.

The mechanics said that it was soo dirty in there that I would have to drive it for a week or two so that I can completly flush it out, and then come back so that they can do it again. Which I dont beleive. haha.

So im driving home, which is about a 30 mile drive.

Im looking at my tempature gauge and Im seeing that it is going past the 210 degree mark. and it never did that with the rusty water inside the radiator. So Im getting a little worried because I thought that as long as you keep a constant speed at a pretty fast pace then the wind would keep the engine cool. But I keep looking at the tempature gauge and I see that it keeps going farther and farther past the 210 degree mark. By the time that I got off of the freeway, it was probably half way in between the 210 and the 260 degree mark and I know for a fact that it did not do that before when I had the rusty water inside the radiator.

So just to see what the mechanics would say I called them back and asked them about it... they said that I would proabably need to get a new radiator because of how dirty the fluid was or how long it was sitting in there.

Does that sound acurate or is there a simpler way out and they are just trying to get into my wallet?

and just in case that you guys need to know..

I have a
99 blazer 4x4 4dr

Thanks guys you have helped me alot so far.
Chad

 

my 92 has the same color of radiator fluid, rusty brown, ive flushed but there is an additive that you need from GM to cure the rust color.


your thermostat prolly blew out( stuck open) and/or you have a nice size air bubble inside the cooling system. If a mechanic did the flush then the mechanic knows good and well that air bubbles get trapped in the system and they are supposed to bleed the air out before you take delivery of the vehicle again.

you can take off the cap while its running and to relieve the air bubble unless you have a bleeder screw in the tstat housing to vent the air out. If you have a bleeder screw its a 3/8" wrench that will open it. It looks identical to a brake bleeder screw.

 

More than likely, there was an air bubble in the cooling system that inhibited the circulation of the coolant.

I always run the vehicle up to operating temperature with the radiator cap off and the front end of the truck as high as reasonably possible with the passenger side a bit higher. This will allow any air in the cooling system to escape out of the open radiator. Top off as necessary.