Car is a 96 Legacy 2.2 with 90k miles. My resevoir has been slowly leaking, from full to below the low mark in about 2 months. I can't find any external leaks, but the bottom of my engine is an oil field due to a leaking oil separator plate, so it's hard to diagnose a slow leak. I took the resevoir off and pour out this lovely sludge which was sitting at the bottom of the bottle. (pic 1) I also noticed this soft grey buildup under the radiator cap (pic 2). I plan on flushing the radiator, but should I be worried about headgaskets or some other costly repair? Thanks for the help guys! All i know about cars I've learned here.

 

 

Edited September 11, 201411 yr by rendoll911

Spray bottom of warm engine with degreaser. Let sit for 5 minutes then hose off. Do again, this time with a brush of some type. This will clear most of grime so you can check better for leaks.

Flush the radiator system. replace T  stat with an oem unit or a Stant Xactstat unit only.

Then see how your coolant issues are.

Read up on how to "burp" the coolant syatem properly.

 

O.