Coolant flush aftermath concerns

[ColonelPanic]

Since genvibers rock and I don't really get any good help on the Hyundai forum I figure I'd ask you awesome people. Brought my '06 Accent in for a coolant flush today to the shop that does our maintenance stuff... Almost 52k miles, first time it was ever done. The dealers have been hounding me to get it done since 30k as it's an item on THEIR schedule that they pull out of their butts to make more money off people. The factory maintenance schedule shows 60k regardless of driving conditions for the first time and every 30k thereafter. Uses the regular green stuff.They ended up filling the overflow tank a little too much -- was filled to the top when hot. It should be between full/low when cold. I was planning on sucking the excess out of the recovery tank with my antifreeze tester.I popped the radiator cap to see how much was in there and I noticed some small black chunks of plastic floating at the top. I stuck the tested in the radiator and sucked up some coolant. there were several of those chunks floating in there... There weren't any of the pieces from the coolant in the recovery tank.I googled a bit and the most interesting thing I saw that it could be from the radiator cap disintegrating when you remove it. Any other theories on what the crap could be or what kind of damage it could cause?It's hot now, so I can't take the cap off again to recheck. At this point, I'm not sure if I should bring it back to the shop that did the flush or take it to the dealer (who will likely deny covering the repairs under warranty and blame it on the shop, that's how they roll!) Or just leave it?Thanks.

[ColonelPanic]

Update: I just removed close to 20 oz of coolant from the tank and no black stuff in any of it. Still not sure about the radiator, too hot to open still.

[keithvibe]

Are the black pieces plastic or rubber?If rubber it's either the cap or themostate.When you take the cap off wipe down the seal on the cap with a paper towel. That's most likely where the pieces are coming from.If it's black hard plastic it's going to be the end caps on the rad that are causing the issue.It could also be just junk that didn't get flushed out of the rad when they did the flush.About the only damage it if it's rubber is plug up an opening in the rad reducing the amount of cooling ability it can do.If it's hard black plastic sorry to say it's prob the end cap glue failing

[djkeev]

Hi,Could be so many things. Yes the rubber radiator cap seal is an option, rubber hose pieces, maybe just flashing from the moulding process. Could be the seals on the water pump shaft, Could be the hose the shop used to fill the radiator up, old and rotten. Could have been in a can they put water in to fill it up, previously used for a dirty water / oil and not rinsed out before being filled with water to use on your car. Keep an eye on it, maybe flush it again to get the stuff out, its up to you. It is probably harmless.That's why I do all my own work, that way I KNOW what was done and what was used and if a piece of rubber showed up, I'd know where it's NOT from.Dave

[ColonelPanic]

Dave, believe me -- if I had a garage I'd be doing this stuff all myself. I'd then either know it was done right or know who to blame when something got wrecked. The guys I took it to do alright, they don't BS me much. They flushed the Vibe a while back without any ill effects. I popped the radiator cap and there was only clean coolant visible this time, nothing floating on the surface. Saw some junk on the bottom of the radiator cap. Wiped the cap off with a paper towel saw what I think was the same crap that was floating at the top of the coolant in the radiator neck. So, looks like just some stuff flaking off the cap seal. There was some gunk on the neck right above the coolant level, I wiped that sutff off,it was also black. Could have come from there, I suppose (iirc the coolant was above that level before I removed some from the rad & jug.)I'm a little more at ease now, I think I see where it came from. I'll keep an eye on it and if something happens I have 48,000 more miles of warranty.

[Mavrik]

I'm going to just throw this out there from my experience working with domestic and imports over the last 11 years. Regardless of what the owners manual says... no fluid lasts as long as they say it "should" Anyway. the gunk in your coolant. its likely whats coated the inside of your radiator and coolant systems. with the flush your trusted shop did, it doesn't sound like they did a complete flush if stuff is still in there. I'd suggest having the system completely re-flushed to get all that out of there. Do you know if they run any conditioners or cleaning chemicals in their flushing process?

[peacock]

Could be pieces of the water pump impeller. I had an old ford Countour that was overheating and when I pulled the pump the impeller was almost decintegrated. Maybe just keep an eye on the temperature and see if it higher than normal.

[Sublimewind]

Quote, originally posted by ColonelPanic » There was some gunk on the neck right above the coolant level, I wiped that sutff off,it was also black. Could have come from there, I suppose (iirc the coolant was above that level before I removed some from the rad & jug.)I'm a little more at ease now, I think I see where it came from. I'll keep an eye on it and if something happens I have 48,000 more miles of warranty.I don't want to worry you, but black in the system like that cold mean head gasket.. getting oil blow by into the system... was it oily at all?? Do you have any black in the overflow tank?

[ToolGuy]

Hard to say...Could be your hoses deteriorating. Squeeze each hose when the engine is cold, or the ones you can that is. If you feel it cracking, that is the inside of the hose cracking and they should be replaced. I only say this because of the mileage and have done this check on many cars myself. I would also repalce the cap regardless, if not now, soon. Caps do not last forever and it is cheap insureance that it is working corretly. I could see the caps gasket deteriorating as well.