Dirty coolant after only 600mi with new engine?

[Serial 0]

Hi all, just took the car out with it's new engine for a little run round the lanes and when I got back, I noticed that the colour of the coolant in the header tank is no longer bright pink (G12++) as it was when I put the rebuilt engine in... it's still pink but much muddier looking... thing is it's only done 600miles since the rebuild and I was under the impression it should look nice and clean for quite a while...

 

The engine is running fine, I've been treating it gently (no more than 3500rpm, no harsh acceleration) to run it in. I used ARP head bolts but haven't retorqued them yet, so I'm hoping I haven't bust the headgasket already :pale:

[Jim 1]

Assuming your engine was brand new, but other stuff such as radiator, heater matrix, and pipework was not? Plus there might be other dust and muck in the waterways on the new block. I'd flush the coolant again and redo it.. then see where you stand after another 600 miles? :)

[Toad 0]

How many miles are you supposed to retorque the bolts after?

 

I flushed my engine, radiator and heater matrix and still have cloudy coolant after rebuilding my car.

[Sonicriot13 0]

Wouldn't worry too much about it. You should have seen the amount of cr*p that came out of my block. It was like sand and mud. I had it on a stand and flushed it out with a pressure washer and it took ages to run clear. Even still I expect mine will go muddy after that length of time. Should be getting a new rad though so hopefully that will help.

[Serial 0]

Only the head & block were renewed so all the other cooling system components are the originals, however I did give them all a good flush with a hosepipe before putting it back together again. It does sound like I'm worrying a bit too much though, I guess as long as it's not actually losing any coolant the colour doesn't really matter hehe.... :D

 

Re the ARP studs -- I've found some conflicting info on here regarding retorquing the head studs, some posts saying it's necessary after the first heat cycle, some say it should be done after 500miles, and some saying it doesn't have to be done at all..! :scratch: I got the head rebuilt at Impulse and Adrian there reckoned it should be done after 500miles, so that's what I'd planned... Bit late but I think I'll do that ASAP, flush the coolant and replace with new and see how it goes :-)

[fla 9]

i wouldnt worry about it too much - i recently (about 2000 miles ago flushed my cooling system, cleaned the block, heater matrix, rad and fitted new thermostat hpousing etc, washed the header tank in the dishwasher and then circulated some of the orange VW coolant flush, and its also turned cloudy brown. Not really sure there is anything you can do tbh.

As an experiment, when i drained teh coolant ilet it stand in a drum for a few hours. Separated nicely leaving a pink coolant and a layer of brown crud at the bottom of the bucket. I'll be flushing the system again this summer - i'll take some pics and post them up for reference.