Salty

iTrader: (14)

Changed the oil and checked all my fluids today. I took off the coolant tank to flush it and noticed some small black flakes at the bottom along with some white sludge.


I figured the white sludge could be the factory lubrication they put on the car parts prior to assembly because i used to have a lot when i first purchased the car. But i dunno about those damn black flakes... they were about .5mm to 2mm in size and were hard to try and break by pinching. Im not meaning they were metal... i just couldn't get a good grip on them because they were slippery.

Anyone else have this? Also, is that coolant tank just for export used surplus coolant? or does it sucked back in?

Tia,
Eric

Salty

iTrader: (14)

thanks bro! Anyone?

Uncle Scotty

The black is the paint/coating on the inside of the tank.
That is coming off....that is the reason that the new tanks are unpainted/uncoated.

Dunno about the white sludge.

Salty

iTrader: (14)

Ahh i see and this is for heat resistance reasons, correct? Im assuming the paint is fairly common over time then.

caterpill

iTrader: (11)

I don't recall exactly which thread it was, but there was a thread about this problem. The coolant tank that was painted black could flake off, potentially clogging your coolant system. I think there was a recall about this, or at least you could get that changed to an unpainted one for free at your dealership. Apparently the 02's and some 03's had this black coolant tank cover, and from late 03 they changed it to unpainted versions. All 04's are not supposed to have a black cover. You can physically remove the paint yourself but you'll have to sand it off. Might want to ask the dealer if they will do it free, as it is somewhat of a defect.

Kean

Although I'm not a real fan of WRXFanatics, I ran across this thread when I was bored one day:

http://www.wrxfanatics.com/index.php...50&t=5394&st=0

Hope this helps.

- Kean