I was at my friends' shop yesterday and one of the guys looked it my coolant reservoir and pointed out that it was really dirty. We decided I'd return today and change the coolant since the bay would be available.

Simple job, right? Think again. We started draining the "mud" out of the radiator and engine and it was a mess. Dirty water everywhere until we noticed the petcock where a hose could be inserted. Got the thing drained and began the flushing process. After a good long time of adding water and draining, the water was still completely brown and almost looked thick! Then in the middle of the flushing, the thermostat failed, shut!
Geyser shot out of the radiator, water everywhere. What a mess. We lowered the truck from the lift and took it in the back alley where we pulled the hoses out and removed the thermostat. It was completely rusted shut!
After quite some time of running water from a hose through the radiator, engine, and hopefully the heater core (we ran the engine with the heater on), the water ran clean. We replaced the thermostat and gasket, refilled the cooling system with water & antifreeze and pulled it back into the bay so I could check the caliper sliding pins which I forgot to lubricate during the brake job last week...

Anyway, even in the shop with all the tools, lift and help, I still spent about 4 good hours on the job! I'm glad I did not try this at home, and even if it was kind of a bitch to deal with the thermostat, I'm glad it failed when it did and not when I was driving around.

The moral of the story is: check you coolant and if muddy like mine, be sure to flush the system thoroughly and replace that darn thermostat!

 

Believe it or not, people neglect a lot of the fluids in their vehicles. Most people think of oil, trans fluid, transfer case, front and rear diffs, but they usually forget about flushing brake fluid, power steering fluid, and coolant.

Its a good thing you got a hold of it when you did and as you stated, not at a more inconvenient time.

 

I flushed mine a year or so ago... but the thermostat... can't remember when it was replaced... I'll check into that some time soon.

 

You are right, we tend to ignore the brake, PS, and clutch (if you have it). The power steering is probably very important to change and may be the cause of the PS pump failures. I'll put it in my list of things to do.

Flush the brake fluid,
Flush the PS fluid
Check the steering linkages
(probably in reverse order).