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my new to me van had Extended life coolant in it that ran extremely well Purple color and clear in the radiator
However, the reservoir had green coolant in it. I never saw the two mix.
Then, one day my radiator fluid ran low. I blew a hose and lost all my fluid.
What happened, Well, I had a pressure buildup that burst the hose. After repairing the hose I checked the reservoir hose and found it was clogged. I could not even blow 80 PSI air through the hose from radiator cap to the reservoir. A clog. I had to pull the lights out to get to the reservoir connection. Got the hose off down there and a little fluid started leaking out so the reservoir was ok.
Then I noticed a clog on the end of the radiator reservior hose. Got the compressed air and was able to push it out of the hose.
solid from mixed radiator fluid
I believe this chunk of solid was from when the new Extended life coolant mixed with the green coolant at the bottom of the hose.
So this would make me real nervous about mixing the coolants. This stuff doesn't look easy to get out.
Next, I drained the reservoir several times with water to clean out the sediment and there was a lot of sediment in it. I used a hose to flush the reservoir as clean as I could get it.
Anyway, in one sense I was lucky the green coolant did not get pulled back into the radiator with the ELC coolant. On the other, the pressure can build up and find the weakest link in your heater hoses to blow out. Very important your reservoir overflow hose is checked and flushed.
Standard HOAT ELC and green coolants will mix without issue.
Propylene glycol coolants and Ethylene glycol coolants *can* mix or can cause sludge, depending on the additives.
What you have there looks more like casting sand... Or maby stop leak?
I know the stop leak stuff is horrible - it gets *everywhere*, and you'll never get it all out. It's designed to plug leaks, and will end up screwing up your radiator cap due to bits getting stuck inside the sealing surfaces.
I had a similar issue with the hose to the coolant overflow in my van. I noticed that the coolant level in the overflow never changed. Turns out that the inlet of the hose at the overflow tank was clogged. I ended up being able to use a air compressor to blow the line out.
To clean it I pumped all the coolant out of the overflow and refilled it with hot water. Then I blew air through the line to agitate the water. Then I pumped all the water out. I repeated this 4 or 5 times and then filled it with antifreeze. So far I have had not other issues.
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