The antifreeze speced for your truck is called Dexcool. It is orangeish/pink in color. The engine block will hold up to a gallon of coolant/water in it - even when you remove the water pump. You did not mention whether or not the block has been flushed-- so I assume it was not. The mixture of old coolant (which is probably rusty in color) and the orangeish/pink Dexcool is probably why the coolant is rusty in color. You can test the coolant. There is a tool you can buy at any auto supply store to test coolant.
Test the coolant. If it passes, the rusty color is probably not a problem. If it does not pass, then the entire cooling system should be totally drained. Removing the soft plugs in the engine block is the only way to totally drain the cooling system. Flush the system after new soft plugs are installed and refill.
Why did you replace the starter? Was it bad? Did you test the starter? By not cranking do you mean turning over or not turning over at all (like a dead battery)? Why was the alternater tested?
Sunday, November 8th, 2009 AT 11:29 PM
