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I looked at a Ford F-150 truck for sale today with the 5.4L V8 Modular motor. The truck had no running issues.

After raising the hood, I noticed something odd. There is solid material stuck to the inside of the coolant system bottle. I have not seen this before. I have seen extensive mixing of oil and coolant, this usually looks like a brownish sludge.

What causes solid material to accumulate, and in this case stick to the inside of the coolant bottle? Is this indicative of a failure in the cooling system?

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Eric Urban
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Failure of the cooling system? More like failure of the head gasket. Looks like the exact same material as this post, so it may also be a transmission cooler gasket.

Even if the head gasket was repaired, I have experienced big problems with the cooling system afterwards. It is difficult to remove 100% of the particles pushed into the coolant when the gasket blows, so problems emerge later with the water pump, radiator, heater core, etc. That's probably why the vehicle is for sale!

Carguy
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