O/T Coolant color & coolant tank black residue

[svx_commuter]

Off Topic but related to the SVX coolant system.
I am looking at a 95 Legacy 2.2L and the coolant expansion tank has a very dark residue on the inside of the tank. There appears to be a coating of something black in color all over the inside of the tank. The coolant also looks very dark not green. It has oh about 196k miles on it. If I can find out about this coolant thing it might be okay to buy.

I would appreciate hearing from anybody with experience on this.

Thanks

[wawazat??]

One word for you, and you know it well: headgaskets. Same thing I saw in my SVX when the headgaskets were blown.

Todd

[Earthworm]

It can also be a radiator leak sealant of some sort. If you flush the system and it comes back then, like Todd said, headgaskets.

[svx_commuter]

Hi Todd and Dave,

Well I was thinking that about head gaskets except, see if this makes sense, the entire coolant tank is black. Does it get that bad without blowing up the radiator?

[Earthworm]

The rad won't blow as long as the cap is working properly. I would imagine that your rad will be coated black just the same.