14 replies to this topic

[phildward]

My car has been abandoned in the garden for 21 years so not surprisingly the coolant is in a bad way.  It is very black and there was flaky sludge in the cylinder head and radiator and thick black sludge in the engine block.

 

I have removed and cleaned out the radiator and removed the water pump.  I decided to flush the engine by pouring water down the heater return pipe.  The head simply fills up until it overflows down the bypass connection.  It occasionally makes a glugging noise but there is no noticeable flow in to the block

 

 Its many years since I have seen a head gasket but aren’t there coolant holes around each cylinder between the head and the block.  My thoughts at the moment are the drain the head down and take it off.  Any other suggestions or advice please?  Thank you.

 

[gazza82]

No. Split the engine and clean it out properly with water, coca-cola/phosphoric acid, etc, ....

 

You will probably need to strip the head and engine down and give the bare block and head to a machine shop to drop in their cleaning tanks.

[phildward]

No. Split the engine and clean it out properly with water, coca-cola/phosphoric acid, etc, ....

 

You will probably need to strip the head and engine down and give the bare block and head to a machine shop to drop in their cleaning tanks.

 

Right possibly that bad?  I have phosphoric acid at 85%, put it on the water pump impeller yesterday and it dissolved the crusty gunk nicely.  Any suggestions on what concentration it should be used at?

 

I'll split the engine tomorrow and see what the situation is.  Thanks for the advice.

[Fast Ivan]

almost certainly a complete rebuild on the cards here

[phildward]

almost certainly a complete rebuild on the cards here

 

:-((

[Dusky]

I left my engine Block filled with vinegar for a week. Amazing how much rust came Out.

[phildward]

Slightly more encouraging thank you, cant afford a full rebuild right now.  Decided to check and drain it so got some pictures:

 

Left for several hours and still no flow from head to block:

 

 

Once drained this is how it looks in there:

 

 

Also the block:

 

[sledgehammer]

I have used a wet / dry vac on a rad hose before

 

the water rattles about in the block , loosens things up

 

after it's all out , put in fresh water , vac out again

 

worked for mine - but still some at the bottom of the water jacket

 

don't do this if the rad is knackered , just incase it is too much for it

 

ps ... take out the thermostat while doing the above

Edited by sledgehammer, 09 November 2016 - 05:19 PM.

[Spider]

I agree with Gazza on this. Even if you get flow and the cooling system 'kinda' working, it's only going to give on going heartache.

 

You can try removing the water pump (as you have), making a steel blanking plate and then filling the cooling jacket with a molasses mix. You'll need to leave it in for about 2 to 4 weeks and there's no guarantees that this will do a complete job. Oh, and you'll want to get some flow out of the Block drain Plug before doing this too, so you can get this mix down that part of the block. Be sure there's nothing alloy in the cooling system while you have the molasses in there as it'll not only eat that away, but can deposit what it's eaten where you don't want it.

 

You'd be wise to send the radiator off for a professional cleaning (or replace it).

 

The other things that probably should be replaced is the freeze plugs, they'll likely be in a sorry state.

[Carlos W]

does the engine turn over by hand? 

[phildward]

does the engine turn over by hand? 

 
Yes easily on the crank pulley with the spark plugs removed.  Very smooth.
 
Didnt get to the car today; having committed to cleaning the study from top to bottom.  However, on the basis of other advice, re the mini, I think I have nothing to lose so did some experimenting.  Filled the radiator with vinegar and baked it in the oven at 100C for four hours.   Came out surprisingly clean.  Some deposits inside the feed connection (vinegar there quickly boiled off) easily wiped out.  Reversed flushed very clean.
 
Before:
 

 

 
After:

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Edit / PS I don't have a starter motor nor battery at the moment.  I've been turning the engine by hand.

Edited by phildward, 11 November 2016 - 09:09 AM.

[phildward]

Got the head off and all of the coolant flow holes between the head and block were solid with crusty deposits, unfortunately forgot the camera.  Some blocked holes cleared reluctantly with a screw driver.  I can see that unless this is cleaned out properly then, as advised above, the engine will give ongoing cooling system problems.

 

I noticed some tiny traces in the radiator still once it had dried out.  Nothing to lose so I filled it with 85% phosphoric acid.  It’s amazing how much more scale is coming out.  I will probably adopt a similar approach with the head and see how well that cleans up.

 

On the plus side the bores look clean and smooth, no significant wear for a high mileage engine.

 

 

 

[Fast Ivan]

Check the bores where the rings have been sitting

[phildward]

Check the bores where the rings have been sitting

 

Good idea, been and done just that.  The only sign of any ring marking I can find is at the top of the stroke and particularly on No4 cylinder. None of the pistons had rested at the top of their stroke.   I think I must have squirted some oil into the cylinders when I dumped the car as the carbon wiped off the top of the cylinders easily.  It’s the sort of thing I would have done.

 

 

Shame I wasn’t more considerate towards the cooling system.  I’m going for a DIY clean, a run and then an assessment of any ongoing issues. Molasses arriving this weekend.  I appears to me that there is lots of slime to shift and there will be very little molasses mix in there.  Do I change the mix say every week for maybe four weeks??

Edited by phildward, 15 November 2016 - 04:58 PM.

[phildward]

Molasses was in the engine for 4 months and was drained and replaced every couple of weeks.  The engine block appears slime free and nicely cleaned out.  The head is on the whole clean but a good scraping inside with a screw driver can dislodge a little scale still.  The head will need to valve seats recut so I will probably look into having it dipped at the same time.

 

The radiator cleaned using phosphoric acid but also melted L  New rad purchased.