21 replies to this topic

[goudoogje]

Interesting story you got here.

 

I can only say someting about the vinegar, i did try this two time already, in both cases a reasonable working radiator turned into a colander!  

[Tornado99]

For flushing/descaling, why would anyone be using homemade or household treatments when there are automotive descaler solutions readily available?

Have you seen the other recent thread
(https://www.theminif...ckage-in-block/)

where the owner discouvered the block's drain port to be clogged up? He will be attempting to poke through, maybe with a plumbers drain snake. Maybe your car has a blockage in the coolant passages within block.

Edited by Tornado99, 21 September 2021 - 04:24 PM.

[zero_wlv]

For flushing/descaling, why would anyone be using homemade or household treatments when there are automotive descaler solutions readily available?

Have you seen the other recent thread
(https://www.theminif...ckage-in-block/)

where the owner discouvered the block's drain port to be clogged up? He will be attempting to poke through, maybe with a plumbers drain snake. Maybe your car has a blockage in the coolant passages within block.

 

I personally have no idea which descaling treatment is best,   although I've read on quite a few other threads opinions that either vinegar or CLR are better than the commercially available treatments   (again,  I have no experience with them so I have no idea).

I already tried Wynn's Radflush so I'm prepared to try vinegar and/or CLR as long as they don't do any damage and I know how long to leave them in for.

 

I've seen the other thread that's running currently  -  the drain snake seems like an interesting idea which I'll try if all else fails.

I also notice on the other thread the discussion again about CLR and a couple of links for buying it,    what does worry me is that I'm not sure whether the posters are aware that the American 'Jelmar' CLR is lactic acid whereas the 'Zep' version widely available in Britain is phosphoric acid,   so I'm holding off on using my 1 litre tub of Zep CLR until I can find out more about it.    I don't know whether or not it's safe to leave phosphoric acid lying in the cooling system for several days   (and I don't know the first thing about chemistry!)

[Spider]

Obviously my Rover/NipponSeiki gauge is hopelessly inaccurate,  I'm not sure why,  I tested it with two different GTR101 senders and the voltage stabiliser is definitely kicking out 10V (9.75V to be precise).

 

All the Senders I've tried over the past 6 or 7 years now have all made the gauges read high. I've given up on them and now using the genuine Smiths 'Universal' Sender with an adaptor to be able to fit them to the Mini cylinder Heads.

 

 

 

For flushing/descaling, why would anyone be using homemade or household treatments when there are automotive descaler solutions readily available?

Have you seen the other recent thread
(https://www.theminif...ckage-in-block/)

where the owner discouvered the block's drain port to be clogged up? He will be attempting to poke through, maybe with a plumbers drain snake. Maybe your car has a blockage in the coolant passages within block.

 

I personally have no idea which descaling treatment is best,   although I've read on quite a few other threads opinions that either vinegar or CLR are better than the commercially available treatments   (again,  I have no experience with them so I have no idea).

I already tried Wynn's Radflush so I'm prepared to try vinegar and/or CLR as long as they don't do any damage and I know how long to leave them in for.

 

I've seen the other thread that's running currently  -  the drain snake seems like an interesting idea which I'll try if all else fails.

I also notice on the other thread the discussion again about CLR and a couple of links for buying it,    what does worry me is that I'm not sure whether the posters are aware that the American 'Jelmar' CLR is lactic acid whereas the 'Zep' version widely available in Britain is phosphoric acid,   so I'm holding off on using my 1 litre tub of Zep CLR until I can find out more about it.    I don't know whether or not it's safe to leave phosphoric acid lying in the cooling system for several days   (and I don't know the first thing about chemistry!)

 

 

It was possibly me who originally suggested CLR on this forum some years back and to be honest, I didn't realise that there was different formulas of it depending on which country it's from. It's all owned by the same parent company.

For what ever it's worth, the CLR I have been using has Lactic Acid. I would be rather cautious using the Phosphoric Based CLR as it will corrode the Alloy of the Water Pump and the Thermostat Housing, though, it's usually only left in diluted, for less than a week. It might cause minor pitting in that time, but unless these parts are already wafer thin it won't eat through them in that time frame. It is a very good cleaner on Brass and a fantastic de-scaler of Cast Iron, in fact, many commercial shops that have 'Cold Tanks' for de-rusting blocks and heads etc is Phosphoric Acid.

[zero_wlv]

 

All the Senders I've tried over the past 6 or 7 years now have all made the gauges read high. I've given up on them and now using the genuine Smiths 'Universal' Sender with an adaptor to be able to fit them to the Mini cylinder Heads.

 

Thanks for the tip,  I had no idea such a thing existed,   I'll get one as I'd prefer to use the original gauge if possible.     It seems to be easily available.

 

 

 

 

 I would be rather cautious using the Phosphoric Based CLR as it will corrode the Alloy of the Water Pump and the Thermostat Housing, though, it's usually only left in diluted, for less than a week. It might cause minor pitting in that time, but unless these parts are already wafer thin it won't eat through them in that time frame. It is a very good cleaner on Brass and a fantastic de-scaler of Cast Iron, in fact, many commercial shops that have 'Cold Tanks' for de-rusting blocks and heads etc is Phosphoric Acid.

 

 

 

 

I'm going off the idea of phosphoric acid since there seems to be some uncertainty surrounding it!   I'll stick with the vinegar  (50/50 white vinegar and water) and leave it in for a few days after running the engine up to temperature.

[viz139]

Looking at your graph I would be quite happy with the output of the Tim gauge. Half way on the gauge ( sender at the bottom of the head) 78 -83 deg would have the 82 deg stat open with the hotter water above the head at 83-87 deg actual temp.  As the Nippon gauge is not numerical what you have not shown is the points where it shows Normal and Red.

[panky]

Citric acid is a great de-scaler. Comes in powder form and has been used for years by the Minor guys in basically the same engine with excellent results and is a lot safer than CLR. Citric acid is used in bath bombs so won't burn the skin and can be washed down the drain.

I've used it to remove rust from most of the suspension components on my Minor and can confirm that it works.

 

These bits were heavily rusted but a couple of days in the citric acid bucket and a wire brush later

 

 

Same with the engine mount towers

 

 

Costs about a fiver for a 1kg bag off ebay  and you only need a cup full in clean water.

Edited by panky, 23 September 2021 - 09:05 AM.