Cleaning the cooling system after hibernation

[Cudan]

hi,

 

My project p15 has been in a hibernation for 7 years.

The did not drain the cooling water for hibernation, so i drained it yesterday and the water is rusty, see pic.

I removed the waterpump and inlet. In the inlet is not a thermostat ? is this normal ?

So can see on the pic of the inlet in the head there is a thick rusty substance.

Behind the waterpump, you also see the water distributing tube its looks not bad, no thick substance.

What is the best method to clean the system inside, to connect a waterhose and flushing with lots of water ?

 

Dan

 

 

[sser2]

Flushing will remove loose stuff, but not crust or accumulated deposits at the bottom of water jacket. You may try vinegar (5% acetic acid), which dissolves rust. Vinegar works slow, and you may need to change it several times until all the rust is dissolved. 

[Cudan]

hi,

 

ok, first i do the flushing and second the vinegar for a longer period.

Dan

[sser2]

Dan: Ideally, head should be removed so that you could scrape rust deposits at the bottom of water jacket with a long screwdriver. That would make cleaning much faster. But if the engine is running well and you are not going to rebuild it at this time, it doesn't make sense to open it just for cleaning. Vinegar will eventually dissolve all the rust. Pour it in, soak for 24 hours, drain, and repeat until stuff comes out clear. Vinegar can be bought cheaply by gallon in places like Sam's Club, Costco, or Winco. Flush with water after you are done with vinegar. 

[Cudan]

Hi,

Engine is not yet running and no rebuild plans.

But cheaply buying Sam's Club, Costco, or Winco is nit so easy for me, i live in the Netherlands

But thanks for the tip and we have simulair wholesalers overhere.

 

Dan

 

[sser2]

I've spent 4 days in the Hague in 1991. Was my first trip abroad, have very fond memories of it. It was a meeting in Congressgebouw.

[Jeff Balazs]

If you do not have it running at this time here are a few things you may wish to consider. The water jackets themselves may have a lot of rust and debris in them after being stored for a long time. Mine certainly did. Also the WDT may be going bad or partially plugged up. Since you can already access the WDT it might be a good time to go ahead and pull it out. With it out and the expansion plugs and drain valve pulled you can do a better job flushing the block out. Hi pressure water such as a pressure washer may be helpful in getting some of this stuff loose and out. Once you get the majority of the rust etc... out then plan on flushing the system with an agent like vinegar or a commercial preparation multiple times. It usually take a while and several heat up cycles for most of this stuff to break loose. As it does it will work itself into the radiator so that will require attention as well.

Hth. Jeff

[Cudan]

18 hours ago, sser2 said:

I've spent 4 days in the Hague in 1991. Was my first trip abroad, have very fond memories of it. It was a meeting in Congressgebouw.

Next time you have to visit me

The Haque is nice, the only problem is to many people on to little surface.

Dan

[Cudan]

hi Jeff,

It also thought about is but i am considering a v8 swap in about 2 years.

Dan

 

 

[Jeff Balazs]

Dan;

Well you don't have to pull the WDT now. I was just suggesting it as you have it exposed, It is very hard to get a decent flush of the water jackets on these engines without pulling the expansion plugs. If the jackets are full of debris as I suspect you may be plagued with overheating issues and stoppages. Once these engines get full of rust etc.....there really isn't a quick fix.

Jeff

[Reg Evans]

Yes, I call it engine chili.

[Cudan]

hi,

if the the expansion plugs  easy to pull out and fitting new plugs  ? easy job ?

 

Dan

 

 

[Jeff Balazs]

6 hours ago, Reg Evans said:

Yes, I call it engine chili.

Reg;

That is a great photo ........ really drives the point home.

Jeff

[Andydodge]

Cudan, you asked about pulling and replacing the expansion plugs........there are 5 and generally they are o/k to remove, I've used a couple of techniques, one is to find an old straight blade screwdriver and sharpen a corner or use a long, thin cold chisel again with a sharp corner and tap this into the plugs, once a hole is made use either the implement or another long screwdriver to lever the plug out......another method is to drill a hole, say 1/8th to suit a self tapping screw into the plug then insert the screw allowing for a claw hammer to be used on the exposed head of the screw to lever the plug out......using this method be CERTAIN to mark the drill bit with tape so that the drill does NOT go any more than 1/4" into the plug as you do NOT want to drill thru the bore...........the biggest problem that you'll find is getting enough clearance around some of the plugs, you may find it makes for an easier job to remove the starter and/or distributor or at least the cap and plug leads.......once the expansion plugs are out I usually have a gentle dig around with various implements such as old curved screwdrivers, even your fingers.....lol........ to loosen the crud and crap then use a hose and squirt water every which way and also undo the lower radiator hose to help the crap get out..........the ideal would also be to remove the upper hose AND thermostat housing & thermostat and squirt water down thru the head also.........can be a messy job but worth doing..........once you are happy that the crap is out then I would install BRASS plugs as they do not rust and will never need redoing due to rust out........ to install new plugs, clean and dry the edge that the plugs install on, wipe some sort of gasket goo around the edge then place the plug on the edge and using a steel/brass drift or even a 1/2" extension bar onto the centre of the plug and using a hammer give the drift/bar a wack to flatten and therefore extend the plug into the edges of the hole........job done.......  btw make sure to get the same style of plug that is used, they are 1 & 5/8" ..........and welcome to the world of mopars from downunder...........regards, Andy Douglas             

[Jerry Roberts]

And as Plymouthy mentioned on another thread on this subject ;   When you punture the old plug , do it near the center and not on the outer edge to prevent damage to the engine block . There is an inner ledge when the plug fits as Reg shows in his photo in message number 11 . 

Edited October 31, 2016 by Jerry Roberts

[Don Coatney]

A self tapping screw works well for plug removal.

[Cudan]

thanks,

 

so it is not so difficult to do, i put it on my to do list

 

Dan