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Flushing WDT


ThriftyT

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I just won and removed my 1st WDT.    Is there any reason I can’t flush the spot where it goes out with water before Installing the  new one??     I sure don’t see any obvious reasons.   Thanks in advance 

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2 hours ago, 48ply1stcar said:

Congratulations for removing a Water Distribution Tube with the engine still in the car.  Why did you do that?  Just asking.

Working thru overheating issues,  car is in incredible shape so I felt confident I could get it out.  Doing the distribution tube, thermostat, water pump, and an aluminum 3 core radiator.    

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I "feel" like I would want to pull the soft plugs when flushing. There could be some bigger chunks of crud that gets flushed down to side of block with no way out.

And probably would not cause a problem if left.

Seems some of these engines like mine, have a large amount of casting sand left over from the factory and it collects in this area .... while other engines do not.

I suppose if your petcock flows freely and drains the block you do not have this issue.

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1 hour ago, Los_Control said:

I "feel" like I would want to pull the soft plugs when flushing. There could be some bigger chunks of crud that gets flushed down to side of block with no way out.

And probably would not cause a problem if left.

Seems some of these engines like mine, have a large amount of casting sand left over from the factory and it collects in this area .... while other engines do not.

I suppose if your petcock flows freely and drains the block you do not have this issue.

Not necessarily freely.  But it drains.   I should look into it

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After 25 years of sitting I started cleaning my engine with a putty knife.  After putty the putty knife through a frost plug, removed the frost plugs, radiator, thermostat, and put my car at the end of the driveway. I not proud of this but I ran the hose in-and-out of all of the holes until the water ran clear. The engine ran well until I pull it for a rebuild.  Never did rebuild that block, my mistake.

 

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7 minutes ago, 48ply1stcar said:

I not proud of this but I ran the hose in-and-out of all of the holes until the water ran clear.

I call that a good job, you should feel just fine about it.

 

11 minutes ago, ThriftyT said:

Not necessarily freely.  But it drains.   I should look into it

Your tube looks like it might be in good shape, guessing only if it was clogged that it would be the overheating issue. I would be looking at other issues to solve this ... could just be the T-stat.

I would take your old T-stat and test it in a pan of water, bring it to a boil and see it opens before the water boils. If not that could be the issue, if it does you may need to keep looking.

 

Pull the lower radiator hose and add water, it should drain out the bottom as fast as you put it in the top. If not that could be the issue .... you have yours out, I went both ways and turned my radiator upside down and put the water hose in the bottom and back flushed it and swapped around a few times.

 

But the side of the block, is kinda a catch all area, anything with weight kinda just drops down into this area and is trapped. It takes space and displaces the coolant. making the system less efficient  and possibly causing hot spots on the cylinders.

Your WDT looks pretty good, makes me think it has already been replaced. Question is, what did the original tube look like? Is there any pieces of it sitting there?

You will have to pull the oil fill tube to get to the plug  behind it. You will need to waterproof this area as there will be much water coming out here ... I do not think any water got in my crankcase, but changed the oil anyways after putting the plugs back in.

 

When I first started my truck after sitting for many years, was obvious the coolant system was not working at all. Just went from air temp to danger zone as it warmed up And the previous owner who bought it in 1970, attempted to remove the T-stat housing and broke the bolt ... guessing he just walked away at that point ... he was very old by then.

I found the WDT was completely clogged, had to clear it .... had the original  T-stat in it .... I pulled the soft plugs and used wire to reach up and drag stuff out as I flushed it. I was amazed at all the crap that came out. Others may not find much.

End result was with no T-stat installed, I let it run at idle for up to 2 hours one day and it ran at 160, then started to creep up to 180. Give it a fast idle and it dropped right back to 160. These engines normally run cool, Need a T-stat to get them up to operating temps.

 

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