Hey guys, Need your input on this. Flushed the radiator & the engine over the weekend. Used plain water, ran the car till temp reached 180° than let it cool down to drain, flush with clean water, yad yad yad. Did it three times. Some how I managed to brake one of the three nipples on the TVS. So the car sat drained of any fluid till the part (1/2 NPT plug) came in. Hope you can see what it looks like inside. Note the rad is only 2yrs old. This is what I scrapped out with a long thing screw driver. What do you guys think? Tap water here in FL from the city not well water.
Looks like the typical yellow sludge from nasty old coolant from here. I wouldn't lose sleep. You can drain and flush to your heart's content but it'll never go away completely. The good news is it wont hurt anything either.
Florida tap water is extremely high in limestone and other minerals. All of that is in solution and not filtered out from municipal water sources. It precipitates and becomes the scale you see. You need to use distilled water. You may or may not have issues with your cooling system going forward from the scale breaking loose and plugging the tubes. I use RMI-25 due to brass/copper radiator and aluminum heads/intake. But it may help. Won't hurt.
Does your engine have block drains? Not all Buicks do. If so, did you remove them to drain the flush-water? If you're trying to drain the coolant via the radiator, the block is still full to the water-pump openings.
Brass Copper radiators also get solder bloom deposits. It's an interaction between the solder and coolant.
See if the junk ya scraped out will dissolve in CLR. If so fill the cooling system with a mix of that and let sit over night and then flush out.
If your budget will stretch a 5 gallon drum of caterpillar long life coolant ,it’s pre mixed , for cooling systems containing similar metals to Buicks , doesn’t decompose and block radiators, good for 650k miles, then you only need to add a quart bottle of cat corrosion inhibitor . I have used this in my prime-movers for over 2million miles and never had to flush a radiator or had any overheating issued related to the cooling system. This is what i will be using when mine eventually hits the road
CLR is weak... Outboard motors use a product called salt-away to flush the salt build up... S-A main ingredient is Oxalic acid... S-A has a Break Out Another Thousand price tag... Oxalic acid is also at available at your local hardware store.... Wood Bleach... https://www.amazon.com/Savogran-105...ocphy=9033354&hvtargid=pla-311839654298&psc=1 https://www.amazon.com/Dawn-Scienti...JTfPRuEXniFOKnIVVQ3MSlQsrlWCdMZBoCiZwQAvD_BwE
Ok guy, The reason for this post was because i had what looked like rust in the fresh coolant after a few runs on the engine. After the flush, i add new coolant and i thought i was done. Car ran with no issues and idle for close to an hour while testing and tuning the timing and carb. Temps at 185 deg and never over. Ordered a Q-jet refresh carb build and re-jet kit (Thanks Cliff). After getting it all done and tuned, the car drove even better and was very happy. As i was backing the car back into the garage, i looked at the temp gauge to see the temp at 195 and rising. Turn the engine off at 200, let it cool down to inspect the coolant. Pulled the cap and sure enough....more rusty coolant. At this point, i'm sure i have a head gasket issue. Oil in the block is clean dip stick shows no oil water mix. Could the rust in the coolant be from exhaust gases leaking into the coolant? Pulled the intake mani off today and this is what i found. Not sure why. '72 block. Driver side. Pass side
What I have done in the past is to fill the rad from the bottom hose. Put a rag in the hose to help keep the water in. Stick the air hose in the end of the rag & blow the rad backwards. This will usually get the bigger junk at least out. You can't put too much air pressure on it as the excess will blow past the rag & your hand. Another thing I like doing is to make a cone shape out of panty hose/nylon stocking & stick it in the upper rad neck. Will pick up debris/filter out at least the heavier stuff. After you fill comfortable remove the "Filter". Tom T.
You are way far down a rabbit hole. You don't have a head gasket issue. You have zero symptoms that indicate it. The only thing i see is some jackwagon went crazy with RTV when the intake was put on. That sludge is nasty old coolant. It'll take dozens of flush sessions before it's out. 200 degrees isn't overheating. They get warm when your idling around. Put your intake back on and enjoy the the car.
Thanks joe, As i said temp was good a few weeks ago and steady at 185 and never over. I know 200 is not over heating but i didn't want see just how high the temp would have gone if i let the car run longer. Can i re-use the metal intake gasket? Or just get a new one.
Might be from a bad ground. Check coolant for voltage. anything over around 300 milivolts will cause electrolysis. Should use distilled warter. Minerals are not good for a healthy radiator.
WoW, what is the heck is that orange material? Looks like silicone material but I have never seen it in that color before.
We used to use MIL-A-46106 (red) on various hot sections of engines and other places on the F-4, it had a very high acetic acid odor, and was designed to be used without surface priming, only proper cleaning/degreasing. (It also came in clear, white and black) Since then, there are a lot of formulations available that are specific to purpose of use, be it water, petroleum products, synthetic lubes, gasoline, coolant, etc. But quite a few people use way too much, not realizing that if it is "squeezing out" it is also "squeezing in" and that can get in places you do not want it. Surfaces and gaskets used, should only need a very think film to deal with any imperfections, and newer gaskets are available for a lot of assemblies that need no sealant at all, and provide superior sealing. That intake is the classic description of "way too much!".
