Ok I thought this deserved its own thread. I'm replacing my water pump, a water pump that was replaced by the PO 1500 miles ago.

I think I found the reason why. I am finding traces of metal shavings! Very fine, like dust, in the water but when I removed the larger pump hose I find what you see in the video. Some of this stuff is magnetic some not. It looks like gravel, but could be rusted material. I just can't figure from what.

Things to consider, the PO has head machined do to a head gasket failure and there was water in the oil. There does seem to be a super fine film of something on the lining of the hose in the tube.

The pump pulley feels solid and smooth, however you can tell that behind the pulley there is a leak since there is pink goo that's been slung around the inside of the timing cover. I suspect the debris chewed away the seal and that's why the pump failed so soon.

Question is what should I do now. I don't have oil in my coolant or coolant in my oil. How do I flush the engine without having to run the new pump and risk damaging it. I'm running water from the top of the radiator out the bottom to try and flush it, but what about the engine, I'm scared the thin film of oil may be trapping more debris in the nooks and crannies of the block. And where the hell are the metal shavings come from?!?

 

If it's rusted metal, it could have come from the metal coolant pipes. They have a tendency to corode very badly at the ends. On my car the metal neck that connects the head to the upper radiator hose was missing a big chunk. That metal had to have been eaten by the system - there is nowhere else for it to go.

Edit...jogging my memory, it seems I found a lot of the missing chunk in the rubber hose:
http://www.kcws.org/forum/showthread...ll=1#post49390

But I am sure some of it ends up insde the system, so that's one possibility in your case. I would flush as best you can, reassemble, and flush again very soon, and examine the coolant - you could strain it through a clean cloth to collect any debris that's in there.

 

Run the engine with straight water and dishwasher detergent, drain and repeat. Flush with water repeatedly until clean. (Engine must be hot)

Change your thermostat after (or take it out and clean it well)

 

My pipe that comes off the neck on the block is surface corroded at the ends of the pipe, but not flakey at all.

Also I think some of the sludge is from the PO's previous head gasket and milkshake that got in the system is in all the surface areas. There seems to be hardened milkshake colored residue on the interior landing of the block on the front. It's stuck on there good, but when I flush the engine I get these small flakey similar colored bits in the water.

Also I'm considering removing the radiator,to have it professionally cleaned to assure all debris is out. Just really don't want to have to remove it. Can this be done at the house? Not the removing but the flushing and cleaning.

Also if you put dishwater detergent in the system won't it just bubble everywhere?

 

when I blew the seals on my oil/water heat exchanger and pumped oil into the water, I cleaned it using TSP (tri-sodium-phosphate) - put maybe 1/4 cup in the engine, drive it for a day, drain, repeat then rinse with clear water for a day, and refill with coolant.

 

Where do you get TSP.

Also I took the old thermostat out on it says 83 degrees, but the one that came in my kit says 80 degrees. Will this be an issue with my current thermos witch? I'm not sure what temp it is.

 

don't worry about 3 deg C

TSP is available at hardware stores, pharmacies, etc. Home Depot and places like that have it - it's the stuff that does the work in Fantastic and Simple Green.

 

I own a semi, whenever an oil cooler goes, the shops use dishwasher detergent. It is made to not foam. I have had this done to my engine(s) numerous times. Trust me, it works.

My 750+ hp Cat just had this done after the oil cooler cracked internally.

 

Shiny metal scrapings are a quick fix thing. If your radiator or in cabin radiators develop a leak, you can buy and pour that mix of dirt and metal scrapings into the cooling system. That will close the leak and do no real damage to any component...it will just dirty your coolant and system.

 

I'm assuming this is just a joke, or are you being serious?

Also, I'm assuming they are fillings, but they arn't shines, they art black. I suppose they could be small bits of rust too.

I did have a scary thought, could the rust be from the turbo?

 

If you use a dishwasher detergent to flush , use a quality brand and not the 99 cent store stuff. Start with a small amount. Turn the heater control on FULL. Take out the thermostat.

I have back-flushed my radiator on the car without problems. You may as well remove the big hoses and run a rag inside.

Do not consider using a HD Prestone or similiar coolant flush. If used use only 1/4 --a quarter bottle to 2 gallons of water. The HD coolant flush if used at full strength will eat at all the hose to metal connections and cause leaks. It will also cause the HG head gasket fail if old.

TSP is a good cleaner and on systems really fouled up, marine bilge cleaner has been used in severe cases.

GL
J_AZ

 

no, no joke, i found such stuff in my vehicles too...and i'm going to fix the vw golf heater radiator in the same way.
Its a bottle of something that looks like dirt and metal flakes.
The rust mainly comes from your rusty system...but very unlikely that it comes from the turbo.

 

Ok, pulled the radiator and I'm going to have it professionally cleaned along with the crossover pipe.

 

Just remember...all that stuff is in there for a reason...the reason is that probably some time in the past that car had a leaky radiator....if you're unlucky the leak was in the in cabin heating radiator and if you wash the system with any kind of soap..that will probably open up the leak again.

 

Morghen, I see what your getting at, but I don't think the stuff I'm seeing is the stuff you mention. It seems too irregular and the amount if filings I've found amounts to a pencil erasers worth of stuff. Most of the stuff I'm seeing looks like solidified milkshake (from the PO head gasket leak) that's smeared across the walls of things like the metal tubes. Regardless, I'm taking it to the radiator shop and they should pressure test after cleaning it so if there is a leak they should be able to fix that.

I guess I'll find out either way.