Coolant flush / shavings ????

[ACII]

Hy all...

this weekend i flushed my cooling setup....unfortunately i recognized that i do have some shavings / dirt in the fluid.

Have a look at the attached pics..

So far i couldnt recognize if the shavings is metall or just dirt !!!

Actually i am using a radiator of a blown smallblock....maybe the chips are still from the old engine...???

Do i get problems with that small shavings and the waterpump ?

Thanks for ur advice

CU
Achim

[mongocanfly]

Try a magnet on it to see if its metal

[ACII]

what do u think ..?? do i have to care about that ?

thx
achim

[ACII]

sorry missed some words in my last post :-)

the shavings are metall :-(

do i have to care about it ????

[mongocanfly]

Its not uncommon to have some metal debris in cooling systems from previous machine work and being poorly flushed. Its also possible it came from the blown engine.I've seen much worse and it didn't cause any issues. I've seen where some have epoxied magnets to the outside of their radiators to catch metal..similar to whats in oil and trans pans..just a thought if it bothers you.. you could try a real good system flush to.

[ACII]

thanks for response ....so i can sleep well :-)
i will give it a try with the magnet outside the radiator.....but i guess inside the radiator it should work even better...so the shavings stick directly to the magnet and u can remove it more easily...
thx achim

[BR3W CITY]

Coolant passages are all fairly large in terms of clearances. Quite a bit can circulate in the system before anything can really go wrong. The biggest concern with debris in the coolant is plugging up the passages in the radiator itself. The block-side is fairly "open".

If your concerned, just pressure flush the coolant system (like you would to remove gelled coolant or change from coolant to water).

[ACII]

i just flushed the system 4-5 times with water.....but no pressure flush.

The attached pic is the result after the first flush......at the end there where almost nothing left...so i will try the magnet solution to see if there is some more debris inside the block/radiator

Thx
achim

[solidaxel]

BR3W (like you would to remove gelled coolant or change from coolant to water).

What is the secret?

[BR3W CITY]

solidaxl What do you mean? To flush everything out? (for changing out for water, I just meant a quick hose-flushing).

FWIW I've had situations where I've had a sitting vehicle develop gelled coolant, or have so much corrosion in the passages that I felt it needed to be flushed out with some force.

a. How much force you need to use will alter the method. Radiators and heater cores will stand up fine to the ol' garden hose, so long as there isn't a total blockage causing pressure to backup (risks thin coil areas on radiators/heat exchangers).

b. If you have a blocked radiator or heat exchanger, pressure beyond the hose isn't a good idea, so you'll have to try a chemical cleaner. These can be hard to get into the small internal passages. Sometimes you have to evaluate the situation, and consider when to replace.

c. If you rad's are fine, but the block/engine water jacket is crummy, then its just a little more work. You can pop the radiator hoses off, taking the radiator and heater out of the loop. Then pop out the thermostat or whole water pump; if your stuff is that badly gelled, the t-stat is probably gunk'd up and worth replacing. Having the pump off lets you check its condition, makes getting at the t-stat easier, and takes a potential blockage out of the flush. You can put the pump back on temporarily with the stat out, or leave it off and just start your flush one side at a time. Then back to the hose! You should be able to force out gunk and buildup pretty easily.

d. If you get blockages cleaned out but still want to clean the water jacket more or still have partial buildup, you can feed chemicals through it beer-bong low pressure style, and flush back out when ready.

Thats like the 50-year old coolant flush on, and you shouldn't "need" to go that far unless its reallly nasty. Don't do more than you have to, and be careful on the radiators if they are old, as the chance for leaks is pretty high if they are damaged at all.

[solidaxel]

Thanks BR3W, that is the way I have flushed the rad for 50 years, I just thought there were some new "secrets"
Like dish washer liquid and Dawn for a oily block from a head gasket or intake gasket leak

[Andy4639]

Originally Posted by solidaxel

Thanks BR3W, that is the way I have flushed the rad for 50 years, I just thought there were some new "secrets"
Like dish washer liquid and Dawn for a oily block from a head gasket or intake gasket leak

You been reading Hot Rod mag too! I read that article also.It was in a Ford lightening so that's ok!