chadzeilenga
Active member
Hi All,
I'm looking for some additional input on an issue I've been struggling to solve. The issue is rust in my coolant. I've noticed since I first purchased back in March 2018 and below are the steps I've taken to solve it.
So far I have done the following since I purchased the vehicle back in March listed in order:
- 2 rounds of Blue Devil Cleaner flush. Drove for a few days with this in. Still had rust in coolant.
- 3 rounds of fill and drain from lower radiator hose with water on warm engine and thermostat open (dumb idea)
- Backflush of coolant system with garden hose through Tee installed by previous owner in the heater core hose. Started engine and ran until water out of radiator was clear.
- Added 16oz/1gal mix of Sulfamic acid to remove mineral deposits. Ran without thermostat for ~3hrs on highway. Allowed to cool and drained from lower radiator hose
- Added 16oz/1gal mix of Oxalic acid to remove rust deposits. Ran without thermostat for ~3hrs on highway. Allowed to cool and drained from lower radiator hose. Did this twice
- Neutralization with 16oz/1gal mix of washing soda and run for 15min to mix and then drained when cool.
- Removed aftermarket radiator and did backflush on cold engine through the tee in heater core line. Let water run for ~15-30min. Plugged lower radiator hose so that coolant came out of bypass hose connections.
- Poured (2) gallons of distilled water into the tee on heater core hose to displace and minimize the existing tap water from block.
- Installed recently rodded OEM radiator and all new radiator hoses, heater core hoses and coolant bypass hose.
- Added 1 gallon of straight Green antifreeze. Allowed to mix with existing straight water in the block and then topped off with 50/50 mix until all air was bled out.
I ran with this configuration for a few days and I'm getting a significant amount of rust sludge floating in the top of my coolant when I remove cap and also it is stuck to the bottom of the cap. Below is what I have after 2 days of driving around town.
Is it possible that the coolant loosened up rust that was stuck in the block? I would think that after all of the efforts listed above this would have all been clear or I would have seen just a little bit. Maybe the new radiator is allowing higher flow rate in the engine?
This is a chunk of the rust that I pulled out this morning and let dry. It just turns to powder, so there doesn't appear to be any oil
I'm looking for some additional input on an issue I've been struggling to solve. The issue is rust in my coolant. I've noticed since I first purchased back in March 2018 and below are the steps I've taken to solve it.
So far I have done the following since I purchased the vehicle back in March listed in order:
- 2 rounds of Blue Devil Cleaner flush. Drove for a few days with this in. Still had rust in coolant.
- 3 rounds of fill and drain from lower radiator hose with water on warm engine and thermostat open (dumb idea)
- Backflush of coolant system with garden hose through Tee installed by previous owner in the heater core hose. Started engine and ran until water out of radiator was clear.
- Added 16oz/1gal mix of Sulfamic acid to remove mineral deposits. Ran without thermostat for ~3hrs on highway. Allowed to cool and drained from lower radiator hose
- Added 16oz/1gal mix of Oxalic acid to remove rust deposits. Ran without thermostat for ~3hrs on highway. Allowed to cool and drained from lower radiator hose. Did this twice
- Neutralization with 16oz/1gal mix of washing soda and run for 15min to mix and then drained when cool.
- Removed aftermarket radiator and did backflush on cold engine through the tee in heater core line. Let water run for ~15-30min. Plugged lower radiator hose so that coolant came out of bypass hose connections.
- Poured (2) gallons of distilled water into the tee on heater core hose to displace and minimize the existing tap water from block.
- Installed recently rodded OEM radiator and all new radiator hoses, heater core hoses and coolant bypass hose.
- Added 1 gallon of straight Green antifreeze. Allowed to mix with existing straight water in the block and then topped off with 50/50 mix until all air was bled out.
I ran with this configuration for a few days and I'm getting a significant amount of rust sludge floating in the top of my coolant when I remove cap and also it is stuck to the bottom of the cap. Below is what I have after 2 days of driving around town.
Is it possible that the coolant loosened up rust that was stuck in the block? I would think that after all of the efforts listed above this would have all been clear or I would have seen just a little bit. Maybe the new radiator is allowing higher flow rate in the engine?
This is a chunk of the rust that I pulled out this morning and let dry. It just turns to powder, so there doesn't appear to be any oil