Flushing Model B cooling system

P

PeterinNH

Senior Member
I own a 32 5 win coupe with the 4 cylinder B engine and need some
recommendations on the best way to clean the cooling system prior to
adding a mixture of propylene glycol and water. As I've owned her for
nearly 30 years and have never cleaned her out, I feel it is important to
do so. I have seen comments in the past about using vinegar to accomplish
this task. Any information or advice will be greatly appreciated.

Peter
 
Try doing a search on "cleaning radiators" or "cooling system flush". I posted a few months ago about cleaning mine and the final cleaing was using WASHING SODA. So far it's running about 20* cooler than before the flush. I always use antifreeze and a thermostat.
 
Since you indicate the system has not been cleaned out in 30 years, I would pull the radiator, take it to a radiator shop, and have it rodded and flushed. I would then back flush the engine. I made up some fixtures for back flushing both the radiator and the engine. Information and photos are described in an article I wrote. Go to www.ocmafc.org. On the left menu scroll down to "tech articles" and click. It will bring up another menu. Click on my name at the top. Back flushing is the first article. You are welcome to download and use any of them.

Tom Endy
 
With all due respect to Tom Endy's suggestions, I wouldn't take anything apart or rod this or rod that unless the engine has been having a cooling problem. You might open up an expensive can of worms which you might otherwise have continued to have good service for many years to come.
 
"Any information or advice will be greatly appreciated."

Worked for me. It was in there for about two weeks. Just be careful not to splatter it around as it really gets yucky, for want of a better word. I put in two gallons, or nearly straight, then drained it off and flushed it until clear water came out of the drain. Beware, it can stain a nicely painted motor.
 
Here si something I got from the old Barn, from Chris in Jaxx.

Let see if I can put it all up.

Page 1

32 Water Jacket Flush
09/09/05
Hi, Scott

I used it straight. Put a rubber pipe cap on the inlet neck and it took about 5 qt. to fill the block.let it soak for 4-5 days. When drained it was EXTREMELY rusty.
I'll send photos when I take some. The radiator shop guy said the crud clogging the radiator was almost 100% rust scale from the block. He encouraged me to remove the head and pressure wash the block down from the top. Since I have a new Brumfield 5.9 waiting on the shelf I guess I'll go ahead and do it.

Chris



----- Original Message -----
From: "Scott" <scott@evodesign.com>
To: <greenwheels@comcast.net>
Sent: Friday, September 09, 2005 10:11 AM
Subject: RE: Cleaning the water jackets.


Chris

I am thinking of cleaning the water jackets with vinegar. Is that straight
vinegar or a solution?

Thanks
Scott

09/17/05
Hi Scott

Here's the promised photos.
first one shows the rust I slopped around the engine when draining the vinegar. in the foreground is the cap I put on the inlet neck.
# 001 & 002 show the lovely stains on garage floor. 004 is looking down the water outlet neck. 005 is the used vinegar in bucket with a crusty film on top.
I have removed the water pump & can see lots of rust crud back at the rear of the head, so I think removing it to clean the block (as suggested by radiator shop) is a good idea.
Happy motoring,

Chris in Jax
 
Page2


10/23/05
Scott-

As you may recall from earlier messages & postings, I decided (upon the advice of the radiator shop) to remove the cylinder head and more thoroughly clean the engine water jackets. it was a long process involving MULTIPLE flushings with high-pressure water, a couple of 48-hour vinegar soaks and a roto-rooter treatment with a 14" piece of speedo cable in the electric drill.

I jacked up the rear axle so the block was level and would drain more completely. at first I covered the distributor hole with tape and coated the insides of the cylinders with grease to keep water out. after the first pressure rinse I realized that was not enough. I cleaned the top of the block and sealed everything except the water jackets with foil duct tape. later I sealed the drivers side jacket openings too. photo 002 shows how I routed the drainage into a bucket. when I removed the tape there was only about a teaspoon of water in 1 cylinder.

Because I'm a curious and also because I wanted to quantify the process, I caught the majority of the water and saved the rust scale it contained. It filled a 16-oz peanut butter jar with particles ranging from powder to 1/2" chunks!
I certainly thank Russell at Mandarin Radiator for his sage advice- I'm truly pleased that crud will not be in my nice clean radiator.
the new Brumfield head is on and we are that much closer to being back on the road with a totally clean cooling system.

regards,
-Chris in Jax

I'll see if I can post some pictures.
 
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