Head gasket shot?

CYB4

CYB4

Member
Hello,

i bought my 1930 Tudor in February 2015 and drove about 1000 miles with it since my purchase. The car has a new radiator, I can drive more than 10 minutes with a speed of more than 50 mph without getting the coolant about 180 deg F at outside temperatures of 80 deg F. So I think, the radiator is ok.

I have a 160 deg thermostate and a temp gauge in the upper hose (in front of the thermostate) and usually don't loose any cooling liquid. Due to our cold winters here in Germany there is also antifreeze in the cooling system.

But at heavy load (long ascending road and higher outer temperature) a lot of coolant spits out the Motometer radiator cap. The temperature of the coolant isn't exceeding 190 deg. The gasket of the radiator cap might not be completely tight, I have to replace the worn cap. After that I have to refill some coolant up to the baffle in the radiator.

At the last refill I wondered about the dirty coolant, I havn't noticed that before. At the radiator cap is an oily, greasy slime, you can see at the attached pictures. It seems, there is oil in the cooling system, but there is no water in the engine oil.

Further there is some oil mist at the head gasket in the right front of the engine block. Therefore I retorked the head screw nuts, both in the front of the water outlet were not tight.


I found in this great forum, there might be grease from the water pump in the colling system, but I am not sure.

Here my questions:

- Do you think, the head gasket is shot?
- How can I clean the cooling system from that oily slime?

Best regards from Bavaria, Germany

Chris
 

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It looks to me like a lot of grease has been pumped into the cooling system from someone over greasing the water pump grease fitting. It may take several flushing using the Heavy Duty Radiator flushes on the market. I used the Prestone brand one several times to clean mine. The Radiator Flushes that were available years ago worked great. I think the ones we have today are a lot less powerful.
Maybe the EPA has somehow regulated what we can use and drain now?
 
Start with the coolant.
drain when hot.
let the block cool down to room temp.
Simple green is a product we have in here that is a biodegradable all purpose detergent
some use automatic dishwasher soap, you want to avoid foam, and dissolve the scum that is now in the radiator, and the block. I would not put straight detergent but a medium strong solution. Maybe use the stuff you can wipe out of the radiator filler with a rag and see what it takes to disolve that.
I have used kerosene, And I believe lacquer thinner is too strong (vinegar is better for rust) run until warm.
Flush with clean water then neutralize with baking soda if you go the vinegar route, and then coolant of your choice, probably antifreeze once the system is treated and clean.
Remember bob's rule:
Never put coolant in a hot engine, you have to wait until the block is cool.
It is very easy to crack a block.
Bob
 
Hi Chris,

1. First try forgetting about the head for now.

2. As so well described and mentioned above, appears some former owner pumped lots of grease into his water pump whereby it entered the entire cooling system.
(I have never seen a radiator with as much grease as seen in your photo).

3. After installing the new "clean" radiator, as the engine warmed up, the old excess grease in the engine became warm & soft, then mixed in and became suspended in the warm coolant, and lastly, this grease lodged in your radiator.

4. The cure for this catastrophe is to get the grease out of the engine and the radiator; for example, clean, remove, and flush the grease out of the entire cooling system, (engine and radiator), with an emulsifying agent such as a strong type of soap or cleaning agent.

5. I have worked with several mechanics in Germany several times about 30- 35 years ago ..... absolutely no doubt is you would approach an old gray haired or balding mechanic in the Bavarian region, he would have a good suggestion as to what is easily available in your area to use for a cleaning agent provide a good cleaning.

Hope this helps.
 
Thanks for your help, guys!

I am calmed down, that the head gasket should be ok.

I bought the car with a new radiator and new waterpump. It seems (as you told), the former owner put too much grease in the pump. After I added the thermostate and we got summer with hotter air temperatures, it seems to be clear, the grease was suspended and is now everywhere in the cooling system.

As Bob suggested, I ordered "Simply Green", which is also available here in Germany; this stuff seems to be good, to get out the grease from the cooling system. First I will add some Automatic Dishwasher soap to warm up the engine, before draining it hot.

I will do this next weekend and let you know, what happens.

Best regards from Bavaria

Chris
 
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remove the stat to do your cleaning then when its all cleaned up reinstall. removing the stat will give you beter flow to flush things out
 
flush with clear water to a cool block after the dish washer detergent before the simple green mixture is used warm to hot tap water would work here as the flush water.
Bob
 
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