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Rust in Motor

3K views 24 replies 8 participants last post by  Slowryd 
#1 ·
Hey guys so a few months back my car had a coolant leak I didn't fix so I started using tap water and then my car died on me due to overheating and ASD fuse blew, that's a problem in itself, so I pulled out my motor to do additional stuff in the bay and I came to realize there is rust all throughout my coolant system!the rust is pretty heavy and the head is off currently, is there any way to clean out the rust without pulling the motor apart to "dunk" it. I hope to have the car back and running in a week or two and am willing to do a DIY flush or what not with the help of the car running but I need major help on this. I am currently low of funds which is why the car is still apart. Thanks in advance for the help.
 
#2 ·
Probably should have flushed the coolant lines with the engine together by running a hose under pressure through the system. You didn't have water in your coolant lines in freezing weather did you? Without more information about whether the coolant had ever been flushed, or how many miles the car/engine has, it is hard to give an educated guess about whether the rust is normal or not. Is it just a rust color to the coolant or actual flaking/debris?
 
#5 ·
The car has about 107k miles on it and I bought it at 105k. I am not sure if it has ever been flushed before but the weather up her hardly gets to freezing temps. There seemed to be no buildup prior to the adding of water by myself so I am under the impression that it is mineral buildup. So would the best way to go about cleaning it is do it once I have the car in running condition?
 
#3 ·
To add to RTShadow's, if the rust is flakes and if large enough and as bad as you say it is the radiator and heater core should be back flushed(opposite to coolant flow) too. Check the water pump as well. Should use distilled water if adding to the system. You sure it is rust and not mineral build up coloured by the coolant to look like rust? The Mopar coolant is *redish/orangeish* in colour. Are the flakes magnetic?
The straight use of water probably caused the buildup or rust and contributed to the overheating if it clogged the system. Straight water has a lower boiling point than a mixture of coolant and water or "Water Wetter" and water.
 
#7 ·
View attachment 131122

This is what the water pump looks like and the rest of the coolant system in the motor looks slightly like this, more of a thin layer of the brownish/orangish gunk
Looks like a DCR Hi-Flow Pump, does it still spin easily? No binding, grinding or choppy feel? is there a lot of play if you try and wiggle the input? If so it's still good and a good through flush / backflush with a quality rad flushing agent should work wonders.
 
#12 ·
Hey guys just to update this post, so I'm beginning to get very irritated with my car at this point. I've bought two different radiator caps, 18 psi, due to coolant dumping to the overflow and overheating car. I tried to run a garden hose through the system from the coolant inlet because I'm not sure how to back flush and water was clear when it came out. I tried putting a flush in the radiator and I couldn't leave it in for more than a few hours because it will eventually dump out of the overflow. Can someone help me out with this issue I'm having. Maybe an opinion on what this could be And how to back flush. Thank you in advance.
 
#14 ·
I ran it with my month old 190 degree thermostat and would overheat after about 20 minutes of driving. Bought a new 180 degree thermostat and same issue. Not sure if radiator is clogged but which heater hose do you remove from coolant hardline to backflush so I can try and see if any gunk comes out.
 
#16 ·
So I think I may have found my issue. I'm pretty ignorant in the coolant system and how the overflow system works. I don't have an overflow resivore so it's just dumping down to the ground. I did not think that coolant flows back into the coolant system from resivore. Am I correct on this being my issue? Please correct me if I'm wrong.
 
#20 ·
So just to add onto this, coolant resivore came in and installed it and filler her up with water. I don't want to put coolant in until I know I'm not wasting money by it flowing out. I drove about 10 miles and noticed it was getting a little warm, about 210 so I drove a little more to see if it would stop and it kept climbing. I pulled over to check water levels and the overflow seemed to be "boiling" so I let it cool down and added about a half gallon of water into it and filler up the overflow. Recently I replaced head gasket but it has hit 260 very few times. What should I do to try and diagnose the issue? Is running distilled water not a good idea for trying to figure out the issue?
 
#25 ·
Dump everything and put coolant in. Water has a lower boiling point and is not meant for extended usage.

Flush your system before hand until the water is clear, then put coolant.

Sent from my SM-T710 using Tapatalk
 
#21 ·
With the overflow bottle not being there you may have air in the system. Let the car cool down and add liquid through the cap by the intake to top it off and also add to the overflow bottle.
Also remember just straight water (hope you are using distilled) has a lower boiling point than 50/50 coolant mix or adding "Water Wetter".
 
#22 ·
Should I just spend an hour or so doing this over and over again? I just ran it and bubbles did come up and water would overflow from the water inlet. I checked the dip stick and no milky oil. This whole situation is becoming a nightmare. Thanks btw for all the help with all my issues I've had since owning the car.
 
#24 ·
If it continues to "bubble" in the overflow after running it hard and shutting it off. I had a bad radiator cap and a torn thermostat gasket causing my cooling system to never pressurize and fill the overflow. Throw a new radiator cap on it and clean the "coolant neck" where the cap seals.
 
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