On Sat, 29 Oct 1994, Lewis Dunbar Dove wrote:
> OK SOL's, just what is that puke that comes out when you probe the
> engine block drain with a stick? In the bad old days of Model A and
> T Fords, people used to use oatmeal (porridge) in the radiator to
> stop leaks. What is in this new stuff?
> [stuff deleted]
> Maybe the circulatory systems of millions of LBC's are being
> clogged by this stuff. Is it a problem? How do you get it all out,
> short of rodding the radiator, dipping the block, etc. ? Are there
> quick and easy solutions, short of getting a companion named
> Goldilocks? My wife would object to that.
You can put away your porridge bowl. It's probably just sediment, not
oatmeal. Most of it is from the tap water used to fill the cooling system
(and you thought your water was clean?). The more often you have to add
water to the system, the more of this stuff there is to settle out in the
low points of the system (like the drain plug area). It's more likely to
be a problem in an old fashioned vented header tank system than in a newer
"sealed" system with a coolant recovery bottle, simply because there is
much more evaporation from the old systems and therefore more fresh water
added between flushes.
One way to minimize sedimentation is to use distilled water, but the jury
is still out on that among the experts. Some European cars leave the
factory with distilled water/antifreeze mix and recommend distilled water
for topping off the system. Others claim that the lack of minerals in
distilled water means that iron or aluminum from the engine block will be
disolved faster, so recommend tap water instead. I don't know who is
right, but I use distilled water and have very little sediment buildup
between flushes (every two years) even in old header tank systems.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Chip Old 1948 M.G. TC TC6710 NEMGTR #2271
Cub Hill, Maryland 1962 Triumph TR4 CT3154LO (daily transportation)
feold@umd5.umd.edu
|