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Coolant draining issues

  • Tom_Parkinson
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11 Jul 2005 22:58 #3342 by Tom_Parkinson
Replied by Tom_Parkinson on topic stop-leak?
Hi Doug,

I have a '40 LaSalle that ran so hot that one used to be able to grill steaks a foot off the hood a week later. When changing coolant it was obvious that the system was full long before enough coolant was installed. I pulled the flat heads and found the water jackets were packed solid with crud that I later decided was a 10-years' supply of Stop-Leak. Someone took a short cut to a radiator repair, and as a result this engine ran hotter than Hades. I chipped this crud out with a hammer and long screwdriver.

If your engine is providing you with crud that is not primarily rust, I suggest you probe around in there and see if you get a fine grained hard clay-like substance: Stop-Leak.

---Tom

With brakes, two cylinders are better than one.

Editor-in-Chief Emeritus, The Hardtop News Magazine, the Journal of the Michiana Dunes Region, Lambda Car Club International

See pix of 1509A here: mbcurl.me/YCSE

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  • Tom Georgeson
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11 Jul 2005 19:32 #3338 by Tom Georgeson
Replied by Tom Georgeson on topic Rust in Cord block
When I rebuilt my engine I used a long common screw driver and a magnet on a long spring rod. I scraped the rust loose and pulled it out of the block with the magnet. I kept the rust scales in a coffee can and when I got through I had about four pounds of scale. I also put copper screens in the both outlet tubes to the radiator to catch more rust. You could also boil the block and then scrap it.

Tom Georgeson

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  • dougklink
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10 Jul 2005 03:03 #3331 by dougklink
Coolant draining issues was created by dougklink
Today I was attempting to drain the block to replace the old coolant with new, fresh coolant.

I opened the drain cocks and only got a trickle, so I removed the drain plugs. Still only a trickle. It was only after I probed into the block 3 inches or so that a broke through the crud, finally getting a good flow out of the drain holes. I flushed the block via the radiator fill for 5 minutes or so and cleaned out the holes a few more times until it ran clear and steady.

I'm concerned that there may be crud in the lower parts of the water jacket around the other cylinders also. Wondering what other's experience has been?

Also, do the water distribution tubes tend to rot out after time?

The radiator seems to flow well and, after rebuilding the water pump last week, the car runs cool even here at 7500 feet at 85F climbing an 8% grade up to my shop.

Thanks

Doug Klink
Estes Park, Colorado

812 S/C Phaeton

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