Bad Head Gasket

[MazerRackham]

There was a **** ton of rust in the coolant/cylinder head. That crackhead I was telling you guys about in my last thread isn't that bad at all. I actually really like him despite the fact that he's always trying to hit on my mom. So I took the head off the engine and found a bunch of coolant cooked onto the valves. I spent all day today getting all the carbon build up off of the top of the pistons/cylinder head. The one thing that is worrying me to no end is all the rust that is in the coolant. When I look at the coolant passage ways in the engine block the sides are caked with rust. What am I going to need to do to get that stuff off?

Edited July 28, 2012 by MazerRackham

[clutchdust]

You may be able to find some chemical means, like "naval jelly" for the block. I don't know how that would work on the head though. But I'm afraid to say that your best bet may be the mechanical option, i.e. you with various tools scraping it off as best you can.

[BluDestiny]

I wouldn't worry too much for a stock motor, if it was running decently before, then it will again.

 

My friend had an 87 corolla and he had never changed the coolant. Well he decided too and the coolant was orange. so we replaced it and put in green stuff. 1 week later we checked on it and it was orange again (though not as bad as the first time). Never had any overheating problems though.

[Pharaohabq]

Yeah, if you have a power washer, you can blast through the engine and flush out all the crud. Flushing the radiator too is a good idea., but really a little rust is normal. it's not going to hurt anything, you just don't want too much to build up and clog the Radiator passages. The head, shouldn't be a big deal once you get the new head gasket. Make sure you've flushed any rust out of the cylinders before you put it on, you don't want to scar your walls.

[Gollum]

There's plenty of chemicals on the market that will break down rust in the coolant system that are worth a try. I'd go that route before taking 40 hours of my life to clean just what I could physically get to. Just expect to do frequent coolant changes while you're getting it all cleaned out.

[Zmanco]

As Gollum said, once you have it back together, get used to draining the water every time you drive it. My motor had sat outside for a long time before I picked it up and since I didn't need to tear the bottom end down, couldn't hot tank it. I'll bet that I flushed the cooling system well over 25 times before it was finally clear. And don't forget to open the heater valve before draining, otherwise you'll leave a lot of crud behind.

 

Most of the flushes are just a mild acid. You could start with one, but as it sounds like you've got so much rust, it might not be worth it. But once you get to the point that the coolant comes out clear, then you might run the flush to clean the passages.

 

FYI, I wouldn't put a lot of miles on the engine with just water as there won't be any lubricants for the water pump and that will shorten its life.

[MazerRackham]

Thanks brothers. I appreciate all your help! ALMOST DONE! Just finished re-attaching the intake and exhaust manifolds. All I need to do now is the timing chain/timing chain cover.