Background: Last 2 years I only ran distilled water/water wetter. Apparently I didn't add enough water wetter or the water wasn't that distilled. A few months ago I got the coolant flushed at a shop and replaced with a 50/50 mix.

Anyways, I'm swapping out my opti/wp and this is what I see inside the wp and radiator so far.I can only imagine what it looks like inside the heads/block

Am I completely hosed? Do I have any options? What should I do?

 

I quit using dex cool a long time ago

 

Probably the radiator core is the greatest problem area. I would run some of the radiator flush (detergent) to see if it can be cleaned up. If not, you haven't spent too much. If the flush doesn't clean it, you may have to start with replacing the radiator.

WD

 

I dont understand why people are having problems with Dex-Cool?????? Been using it since GM came out with it and have had no problems......

 

Rust from the water and water wetter. Yes, try the flush and then a fresh refill with the proper mixture of distilled water and Dexcool. If you use the stop leak tablets, do not overdose as that causes the sludge like stuff to happen.

 

Most of that appears to be rust. If you had it flushed by a shop and then actually added the prorper coolant/water mix, it seems they didn't do a very good job flushing out your cooling system. Running only distilled water and Water Wetter is apparently what caused the rust in the first place, as I don't believe that Water Wetter contains any type of rust inhibiting addititives, (something that must be added if not running antifreeze/coolant in your system).

You might want to consider purchasing some heavy duty cooling system flush and flushing it yourself (probably several times in order to remove that much rust. It may also be worth pulling the radiator and taking it to a radiator shop and have them properly clean it after you flush the system. Otherwise, look for another shop that has a good power flushing machine to have them flush your cooling system and look for it to be somewhat more involved as that is an abnormal amount of build-up.

 

I have a new waterpump and an electric waterpump. I was planning on installing the electric waterpump, but can I use the housing seeing as its all rusted? If not, I'll just install the new mechanical pump. Is any of this rust removable? Should I take it to a shop to get flushed? Will it turn into rot and completely mess up the block and heads?

Thanks guys

 

Its not that big of a deal, just run some cooling system cleaner through it.

Mine was similar at one point. Flush it out and run it

 

Thanks guys, I typed the reply above before I saw there were more posts.

Does anyone have any experience with flushing additives? Are there any how to's on flushing the coolant system? I might try to do it myself if I can't find a competent shop to do the job. Problem is I live in an apt, so depending on how involved and messy flushing the system is, I might have to have a shop do it.

Also, regarding the wp housing, would you reuse the rusted housing and put the ewp on there or just put the new mechanical pump that I have. There is even some surface rust on one of the hosuing tubes (picture #1). Can I just sand that down and will it be a problem?

 

No Dexcool was mentioned by the OP.


ssbowtie1:

While watter wetter does have some corrosion inhibitor in it, there was obviously not enough for your mixture with water. The corrosion inhibitors in anti-freeze are part of why you use the stuff. Distilled water is not going to be of much value to inhibit corrosion. I am afraid you did this to yourself.

 

I understand and agree with you. I take responsibility for the error and will only run a 50/50 mixture from now on. I was just asking for opinions on if its repairable and what my options are. Also as to whether I can still use the wp housing or if I should put in the new one.

 

I ran straight water in my car last year but it was only in there for 3 months.I have 50/50 green stuff and water for winter storage.

I am wondering what to run next year.It is a track only car and the track frowns on antifreeze

any ideas are welcome

 

I do the same, whats a good rust inhibitor? Is water wetter even worth anything? I never have seen a difference

 

When you flush the system, which hose do you remove? There is no way all of the pressure will come out of the radiator drain. Is there a specific hose that is preferred to be removed?

Also, if you do this yourself, you'll typically need to run the engine about 15 - 20 minutes. Let the engine cool a bit since you'll be flushing out the chemicals with cold water. My hunch is that it isn't a good idea to shock a hot engine with cold water.

Maybe I'm being over-cautious but I'd wait a bit and let it cool before using cold tap water.

 

I would think you could re-use the wp housing. When you get the mechanical drive/impeller out, you can clean everything up. Shouldn't be a big deal...