engine water channels

Post by **flying** » Tue Jan 23, 2007 10:20 pm

i went to flush the water etc out of the system to put a fresh lot in and found that its blocked behind the water drain plug...ive stuck a screwdriver in and its def blocked with gunk...whats the easy way of getting it to unblock i was thinking maybe rad cleaner but not sure if it will do the job or maybe soda crytals....suggestions please has im hoping to have thie car on the rd by next week

Post by **Peetee** » Wed Jan 24, 2007 6:52 am

I wouldn't use soda crystals. I tried this once and spent a worrying amount of time trying to clear the blockages caused by undisolved crystals!

Post by **RogerRust** » Wed Jan 24, 2007 7:44 am

I spent ages trying to poke the waterway clear from the tap end. Fortunately I had the engine out and stripped so I poured harpic limescale remover down a couple of water ways in the block. But if the engine is in situ this may be a bit extreme!

What I plan to do is drain half a cup full out every service to keep it clear and top up with antifreeze.

Post by **Willie** » Wed Jan 24, 2007 9:58 am

I don't know if you are referring to the radiator drain tap or the block drain? If the radiator tap then remove it which should let all the gunk out.
If the block then I wish you luck as I failed with mine despite soaking the entire block in kettle descaler overnight which cleaned everything out nicely but didn't sort the drain point. I soaked the entire block by removing the thermostat housing and filling to the top with descaler mix.

Post by **flying** » Wed Jan 24, 2007 10:49 am

oh so looks like it might be staying then ...its on the engine side not rad,,,,i have the same problem with my escort but can allways poke it clear...problem is i dont know how blocked it is, if its too blocked throughout the channels then the engine will get rather hot

Post by **minor_hickup** » Wed Jan 24, 2007 10:59 am

Perhaps a damn good flush and back flush? I wouldn't use rad cleaner until it looks ver clean to get any you haven't already got.

Post by **Willie** » Wed Jan 24, 2007 12:31 pm

Well, mine has been blocked for about 12 years now with no problems.

Post by **Shawn** » Wed Jan 24, 2007 8:56 pm

I too cleared this the hard way. I removed the block drain tap and first used drill bits (turned by hand only) then a long heavy gauge piece of wire with a flattened end and a bent handle on the other end and just poked and prodded and twisted...

Huge amounts of gunk came out, but it took about an hour. I just kept topping it up with water 'til it ran clear, then back flushed it for ages.

Messy, but it seems to have worked.

Post by **bmcecosse** » Wed Jan 31, 2007 1:35 pm

Drain cleaner - but don't leave it in there too long.

Post by **JimK** » Wed Jan 31, 2007 2:05 pm

On my old Nissan I left some strong soda solution in for a bit then connected a hosepipe to the bottom of the engine and turned it on...

That cleaned the crud and the water washed out any undissolved crystals.

In my case it was mostly rust particles so the water did most of the work. The car had driven half a mile each day for several years; I dpn't think the thermostat had opened in that time...