brown water

[callyspoy]

hi, dad question here...his words...

I recently changed the water and anti-freeze as the water colour was brown. when i did this, i did also flush it.
i checked today and it is just as brown as it was before, and as this is the third time i have done it, i am trying to think of a cause...any suggestions?
thanks
Dave
(and his receptionist/intepreter callum)

[alanworland]

My water system was pretty horrid, I poked & scraped out what I could, then hosed forwards/reverse etc then introduced a rad flush type product and used as directed, flushed with water and then used another rad flush product (I know one of them was Holts I can't remember what the other one was) then finally rised every way possible the filled with a 50% mix of water and Halfords, and it has stayed clean since!

[Matt]

There are 3 things that could do with being flushed, the radiator, the heater matrix and the water ways in the block...


Take the rad out, lay it flat on the floor, fill it up with the hose and turn it so all the water tries to exit from one side, then fill it and empty it from the other until the water comes out clear. Repeat until you get no brown water at all coming out

Disconnnect the 2 pipes to the heater, and shove a hosepipe up one until the water runs clear, then do it the other way. Again keep swapping until you get no brown water

Theres no point trying to flush the block with the stat in place so take that out, block up the bottom hose fill engine with water and let it all drain as quick as possible from the bottom hose. Repeat this until clear water comes out.

Reassemble the system, fill up with clean water and a flush, go for a run get the car up to temperature and drain it again. Then fill up with antifreeze and water and hopefully all should be okay

[Kevin]

Just a slight difference I always turn the rad upside down to back flush it with the hose in the bottom outlet and its surprising what this shifts and how long it can take before the water becomes clear.

[Matt]

Thats why I said both ways round Kevin ;)

[minor_hickup]

My last moggy had really brown water. I flushed, back flushed, then put a system cleaner in, ran for a week, flushed and back flushed. No gunk was removed just fine rust particles. In a few days it was the same colour. I think it can be difficult to get all the particles out. I removed the stat to flush, the radiator was removed and then flushed on its own with kettle descaler.

[DAVIDMCCULLOUGH]

My Dad has been a mechanic of 40plus years and he always recommends a small amount of soap powder! Flush first , then soap powder and take it for a few miles of a run and then flush again until it all runs clear. Easy, and smells good too....

[alanworland]

When I double flushed the block I had a new rad ready to go in but didn't want it filled with gung, so I actually modified an old gallon oil container which was piped into the engine block circuit to allow the water to circulate in the block (no stat, no heater) The can would only allow water back into the block from a high level so it trapped the solids coming out of the engine. The temperature was monitored and it was found the engine could be run for about 15 minutes. Bit of a performance but it seemed to work!

[bmcecosse]

Interesting tip with the soap powder - has anyone tried it ??

[minor_hickup]

I definately will if I have horrible not sludgy but dirty looking water. These fluushing agents are great for shifting dirt but not rust particles.