Cleaning water channels

[Spyro]

I have an old raw water cooled yanmar and would like to clean out the cooling channels in the engine. can anyone recommend a product that will do the job? And how do you get it into the engine. I have seen a product for car engines called "radflush" its a 2 part product. First part is put into the cooling water, run up to operating temp then left for so long then flushed out with the second part. Not sure how I woulse be able to do this with a raw water cooled engine.
Any Ideas?

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[steve28]

Unless you have a cooling problem i would leave it alone, i have found in the four yanmars i have stripped down for other reasons that the majority of the buildup was actually rust in big flakes on the water jacket.
Im sure there is a product that can be used saftley but as to its effect on the rust i dont know.


steve

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[Capt_Scarlet]

I cleaned out my 2GM20 with some stuff from a car accessory shop - it appeared to do bugger all.

Then tried some Kilrock - used for descaling kettles - fizzed away for some time, and did appear to shift some of the deposits - it certainly cleaned out the thermostat housing and other similar parts.




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[Guest]

suggest the old trick of container of water above engine on side deck and a pipe secured into water intake ....... .....

First start engine on hose pipe into intake so that you can get her running nice, then change to above cleaner in container ..... put it through and then back to hose again to flush out.

This of course assumes boat out of water .... unless you wish to disconn the water inlet pipe under engine - making sure that seacock works of course !!!!


<hr width=100% size=1>Nigel ... and of course Yahoo groups :
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/gps-navigator/

 

[alan43]

Is there any truth in the rumour that vinegar will do the job?

I have also heard that hydrochloric acid is good for descaling the waterways; has anyone tried that?

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[webcraft]

Just been talking to a guy who has an old Volvo MD6A the same as ours - he did his with acid brick cleaner and says he has never had a problem since.

- Nick



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[LittleShip]

Many of the radiator rebuild companies use biological soap powder to clear the “crud it’s cheap and worth a try. I have used it over the years for everything from cleaning radiators to engine bits.

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I wish I'd been born rich instead of good looking ?

 

[VicS]

Vinegar contains a fairly dilute solution of ethanoic (aka acetic) acid. Etahanoic acid is a very weak acid and although it may well slowly remove some lime scale I doubt whether the results will be worth the effort unless done warm.

Geting a raw water cooled engine filled with any cleaning solution is not easy as the flow bypasses the engine until the thermostat opens. That means rigging up a recirculating system as suggested elsewhere. Alternatively drain the engine completely, refill it with the cleaning solution, rig up a water supply direct to the exhaust system and run the engine until it is resonably hot. (Take care not to have the water running into the exhaust when the engine is not running though).

Hydrochloric acid is a strong acid and will quickly dissolve limescale and less quickly rust and other corrosion products. Again the process will be speeded up if it is warm. It also attacks iron and steel unless it contains an inhibitor. My main worry would be that core plugs might be vunerable and you could end up with more problems than you started with.

Kettle descalers vary, as far as I can see, in their active constituent. Some, I believe, used to contain methanoic (formic) acid, a stronger acid than ethanoic, but the one we have at home at present appears to be a solution of a crystalline solid but it is strongly acidic.

<hr width=100% size=1><font color=purple>Ne te confundant illegitimi.</font color=purple>