mawm
Well-Known Member
I have a small diesel auxiliary that has not being reaching operating temperature over the last few weeks. So after a bit of a struggle I have managed to remove the thermostat that was 'cemented' in by a fair amount of lime scale and test it in a pot of water - after giving it a good scrub. It seems to be operating properly. I have also removed the heat exchanger, which was fairly free of scale but the fresh water side was covered with a greasy layer that smelled very much like window putty. I have also found that the empty reservoir tank has a layer of brown sludge in it that also smells like putty.
Seven or 8 years ago I 'cooked' the engine by forgetting to open the raw water cock. This was brief and has seemed not to cause any problems. Following that episode there was some grey gunge floating on the surface of the coolant in the reservoir tank - it too smelled like window putty. After a few top ups of coolant it disappeared.
Now the conundrum. I want to clean the fresh water side of the cooling system while I'm busy with it with something like Rydlime. Firstly, it seems as if I need a detergent as well. Is there something that will act as one and remove the lime scale? Secondly, should I just leave it all alone as I might have caused some damage with the over heating which has subsequently been covered by the lime scale? Bear in mind that the engine is not overheating now. Apparently the engine has an aluminium block so I need to be careful with what to I use to flush.
Seven or 8 years ago I 'cooked' the engine by forgetting to open the raw water cock. This was brief and has seemed not to cause any problems. Following that episode there was some grey gunge floating on the surface of the coolant in the reservoir tank - it too smelled like window putty. After a few top ups of coolant it disappeared.
Now the conundrum. I want to clean the fresh water side of the cooling system while I'm busy with it with something like Rydlime. Firstly, it seems as if I need a detergent as well. Is there something that will act as one and remove the lime scale? Secondly, should I just leave it all alone as I might have caused some damage with the over heating which has subsequently been covered by the lime scale? Bear in mind that the engine is not overheating now. Apparently the engine has an aluminium block so I need to be careful with what to I use to flush.
