Engine water jacket . L134

calypso · Post by **calypso** » Sun Oct 02, 2011 8:38 am

Looking at the state of my engines water jacket (having just removed the thermostat housing and water pump .It looks pretty well encrusted with rust which cant be helping the cooling much . A few years back i was able to get hold of a can of 'Corrodip' ......a magical solution which disolved the rust (all of it ,over a time span of about 24hr.) Since i cannot source this product here in the Philippines ,can anyone recommend a different approach to the problem ?

Post by **wesk** » Sun Oct 02, 2011 9:29 am

First try back flushing the block with an air/water pressurized flushing system. You disconnect the two radiator hoses. You insert the system's hose adapter in the lower hose so the water and air pressure is directed at the engine block. You allow water to flow into the block for a few moments and then squeeze the air pressure blast release trigger/button and repeat this until the water exiting the top of the block is clean. If this leaves the block reasonably clean and water flows freely through the block then you should be OK. If the water flows poorly or not at all through the block you will have to remove it, disassemble it and have it hot tanked.

calypso · Post by **calypso** » Sun Oct 02, 2011 8:48 pm

Ok thanks for that wes. I spoke to a guy earlier today who worked in a desalination plant in saudi . He said that to restore the water jacket to 'as new' condition ,without dismantling anything ,was relatively easy using electrolysis. Apparently ....if the water pump and thermostat housing are removed .A blanking plate needs to be fabricated from a non conductive material to cover the pump hole. The unit (block and head) can then be filled with enough electrolyte to be level with the thermostat hole.The electrolyte consists of water mixed with washing soda or baking soda at the rate of one tablespoonful per gallon of water.(stir well) There is a sacrificial anode consisting of a piece of stainless steel which is bolted through the blanking plate made for the pump hole . It can be a piece of plate bolted with a stainless bolt but it MUST NOT touch the surrounding metalwork of the block. Next take a std. run of the mill 12 volt battery charger ,take the positive terminal and connect it to the bolt sticking through blanking plate .Take the negative terminal and connect it to a clean piece of block (it may be necessary to bridge the head /block to ensure electrical continuity) then switch on and let nature do the rest. The system will only remove rust but not good metal .It may be as well to disconect all electrical terminals from the engine unit before proceeding to ensure isolation of the unit . The same system can be used used in a plastic bucket filled with electrolyte to completely de rust small components . Just make sure that when the current is switched on ,that you see a steady stream of bubbles rising from the rusted article ,indicating that the connections are good. Also make sure that the connector from the + pole battery charger is kept out of the electrolyte ...or it will dissapear. An hour should be enough for the averave crusty block but keep checking regularly and hose it through several times afterwards to remove the fallen debris.

Post by **wesk** » Mon Oct 03, 2011 12:10 am

I haven't heard of many folks doing that with the engine installed. It should work OK but if it loosens large rust particles when you flush they can block small passageways and leave you with hot spots in the engine. I assume you will also remove the coolant temp sensor as well. Let us know how it works out for you.

calypso · Post by **calypso** » Mon Oct 03, 2011 6:14 am

ok ill post the results . Its due to happen next weekend.

whydahdvr · Post by **whydahdvr** » Mon Oct 03, 2011 7:26 am

Not sure of the timeframe but my experience with electrolysis and restoring metal comes from archaeological restoration work. We had about 40 canons that we were restoring, locked up in concretions. We used the electrolysis solution and process to help replace the iron molecules in the concretion with salt, and replace the salt molecules in the canon with iron. It took a long time for each artifact, but they had been underwater for over 300 years at the time. This was on the salvaging of the pirate wreck "Whydah" off of Cape Cod.
Thanks in advance for letting us know how it works out and the requirements. Someone else on this site also used that process to de-rust smaller pieces from his jeep.

RICKG · Post by **RICKG** » Mon Oct 03, 2011 8:23 am

I read somewhere that stainless steel, when used as the anode, creates
a poisonous or volatile by-product. Correct me if i'm wrong-
it's worth checking into.

skyjeep50 · Post by **skyjeep50** » Mon Oct 03, 2011 8:55 am

While y'all are waiting to see if electrolysis works, in the same timeframe you could have the engine out, taken apart, hot tanked, checked for other problems, assembled, painted and on the way to be back in the Jeep!

calypso · Post by **calypso** » Sat Oct 08, 2011 7:20 am

Ok its done .....the results were pretty good .I connected the - terminal of the batt. charger at the opposite end of the water jacket to where the pump sits just to ensure uniformity of current transfer through the jacket . Left it connected for 4 hours . The jacket is pretty clean,showing as a dull grey in most places . I did backflush it several times also to make sure most of the debris was out. Unfortunately i dont have fibre optic gear for a more detailed inspection but at least its a lot better than it was, as seen from the pump hole and thermostat housing .

Balvar24 · Post by **Balvar24** » Mon Oct 10, 2011 9:34 am

RICKG wrote:I read somewhere that stainless steel, when used as the anode, creates
a poisonous or volatile by-product. Correct me if i'm wrong-
it's worth checking into.

Hexavalent chromium. It's a known carcinogen.

skyjeep50 · Post by **skyjeep50** » Mon Oct 10, 2011 12:37 pm

Hexavalent chromium has been linked to health effects and although it is a concern, industry is still allowed to dump chromium contaminated wastewater into drinking water sources. Follow the link: http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2010 ... king-water
The take home message would be to use some reasonable precautions when using the above mentioned process to clean a block - plenty of ventilation, dispose of water properly, etc. Can't say what to think about drinking the water in Chicago!