Are you sure the coolant passages in the engine are not clogged from it being so rusty as you described? The flow rate of the coolant could be way down from what it's supposed to be, without the engine experiencing rusty passages.

  On 5/24/2022 at 5:07 PM, Andrew@TheZStore said:

Are you sure the coolant passages in the engine are not clogged from it being so rusty as you described? The flow rate of the coolant could be way down from what it's supposed to be, without the engine experiencing rusty passages.

Good point - is there a way to check/fix that without sending the head and block to a machine shop?

  On 5/24/2022 at 2:50 PM, chaseincats said:

Oil looks good - it's always thrown a small puff of white coolant smoke on a hard acceleration gear change though

Check your spark plugs.  Use a borescope.  

How can you tell it's coolant smoke?

I had a leak at the back of the head.  Not obvious.  Passenger side.

 

  On 5/24/2022 at 7:03 PM, Zed Head said:

Check your spark plugs.  Use a borescope.  

How can you tell it's coolant smoke?

I had a leak at the back of the head.  Not obvious.  Passenger side.

 

I believe its coolant since its white (not blue) and has a sweet smell

Lots of ways or combinations of ways to confirm blown head gasket.

Smell in the presence of white exhaust.....assuming your sniffer is reliable.

Borescope is a great idea. Might be something you can rent from an auto parts store. The leaky cylinder will have part or all of the piston clean. Often the spark plug will be unusually clean too.

Leak down and / or compression test can contribute to the evidence.

Watching coolant level and seeing that it reduces.

  On 5/24/2022 at 5:07 PM, Andrew@TheZStore said:

Are you sure the coolant passages in the engine are not clogged from it being so rusty as you described? The flow rate of the coolant could be way down from what it's supposed to be, without the engine experiencing rusty passages.

Any way to clear these without disassembling the head/block and shipping it off to a machine shop?

If you are having coolant blockage issues. You might be able to flush it out with the head off. Many times the cylinder head gaskets have some small holes in them. Maybe some of these are getting blocked. Maybe even temporarily.

You can try to do a flush on the engine. Some people use a hose to get good water pressure through the entire engine to try and push debris out. There are also Coolant system additives you can purchase to help flush the system before doing a full coolant change. 

Funnily enough, ChrisFix's YouTube videos on the coolant system additive and flush are quick, easy to understand right to the point.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s--5ft5YiHg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g8YZF5cW7-A

 

  On 5/24/2022 at 10:29 PM, Andrew@TheZStore said:

You can try to do a flush on the engine. Some people use a hose to get good water pressure through the entire engine to try and push debris out. There are also Coolant system additives you can purchase to help flush the system before doing a full coolant change. 

Funnily enough, ChrisFix's YouTube videos on the coolant system additive and flush are quick, easy to understand right to the point.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s--5ft5YiHg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g8YZF5cW7-A

 

I used oreilly's generic flush chemical a month or so ago and did the low budget fix of 'the garden hose in the thermostat housing' which got a fair bit out but didn't change what the gauge had to say.

Edited May 26, 20222 yr by chaseincats
grammar

If I were going to try to flush a block out. Take the head off and use a prressure washer through the top of the deck and the water pump holes. Messy but you'll be amazed at what comes out.

Prestone back in the day made a back flush kit that hooked to the heater hose connections. Thermostat had to be removed . Run the chemical in the block for a set period and back flush again. Worked amazingly well. My two cents from an old guy.

  On 5/26/2022 at 7:20 PM, Yarb said:

Prestone back in the day made a back flush. Run the chemical in the block for a set period and back flush again.

I don't know what they used back in the day, but last time I looked the label today says citric acid.