Rust in the cooling system

As we've been tearing apart the cooling system, we've found that the whole thing is coated with a thin (sometimes thick) layer of rusty chalk-powder. I'm not sure if its really rust... or something else. I'm a noob. But thats beside the point... It obviously shouldn't be there. Does anyone have any advice how to clean it out?


Thanks!
-MG (and mechanical) Noob

i had this in a 96 nissan maxima that i just did a radiator swap on, and to my understanding it was hard water deposits. i would advise flushing the system really well

i have a little rust in the cooling system too. if my advice is helpful, I would drain the old fluid, flush the cooling system a couple of times, then fill it back up with fresh anti-freeze.

Excuse me again for being a noob, but how exactly do I flush it?

Diet

im also a noob. what i did is take the hose off at the bottom (bottom right) and let it drain into a container. Do you have a manual?


What kind of MG do you have?

I wonder if you can put CLR in there as you flush? Or put CLR in and run it for a few minutes anyway. I don't know for sure.

To flush, disconnect your tubes from both sides of the water pump housing. Put your garden hose to tube that goes to the top of the radiator (where the tube comes from the water pump housing), throw some duct tape or something to get a decent connection without spilling water everywhere, and the water should come out the other side of the water pump housing, where you disconnected the other tube.

I'd wait for a bit and see if one of the other guys corrects me, but in theory I think this should work :)

Sounds great... thanks guys!

That sounds like a good idea Rob (CLR) I have been using the CLR as a dip for all of my electrical connections and it works wonders. Just make sure you rinse the heck out of it.

The hose and duct-tape approach will point out a sad or weak heater core too (ask me how I know!). In any event, be gentle with the hose pressure as 40+ psi is waaaay over the design max of 3.5 - 15# (depending on year and modifications).

I hadn't thought of that Michael. I used to do that my an old Ford Taurus and never had an issue, figured all cars could handle it. good thing to keep in mind.

I used the flush kit you can buy in the store. You place a hose connection,in one of your heater core connections (It regulates the hose pressure), Run the solution through for the specified amount of time. If you have had deposits in the system for some time, they tend to congregate in the bottome tubes of your radiator and block off some of your cooling potential. I was able to get some of the nastiness by hosing the radiator out seperately after removing it from the car. You can test to see of the radiator is blocked with an infrared thermometer.

All that being said I ended up replacing the radiator with a Moss replacement and have not looked back.

REPLACE YOUR COOLANT USING DISTILLED WATER! (Just in case I buy your car from you later:)