Is this bad having gunge in the cooling system?

**ra65** · 06-01-2006, 07:28 PM

That stuff in the cooling spot in the intake i noticed when i took it off. I get some of it under the radiator cap as well. Does that mean I have oil in my water? I flushed the radiator when i replaced the hoses. How do you do it with the engine running like they do at the mechanics? What does it mean I have to do to stop this crap building up again? Do i have a leak or something?

**roadsailing** · 06-01-2006, 07:36 PM

oily gunge in the water usually means blown head gasket, especially if you could describe it as "chocolate milk"

do a compression test, does it blow smoke?

**oldcorollas** · 06-01-2006, 07:39 PM

it looks a bit like emulsified oil.. which means you are getting engine oil in your cooling system... which is not exactly ideal and usually means a headgasket issue, since that is where the oil and water are in closest proximity..
you could have a leak between the oil gallery and the coolant passages, but still have good compression.

it is likely you will need to change the headgasket at least. or as a minimum, pull the head to check if that is where the leak is occurring (which means replacing gasket anyway...)

to clean it out of block.... well...to do with engine running, do something like pull out thermostat (or it will stop water flow), then take off top radiator hose and put a garden hose in, (into the radiator if the engine sucks water from the bottom of radiator....

you will get wet.

**Draven** · 06-01-2006, 07:43 PM

note: any grass you do the engine flush over WILL die a horrible death, and the soil remain smelling like coolant until it next rains. and don't do this while the EPA/hippies are around

**ra65** · 06-01-2006, 07:49 PM

The car doesnt blow smoke or overheat. I have a few small oil leaks around the place. If I choose to leave it what will happen?

No problem with the grass....dont have any

**river** · 06-01-2006, 08:40 PM

Hi,

Yeah, looks like a BHG or some other gasket is blown that is allowing oil into the water - and possibly some water into your oil.

If you leave it your engine will die a slow death. The oil in the water can cause cooling issues and lead to hotspots, especially in the small water galleries in the block/head. The water in the oil will reduce the viscosity of the oil and therefore not provide the frictionless protection the oil is supposed to offer. The engine will get sicker and sicker and one day you'll have smoke puring out of your exhaust - be it steam (from the water in the oil) or oil from worn piston rings.

If you're happy to drive your engine into the ground, then just keep on going the way you are. If you want the engine fixed and don't wish to have it die on you (most probably at the worse time) then you'll need to get it serviced and fixed.

seeyuzz
river

**ra65** · 06-01-2006, 08:53 PM

There is no water in the oil as far as i can see. How much is it worth to have a headgasket changed on a 22re? How hard would it be to do myself?

**thechuckster** · 06-01-2006, 09:02 PM

the emulsified gunk is what used to be oil - so you do have water in the oil.

you should be able to do this yourself if you have suitable tools and a torque wrench.

not sure about cost - but the VRS kit i bought for the MA61 was about $150-160 from repco (so use that as a guide) - and you'll need most of the kit (except the valve guides) to replace the gaskets you pull part when removing the head. Add $75 for oil, oil filter, coolent and gasket goo.

**river** · 06-01-2006, 09:04 PM

Hi,

It's not too hard. It took me a weekend to do mine on a 2T engine many moons ago, but I also rebuilt the carbies at the same time. I pulled off the inlet and exhaust manifolds, remove the rocker cover and then the head. I put in new gaskets for the head, rocker cover, inlet and exhaust manifolds. You'll need to flush out the water galleries to get all the grunge out. Also dump your oil and replace it with clean stuff.

I don't have the torque settings for the 22R engine, but I'm sure there's people here on the forums that may have that info. Also probably people here that have replaced a HG on a 22R that can give you advice particular to this engine.

seeyuzz
river

**river** · 06-01-2006, 09:06 PM

Hi,

Oh yes, chuckster is right in that you'll need a new oil filter, Also wouldn't hurt to pull out the thermostat and give it a good clean, so you'll need new gaskets for the thermostat housing.

seeyuzz
river

**Toobs** · 07-01-2006, 04:15 PM

Normally what they do to do a "reverse flush" is remove the thermostat and then remove both the top and bottom radiator hoses and force a mix of water and flushing agent back through the top radiator hose.
To do it properly they use a big tank of flushing agent and a very high flow pump.
The backyard way to do it is with an air compressor an old rag and the garden hose...
1) Wrap the rag around the garden hose so that it fits in the top radiator hose snuggly.
2) Squeeze the nozzle of the air gun in between the pipe and the garden hose / rag.
3) Turn the garden hose on full ball and use the air gun to add some pressure to it.

Note: I take no responsibility if you damage your engine doing this, however, unless you have a massive industrial compressor there is probably very little chance of this.