Gentlemen, I got a bit of a surprise when I removed the water pump. Hopefully this will come across in these pictures. A build-up of bright yellow anti-freeze gunk! Fortunately, it is not hardened. Sort of powdery. But if what I can see in the pump and front cover is any indication, I have to wonder what could be lurking in the internal water passages. (However, things looked pretty normal when I put in new freeze plugs/core plugs/soft plugs.) As to how I got here; this is the 302/5.0 engine out of our 1989 Ford F-150. After many years of Michigan salt exposure I had to junk the body. However, I saved the engine for my present project (1951 F1.) The engine has 145K miles but it had to sit in the garage for many years before I could do anything with it. (It did leak coolant but I think that was due to a bad intake manifold gasket, no replaced.) I do not want to subject a brand new radiator to this gunk! Need your thoughts on the following; 1. Use a coolant system filter. (l know a company named Gano used to make them, but any input regarding coolant filters will be helpful.) 2. I will use the standard cheapie Prestone Flush kit and see what gunk I can loosen up 3. Rig up an old radiator and run the system until I am not getting anything in the coolant filter. I know rigging up a radiator will not be easy, I will probably take a big house fan out to the garage to aid in cooling. (Or wait till we have another -20 degree episode) What else could I be doing ?
My thinkin this happened by allowing air into the system . No sure , but I do know a good flushing is in order . I doubt and steam holes are open in the head gaskets anymore
The first thing I would do is hit the water pump with a garden hose to see how easily it come off. From there you can determine how much force will be required to clean it up, and will give you a start fo the path forward. If it dissolves easily, perhaps a pressure washer would work to clean the block (?). Good luck!
That’s sediment and aluminum oxide. Get the proper pullers and pull damper and remove the timing cover. That stuff could mainly be at the cover and pump area. Inspect the block passages and flush it out. You may can use some long flexible brushes. A complete gasket set is not that expensive. It may be beneficial to take the engine down to the short block on the stand.......pull the heads and the pan. This way you can really clean the engine and inspect it. A cooling system filter? No way.
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