Mekanik Posted March 20, 2007 Share Posted March 20, 2007 What is the preffered method for cleaning-up after replacing a internally leaking oil cooler? I'm working on one right now. I relaced the oil cooler and the egr cooler. The cooling system was contaminated with engine oil. I followed the instructions in the shop manual and followed the SSM regarding leaking oil coolers. I installed fresh coolant with a bottle of VC-1. I let the enging run for 20 minutes with the thermostat removed, and then used our flushing machine and flushed about 8 gallons of coolant/water. The coolant looks much better but there is still some grey slime in the coolant bottle and inside the hoses. What do the rest of you guys do in this situation? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith Browning Posted March 20, 2007 Share Posted March 20, 2007 I used liquid Tide. Filled the system with water and added three or four capfuls of Tide then I drove the truck to get it hot. I drove it hard too. The oil residue collects in the degas bottle and I discovered that the coolant recovery machine we have which "sucks" the coolant from the filler neck is the best way to remove the bulk of the contamination. On the last one we had, I removed the degas bottle and flushed it out in the parts cleaner to get the film out. Worked well but it took many drain/fill cycles and a couple of days time to get it completely clean. Don't forget to turn on the heater if the truck is equipped with a water valve in the heater hose! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Warman Posted March 20, 2007 Share Posted March 20, 2007 Some things I do that seem to speed up the process (Simple Green is our weapon of choice). I remove the degas bottle before opening the petcock... messy? Yes.... But it is easier to clean off the frame than it is to remove it from the block. I disconnect the heater hoses.... at the pipe by the alternator. The other end, by the degas, gets calmped off between the motor and the T connection under the degas. I flush the heater core with hot water and the garden hose - this gets a LOT of oil out of the system. Disconnect the lower rad hose at the rad. If you are brave or not afraid of clean up, disconnect this to drain the system before opening the petcock. Don't forget the block drains. SnapOn has a long, ball end allen socket that is ideal for the right side plug (disconnect the batteries first, you are tight against the starter). Using the simple green and this technique (road testing hard between flushes) has most of them clean up in about three flushes. HTH Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eastendpowerstroke Posted March 20, 2007 Share Posted March 20, 2007 I use dawn or joy dish soap same stuff they use to clean otters and seagulls when Captn.Hazelwood runs aground LOL. lather rinse repeat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott B Posted March 21, 2007 Share Posted March 21, 2007 On Big tks we usually dump in a whole bottle of cascade dishwasher soap fill er up,Take it out run the crap out of it.Two plain water flushes after its the best it usually gets.You will never get it all out.Trouble with the plain dish soap is the Foaming.If there is enough of a concentrate in there VS water it can foam up really bad and the Water pump will cavitate and you can get her way too Hot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mekanik Posted March 21, 2007 Author Share Posted March 21, 2007 Thank you everyone for the good advice. I added some Simple Green and drove the truck pretty hard with the thermostat removed. Then I used our flushing machine and flushed the coolant for the third time. I have to say that I'm very impressed with how it turned out. There is still a teeny bit of oil in the coolant, but it looks like gold coolant. The tip on draining the coolant bottle before opening the petcock is a really good idea and I will remember it on the next one that I get. Thanks agian. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DieselD Posted April 1, 2007 Share Posted April 1, 2007 yes simple green is the best bet for these things. get it nice and hot and start pulling plugs and hoses. ford will pay actual time of 2 hours once and only once so make it good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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