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What can you tell about my engine condition from this waterpump?


STPL

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Apr 12, 2017
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1994
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This truck has sat for a few years before I got my hands on it and when I drained the coolant it was a rust brown and smelled terrible. I flushed the radiator, coolant pipes and the motor itself to try to get as much of the garbage out as possible. This is what the inside of the waterpump looks like, I'm going to replace it, but what can I learn from this to help revitalize the engine. What causes this and are there any precautions I should be taking to help the engine last longer?

https://ibb.co/cs03qv

EDIT: Should of said "Engine Condition" in the title {fixed}
 
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I would say it's a lack of maintenance or using straight water. Coolant has a lifespan of [iirc] about 2 years. I have pulled rads and taken them apart to find rusty sediment clogging the bottom 3"...no wonder I was having cooling problems. I would bet your radiator looks like mine did. [The engine temp would be fine until a load was put on it.]
 
I would say it's a lack of maintenance or using straight water. Coolant has a lifespan of [iirc] about 2 years. I have pulled rads and taken them apart to find rusty sediment clogging the bottom 3"...no wonder I was having cooling problems. I would bet your radiator looks like mine did. [The engine temp would be fine until a load was put on it.]

Whats the remedy? A couple distilled water flushes until its clean and then fill it up with a 50/50 mix?
 
A chemical engine flush would be what I would do first. Because of environmental laws the stuff sold nowadays isn't as effective as old. If you're daring, I've used "CLR" on my own stuff. If your rad is full of gunk nothing but a new rad will do. My thought; if CLR causes a leak in the rad, then the rad was no good anyway.
 
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I use 70% coolant, which I believe is the max. That way if I need to add water on the side of the road I don't have to match it with coolant.
Vern
 
Well it appears your water pump is toast and the rest of the engine needs a bit of cleaning.

I can also see the half moon on your thumb and that indicates you are healthy and quite possibly a genius according to some Youtube videos...:)
 
I would get a flushing tee connector that installs in the heater core line. Attach as specified, and start the garden hose flowing. Run the engine at idle to circulate the water.
You might remove the thermostat to allow flow through the radiator, but I think you want the flow to go against the output of the pump and flow backwards into the radiator, pushing stuff out of the heater core, block cooling jacket, and possibly the bottom of the radiator. The water will flow out the radiator cap port and go all over your street or drive.
Prestone made a kit with the tee, cap, hose clamps, and a diverter to stuff in the radiator. They also included instructions. It works to a degree.
If you remove the water(coolant) pump, you can flush around in the water jacket around the cylinders, and maybe rake out a pile of goop. You can remove the radiator, and flip it upside down and run water backwards through the tube, as much as will flow, to remove 'stuff' and sediment.
Then put it back together, add some chemical flush, TSP, oven cleane, vinegar, or your favorite cleaner, run the thing at idle until it has circulated as long as you want to play, drain, and flush to remove all the chemical used. Don't run it down the drain w/o neutralizing it. Baking soda for acids, vinegar or acid for bases. The store flushes will indicate proper disposition of their product, likely safe for waste handling via the street drain.
I would not run a higher concentration than specified. If you want, you can carry a small container of 100% in the cab, and add equal mix of water:coolant as needed.
tom

p.s. the pic was undecipherable to me, except showing a big blob of rust.
tom
 
So from what I gather, the waterpump needs to be replaced (was planing on doing that anyways) and I need to throughly flush my cooling system, but no major damage or anything to be overly concerned over. Thanks everyone!
 

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