Acid Bath a block?

[pepsi71ocean]

So over on the CF this guy was talking about getting his block acid bathed, is there anything good to come out of this?

[Mopar1973Man]

Personally a few cans of over cleaner do just as well...

[fire176969]

Having a block acid dipped is a really good way to get every nook and cranny cleaned. It is very effective but also really hard to both find a place to do it anymore and also somewhere that won't charge out the butt to do it. Thanks to the EPA alot of places couldn't afford to keep the acid tanks. I agree with Mike though, you can do a more than good enough job with some hot water and over cleaner or some kind of citrus based degreaser and a scrub brush. Another good way is with a steam cleaner.

[pepsi71ocean]

im talking about the inside of the engine, where the engine coolant goes specifically.sorry for the confusion.

[fire176969]

im talking about the inside of the engine, where the engine coolant goes specifically. sorry for the confusion.

If the engine is completely disassembled it wouldn't hurt and might really help it. I have used acid to clean the cooling systems of many gas powered cars and trucks and even some diesels with good results. The problem I see with trying to do that to one of these trucks would be the liner orings and other seals. Are You having problems with your cooling system?

[pepsi71ocean]

no, but my truck had 10 year old engine coolant in it, the inside was lime green:neutral: After flushing it with water and i flushed it all it was still green, till i changed the coolant again 30,000 miles later. then it was rusty red. And so the block is red, the radiator went from lime green to aluminum color as well. but im just wondering.Im constantly worried my trans/cooler and the oil/cooler might decide to bust apart and leak, because i have heard the stories of these oil cooler and trans coolers rotting out with lack of fluid changes.Now im not so bold and brazen yet to pull them apart and look inside to see what their status is, but the rust color doesn't help my thoughts.Lastly with my trans parts hopefully coming in soon and as boost elbow ready to go on the truck im wondering if this motor might not handle the boost elbow running 28-35psi of boost down this motor as im still not sure on weather to over torque my head studs if it is necessary yet.

[fire176969]

no, but my truck had 10 year old engine coolant in it, the inside was lime green:neutral: After flushing it with water and i flushed it all it was still green, till i changed the coolant again 30,000 miles later. then it was rusty red. And so the block is red, the radiator went from lime green to aluminum color as well. but im just wondering. Im constantly worried my trans/cooler and the oil/cooler might decide to bust apart and leak, because i have heard the stories of these oil cooler and trans coolers rotting out with lack of fluid changes. Now im not so bold and brazen yet to pull them apart and look inside to see what their status is, but the rust color doesn't help my thoughts. Lastly with my trans parts hopefully coming in soon and as boost elbow ready to go on the truck im wondering if this motor might not handle the boost elbow running 28-35psi of boost down this motor as im still not sure on weather to over torque my head studs if it is necessary yet.

As far as your cooling system goes on something I'm not replacing a bunch of parts on anyway like the water pump and liner orings. What I would do is drain the system and put a gallon bottle of cascade in it and fill with water. Drive the truck at operating temp for atleast 30 minutes then drain and keep flushing it with water until all the cascade is out. If you don't like the idea of dishwasher liquid go to almost any caterpillar dealer and get a bottle of caterpillar cooling system flush. It will clean better than just water and not harm anything. As for over-torquing the head studs I don't agree with it but I know it is done all the time. Personally I would prefer to have the head fire ringed instead of over-torquing the bolts but I'm sure that isn't cheap.

[dripley]

As far as your cooling system goes on something I'm not replacing a bunch of parts on anyway like the water pump and liner orings. What I would do is drain the system and put a gallon bottle of cascade in it and fill with water. Drive the truck at operating temp for atleast 30 minutes then drain and keep flushing it with water until all the cascade is out. If you don't like the idea of dishwasher liquid go to almost any caterpillar dealer and get a bottle of caterpillar cooling system flush. It will clean better than just water and not harm anything. As for over-torquing the head studs I don't agree with it but I know it is done all the time. Personally I would prefer to have the head fire ringed instead of over-torquing the bolts but I'm sure that isn't cheap.

so you are saying that cascade will work as a flush for the radiator and not harm anything in the cooling system. i need to do mine soon and that is good info to have.

[MnTom]

It won't hurt it, but at that point you really should replace all freeze plugs and seals anyhow. Far as liner O rings, if you have them in your Cummins there has been some serious work done to the block. They don't come with them from the factory.

[fire176969]

It won't hurt it, but at that point you really should replace all freeze plugs and seals anyhow. Far as liner O rings, if you have them in your Cummins there has been some serious work done to the block. They don't come with them from the factory.

Yeah, automatically thought of the engines I work on most of the time. Never even crossed my mind that these engine don't have replaceable liners.

--- Update to the previous post...

so you are saying that cascade will work as a flush for the radiator and not harm anything in the cooling system.

i need to do mine soon and that is good info to have.

Yes, use it quite often to clean the cooling sytems out after oil cooler failures or injector cup failures where oil or fuel gets into the cooling system. If the are really bad you might have to run more than one bottle through, just make sure to get all of it rinsed out before you put antifreeze back in.