Overheating problem solved - THANKS EVERYONE!!!

"Phil Nospam" wrote in news:bcc8f.19662 $ snipped-for-privacy@twister.southeast.rr.com:

Good pics.. but arent they reversed? Quote: The coolant/antifreeze had become so corrosive at some point (even with coolant flushes and refills)

Unquote

Got any idea what's in a 'coolant flush'?

besides Money for the people that do it?

I have never done a coolant flush to any of my cars and I am not the best at preventive maintenance... And I've never had a corrosion problem either.

But then, I've never had a car that had that yellow antifreeze in it

BTW... what good do you think an "Engine Flush" would do?... You know the ones that oil-change places are advertising..

Think about it. It 'clears out' oil passage deposits 'real fast'. Where do those deposits go?

"Phil Nospam" wrote in news:bcc8f.19662$ snipped-for-privacy@twister.southeast.rr.com:

Unhhh two more things:

First, I wasnt criticizing YOU, Phil, in any way.

Second, I'm wondering about the particular symptom here.. that is of the impeller 'sacrificing' itself.

Here's an 'official view' from:

quote That means that as the coolant passes through the pump, bubbles are produced, which then collapse with explosive force, pockmarking the internal parts of the pump. That pockmarking is erosion, the marks being exposed, unprotected metal. If the inhibitors work quickly, the damage stops after minor corrosion. If they work slowly (as with organic acid inhibitors), the pockmarked areas corrode for a longer period. unquote

BUT Does any know if the pump seal composite was changed for this series? The old ones had a carbon/brass seal, if I recall. Changing one of those two surfaces would result in either galvanic (maybe) or electrostatic (probable, from the looks of it) eddy currents through the shaft. Bet that was the problem rather than the coolant itself.

Back again... Found another site, which pretty much says whatever we use... we're pretty much DOOMED!

Note the bottom article; reading between the lines, it tells us that using an aluminum protection coolant in an all-iron engine like the Vulcan causes problems.

Not only that...using distilled water also can cause damage, due to ph imbalance.

Screw it.. gonna just keep on doing what I'm doing.

Backyard Mechanic wrote in news:Xns96FCC4E6F21ADpettyfogery@207.115.63.158:

Not corrosion, Phil.

It's from a poor choice of impeller material for the shape & design of the impeller design and the housing. The impeller was cavitating in the coolant mixture, actually boiling off the impeller fins in low pressure pockets and taking a tiny microscopic bit of material with it each time a bubble boiled off. This could, and probably did happen at temperatures much lower than the 212 degree sea-level boiling point.

If it was corrosion, the failure would have been around the hub equally with the blades.

Rob

Thanks Rob,

I'm sure there is a technological difference between corrosion and erosion, but you obviously understood what I meant. Maybe it's a combination of both in this instance...the corrosion being the chemical reaction that caused the impeller material to weaken/disintegrate and the cavitation/turbulence that happens more extensively at the edge of the fins of the impeller causing it to erode more quickly there. There was evidence of erosion/corrosion on what remained of the impeller as it was significantly thinner than a new one.

I'm not an engineer, although I play one on TV. ;-)

Phil

Thanks Mechanic,

First, I never felt that you ever criticized me...I apologize if my response gave you that impression. Second, Ford's resolution to the problem as outlined in a TSB was to change the coolant path by adding a "coolant bypass" system. Their $135 kit (plus labor to install it) included a couple 3/4" tee connectors, a couple pieces of 3/4" hose, some hose clamps, and a restrictor. In simplest of terms they cut the two heater hoses (going into and out of the heater core), installed the tees, and added another piece of hose between them. This apparently gives an second path for the coolant to flow in addition to the path through the heater core. How this was going to solve the problem of coolant turning brown and engine overheating, I don't know.

The conspiracy theorist side of me thinks that this was done to cover up the fact that they had some really bad water pumps (not made to specs or, more than likely, the specs were wrong to begin with (wrong material). This is what caused the impellers to erode/corrode, thus turning the coolant brown and causing the overheating because there wasn't enough impeller left to move the coolant.

Anywho...thanks again for all your input,

Phil

> #continue

series?

electrostatic

apparently

I would suggest you install the restrictor in the degas line, if nothing else. You can make one out of a short length of bolt with a

1/8" hole drilled axially through it.

By the way, the redesigned impeller looks like this:

cover up the

How on earth could you drive it even around the block without it overheating and burning up the engine? Jeez it looks like it wouldn't pump at all!

I once drove an 85 Ford 3.8 70 miles with a dry radiator (not on purpose)

It ran very hot but not pegged to the max. I suspect the mobil one oil helped out here quite a bit as well as perhaps a loose engine after

200,000 miles of use. Drove the car another few years after that