I have an old forklift I'm restoring to running condition. The engine has an odd cooling sytem configuration and it had a history of coolant in the oil from a problem in the cylinder head. That problem has been addressed, and the head has been rebuilt with all new parts.
I'm not really concerned about the water in the oil. What to do about that is pretty straight forward. The engine is a 4 cylinder Mazda "UA" engine. It was designed in the early 1960s for the B-Series trucks and has similarities with the pushrod early Nissans, and BMC 4 cylinder cars of the era. Three main bearings, OHV, intake and exhaust on the same side of the head, etc. One difference is the way they route coolant through the engine. The water pump is mounted on the cylinder head and therefore the coolant both enters and exits through the cylinder head. There is a water distribution pipe inside the head that fits closely with the water pump and directs coolant downward toward cooling passages in the block on the left side. The coolant returns from the block on the right side of the cylinder head and leaves the cylinder head for the water pump.
The issue is this: The water pump is new and by the time I get ready to start this thing, the radiator will be redone as well. I really don't know what kind of junk is in the block as the old water pump had thick rust inside its passages. I don't want to foul the radiator or damage the new water pump with junk and acids.
I have a plan to flush the block without those two components that seems a bit crazy to me and I'd welcome comment on it.
The cooling system makes it easy to fabricate a plate to cover both the inlet and outlet of the head. The plate could have holes for passing liquid through the cooling passages. I also have a chemical pump that is made for pumping caustics and acids.
The plan is to pump water in and out of the engine and in and out of a bucket containing water and some sort of common commercial flushing agent. In all this you can assume all the gasketing and plumbing issues are taken care of. After the flushing solution seems spent, flush with clean water until clear. Repeat as necessary.
The engine will not be running, but I have a burner and a 16 gallon kettle to boil water for replenishing the flush water as needed.
Or should I forget all that and just slap it all together, start it up, then cross my fingers and hope the water pump and the radiator will be alright?
Thanks for reading.
I'm not really concerned about the water in the oil. What to do about that is pretty straight forward. The engine is a 4 cylinder Mazda "UA" engine. It was designed in the early 1960s for the B-Series trucks and has similarities with the pushrod early Nissans, and BMC 4 cylinder cars of the era. Three main bearings, OHV, intake and exhaust on the same side of the head, etc. One difference is the way they route coolant through the engine. The water pump is mounted on the cylinder head and therefore the coolant both enters and exits through the cylinder head. There is a water distribution pipe inside the head that fits closely with the water pump and directs coolant downward toward cooling passages in the block on the left side. The coolant returns from the block on the right side of the cylinder head and leaves the cylinder head for the water pump.
The issue is this: The water pump is new and by the time I get ready to start this thing, the radiator will be redone as well. I really don't know what kind of junk is in the block as the old water pump had thick rust inside its passages. I don't want to foul the radiator or damage the new water pump with junk and acids.
I have a plan to flush the block without those two components that seems a bit crazy to me and I'd welcome comment on it.
The cooling system makes it easy to fabricate a plate to cover both the inlet and outlet of the head. The plate could have holes for passing liquid through the cooling passages. I also have a chemical pump that is made for pumping caustics and acids.
The plan is to pump water in and out of the engine and in and out of a bucket containing water and some sort of common commercial flushing agent. In all this you can assume all the gasketing and plumbing issues are taken care of. After the flushing solution seems spent, flush with clean water until clear. Repeat as necessary.
The engine will not be running, but I have a burner and a 16 gallon kettle to boil water for replenishing the flush water as needed.
Or should I forget all that and just slap it all together, start it up, then cross my fingers and hope the water pump and the radiator will be alright?
Thanks for reading.
