| Moderated by: Greg Fletcher | ||
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mdutch Member 
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I confess, I am a lousy Jensen owner. Now I'm reaping a sad crop of problems by not "putting the JH on ice" properly and draining fluids before it went to sleep for six years. Fast forward to now: Water pump leak, pump pulled and being rebuilt as we speak. However, the outlet and inlet ports showed lots of corrosion, the hoses were welded to them. I slit the hoses off and have gotten new replacements, plus have new ports thanks to a generous fellow member here. There's so much corrosion sediment in the coolant still in the block that I figure I'd better clean out the whole system. I was ready to have the radiator cleaned but now I think I'd better re-install it as-is, then flush the system with cleaner chems, then remove the radiator and send it out for re-coring. I'm probably also going to install a Prestone "Flush & Fill" Tee on the heater hose to facilitate flushing the system easily with clean water. Does anyone have product recommendations and/or maint tips on how to chemically flush out the entire system? (I feel a little weird putting a brand-rebuilt water pump on and then running clean-out chems through it, but I have no alternative. Esp. since as I remember, you need to run the engine up to temperature.) Or, should I not install the thermostat and do the clean-out, then install the t-stat? I throw myself on the mercy of the Jensen community. |
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answerman Member
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Well thanks... you just gave me another thing to think about (though at this piint I have no leaks) and add to Ms. Jenavieve's ever growing list. I'm curious to hear what others have to say as well. |
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Greg Fletcher Administrator 
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Flushing is not a bad idea, but maybe not even needed. I've never flushed a cooling system in any car I've ever owned. Just keeping in a good quality coolant plus a water pump lubricant and changing every few years is all it really needs. Radiators do not last the life of the car, service life can be anywhere from 5-15 years. This is where most of the blockage/garbage/junk ends up. If this were my car, I think I'd put a hose on the block where the water pump would be, and blast in some water to see what comes out. If the water coming out looks reasonable, just put in your cleaned/recored radiator and other bits and you should be fine. |
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JodyKerr Member 
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One think to keep in mind about these blocks is that there's a rather narrow/rough spot on the back side of cylinder #4. One of the last engines I tore apart had that spot completely guck solid and it overheated that piston and caused the whole thing to require a full rebuild. |
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gmgiltd Member
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Not sure what the tap water is like where you are, but in the UK it's variable - most of northern Scotland is very pure but the the south of England there seems to be a lot of calcium in the water. One tip I picked up from the Triumph motorcycle manuals is to use de ionised water along with a good brand of anti freeze - I have never had any issues with gunned up cooling systems. Early Triumph modular 3 and 4 cylinder engines were aluminium block, cast iron wet liner, 4 valve per cylinder with brass radiators - sound familiar? |
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mdutch Member
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Very glad to have received my re-manufactured water pump today from jhps.com. Thanks, Greg! |
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Spaceman Member 
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One trick, which I am using, is to use tap water, and pop in a dishwasher cube. My 74 sat for 20 years, luckily the rad was dry when I got it, but lots of corrosions in the lines and system. I have flushed it twice, and it still comes out a brown mess. temp is good, and the thermostat is doing its job. After 4-5 flush's I will fill with good quality premix, probably Prestone. |
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gmgiltd Member
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I would be a little cautious about the dishwasher tabs - different manufacturers have different compositions and specific information is hard to find. The coolant will see aluminium (block head inlet and pump) cast iron (liners and pump) copper (radiator and heater) lead solder (radiator and heater) and steel ( bolts and studs). Synthetic rubber (hoses) Gordon |
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Spaceman Member
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Yes something to think about, I don't leave it in the system, I flush it, drain it, and right now filled up with tap water. Once i store it for winter, I will drain all the fluids out. Rubber reacts funny to different solutions, I soaked brake seals in varsol, and they expanded, made them useless. (needed replacing anyway so no loss) |
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Spaceman Member
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We always were told to use Distilled water, available from drug stores, else just use premix. |
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