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While cleaning around, I took out the coolant expansion tank. There were a lot of "flakes" inside the tank. Here is the picture of what ended up at the bottom of a bucket after I rinsed it 4th or 5th time.
I kept rinsing, but stuff was still coming out. I guess it is quite rusty on the inside. Is it a sign I should get a new replacement or can I salvage the old tank?
If the tank is rusty there will be bits all through the coolant system. Might want to get a water-friendly shop-vac and start backflushing with it. Also wouldn't hurt to run a gallon of MetalRescue through the system it'll pickup all the surface rust and suspend it until you flush the system again.
I've done both a few times and installed a full flow spin-on coolant filter.
If the tank is rusty there will be bits all through the coolant system. Might want to get a water-friendly shop-vac and start backflushing with it. Also wouldn't hurt to run a gallon of MetalRescue through the system it'll pickup all the surface rust and suspend it until you flush the system again.
I've done both a few times and installed a full flow spin-on coolant filter.
Just tried to flush my system today. I used some stuff I got at Oreily's...probably didn't do much good?
Will the Metal Rescue dissolve rust flakes that may be trapped in the radiator cores?
Can you tell us the name, source, cost etc. of the coolant filter you installed? Pictures would be great as well.
If I get my radiator rodded out, I certainly want to install them (2?) as per Kirby's recommendation.What do you think about this? https://www.ebay.com/itm/62mm-Core-3...item25ea769d71
It's $448 USD
That tank does NOT drain when the system is drained, physically impossible. The PreHE does drain, different set up at the bottom.
Sooooo, stuff simply gathers in the bottom, and cannot recirculate to the main system,. Look at the spigot half way UP the engine side of that tank, that is the return to engine spigot, so many kilos of junk can gather.
Mine were all quite full of mud etc, BUT the engine system was not that bad.
I do not use any cleaning agents, just clean water many times over, and radiator OUT and professionally cleaned every 5 or so years.
The heater core is biggest mud gatherer in these cars.
Get a new one. Üro makes a drop in replacement for a good price.
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Yup. Looks like about $120-150 depending where you shop
Just to toss out another alternative I'll mention that the local radiator shop, if you have one, might be useful here. The radiator shop I use gave one of my coolant tanks a good acid bath and soldered-up a couple weak spots for about $50 as I recall. I got it back clean as a whistle !
Metal Rescue - pH neutral material safe water based rust dissolver that will suspend all rust in fluid (turning it into a fine black silt as youll see in the video)
Its up to the customer to figure out where and how to mount these, as they arn't made for 1970s Jaguar V12 engine compartments. I zapstrapped the blue spin-on type to one of the support braces and tied the lines into the heater core lines as a temporary measure. In the future I'll buy the IPR unit and splice it into the return heater line just above the main return hose on the rad - mount to the inside front fender where the fuel vapor canister used to be. Either way its one the best cheap investments you can make, I know in my post history there are pictures of the crap I pulled out between the shop-vac backflushes and filter changes I've gathered at least a full cup of rust, rubber bits and grit along with a weird grey silty sludge.
That grey silty sludge is the head gasket, again, normal on an open deck engine, Usually sits in the bottom of the block, around 5 & 6 liner bases, and does no real harm.
It gets stirred up from time to time, overheating, Italian tune ups, Bathurst 1000 type driving, and the like are the main culprits.
I pulled about 1kg of the stuff out of the Red car engine when I did the refresh years ago.
Had it out chasing oil leaks, and one thing led to another. You know how it goes.
Liner extraction was a moment to remember, took a week to get them all out, after the 10 days to get the B head off. Then ALL the head studs simply threaded out, damn.
The heater core is biggest mud gatherer in these cars.
You mean the aircon heater core? How would that gather mud? Or do you mean some other heater core I'm not aware of? (Not meant to be sarcastic: the car could have six for all I know.)
You mean the aircon heater core? How would that gather mud? Or do you mean some other heater core I'm not aware of? (Not meant to be sarcastic: the car could have six for all I know.)
There's just the one.
In the grand scheme of all things automotive, clogged heater cores are fairly common....as evidenced by all the purpose-built heater core flush-out tools for sale and DIY videos out there. My first guess is that their small size makes them more prone to clogging.
As it happens, though, I've come across only 3 clogged heater cores personally. All three were my Jags !
Sounds odd. The passageways inside the core would be the same size as a rad, one would assume. Unless the entire coolant flow goes through there, which would increase pressure I guess. Although one would assume that would help flush any crap out, not the reverse. How much of the circulating coolant does go through the heater core?
When you start the engine, the tap is open by default, bu only for a few seconds at most. Vac arrives, and mostly the tap is closed by the "system".
Summer: Heater is closed 100% of the time. Coolant settles in the core.
Winter arrives, you are COLD, request for hot air is made. Tap opens, and the coolant is forced through the bottom spigot of the core, and collects all that stagnant stuff, and forces it out through the top spigot, where it is drawn to the radiator lower hose, and sucked into the pump, and deposited into the engine block.
Evemtually, this "gunk" reaches t radiator itself, and the rest is normal service stuff.
Exercising the heater during summer, even for a few seconds, will keep the heater core cleaned out fairly well.
So, simply flushing that core whenever the coolant system is apart for any reason, is always on my list. Sounds a pain, maybe, but you get used to it.
Last edited by Grant Francis; Jul 14, 2018 at 04:39 AM.
So when you're not actually heating, there is no coolant passing through the core? I read (on KWE's site, I think) that all air is passed through the heater core first, heating and drying it, and then routed to the cooler as needed. So what you're saying is that there is only coolant passing through when heat is required? That makes a lot more sense, really. Heating air only to cool it again sounds like a terrible waste of effort.
When you start the engine, the tap is open by default, bu only for a few seconds at most. Vac arrives, and mostly the tap is closed by the "system".
Summer: Heater is closed 100% of the time. Coolant settles in the core.
Winter arrives, you are COLD, request for hot air is made. Tap opens, and the coolant is forced through the bottom spigot of the core, and collects all that stagnant stuff, and forces it out through the top spigot, where it is drawn to the radiator lower hose, and sucked into the pump, and deposited into the engine block.
Evemtually, this "gunk" reaches t radiator itself, and the rest is normal service stuff.
Exercising the heater during summer, even for a few seconds, will keep the heater core cleaned out fairly well.
So, simply flushing that core whenever the coolant system is apart for any reason, is always on my list. Sounds a pain, maybe, but you get used to it.
Isn't the heater core always active, when the air conditioning is on "AUTO"? As it blends the ice cold air from the evaporator with the hot air from the heater core to get to the desired temperature... Probably not at 100% capacity but even at say 20% capactiy, it should at least somewhat flush the heater core... At least that is how it is on the X308 (and therefore X300 and XJ40).
All incoming air is refrigerated first, for dehumidifying, and then heated as required. The only time the heater valve is closed is when the system is in 'full cooling' mode. If you have air coming out of the center dashboard outlet, you're in full cooling mode....as that's the only situation when the center vent is open.
The heater valve is open at all other times: blend mode, heat mode, and defrost.
If you're in a particularly warm environment and make lots of shorter trips the valve might be closed most of the time.
I fitted a compressor by pass switch in the S2 cars a loooooooong time ago, and all the cars since until the X300 etc.
On those early cars, the tap closed as the engine started, and when the pad style temp sensor on the heater core woke the system up, the set demand of the Temp dial dictated what took place.
Mostly, mine had that tap closed until that temp dial was moved to about 2 o'clock position. Forgot the numbers, too long ago.
When I wanted heat, I simply dialed a temp, and got heat.
When I wanted cooling down, I flicked that by pass switch, dialed in the lowest number on the temp dial, and let it cool me down. When I got too cold, a slight turn of that dial to a higher number, good as it gets.
The Auto side, NAH, never used it, that be for lazy people, or younguns. I like control, and simplicity.
Once I did the core flush as part of my post purchase MAJOR service, I never needed to do it again, but like Doug, most were either blocked, or full of muddy goo, and that is just how they were, and all came with full dealer service history, life moves on I suppose.
No one takes care of your car like you.
Last edited by Grant Francis; Jul 14, 2018 at 08:01 AM.
Metal/rusty flakes in Coolant Expansion Tank
