cylinder coolant well cleanup?

[jbum]

hi guys,

i've got an old integra and i've taken apart the head to replace the gasket.

the coolant well in the engine block look like there's mud covering the walls due to oil and coolant mixture during the years with two overheating incidents.

what's the best way to scrub the crap out of there? it's not particularly easy to reach into the well since it's narrow. need some kind of bristle or something.

any experience/ideas?

 

[hlweyl]

The best way to clean the block is have a machine shop bake it. If you're not going to do that, I would probably avoid messing with the coolant passages too much if I were you, just a good flushing should do. They are not a machined surface like other parts so they will not have a smooth clean appearance anyway.

Prior to pulling the head, have you noticed your coolant was particularly dirty/discolored?

 

[jbum]

not especially. i can post a picture to better describe it.

 

[Briank]

Looks like hard water scale, diluted Muriatic acid or CLR should clean that right up but every thing else needs to be protected. Coat the cylinders/pistons with grease and plug the oil passages.

 

[Dave Hardy]

It's getting you back for not cleaning the engine. That's nasty.

I'd probably go at it with a pipe brush. Use a shop vac to get the crud out. Flush it out with a garden hose. Once it's back together and running do a cooling system flush.