Flushing Oil-contaminated Coolant

[PranK]

Hi All,

Late last year my Bora packed it in. On inspection it was realised that the factory oil cooler had let go allowing all the oil in the engine to go into the cooling system.

I turned the engine off before it stopped, so I'm fairly confident that the block is ok.

Now, I have some replacement parts to fit, including the oil cooler and some better hoses/pipes for the cooling system.

I have a bit of a conundrum.

I can't start the engine until the oil cooler is replaced, at which point the coolant will still be contaminated and upon starting the engine, it will pump the sludge through the new parts.

Or, is there something I can do to flush the cooling system without the engine running so I can get everything as clean as possible?

As a second note, how do you dispose of coolant in Sydney?

Thanks.

[tridentt150v]

LOL my old coolant - I was at my local tip [Waste Transfer Station] and I bumped into a bloke I knew. He asked what I was doing with the coolant [also had a big drum of used Hydraulic oil] and oil and I said throwing it out. He then said he would take it for his old bulldozer, problem solved. He reckoned that the dozer lost enough oil and coolant and he would just keep topping them up with old stuff like mine.

You could run with a flushing/new rebuild oil and drop afterwards. Could you join the two [inlet and outlet] oil cooler hoses together and isolate the cooler until you change the flushing oil??? Most hydraulic places have adaptors, hell you could even borrow it and return [leave security maybe].

That way you can flush the coolant out of the oilways and block, then change the oil for proper engine oil and job done.

[tridentt150v]

Double post....internet is sick here atm.

[PranK]

The car wont hold oil long enough to run. The cooler is attached to the bottom of the block and it seems that the movement of coolant works to suck the oil out. When I stopped the car after realising something was wrong the dipstick was bone dry.

[Hadouken]

If it were me,

I'd run a hose through it including reverse flushing the radiator.

Then I'd run a coolant flush.

[PranK]

If it were me,

I'd run a hose through it including reverse flushing the radiator.

Then I'd run a coolant flush.

So, just pull a hose off the bottom and run water through?

[Hadouken]

Pull top hose off and pull a heater hose on the fire wall.

[PranK]

Pull top hose off and pull a heater hose on the fire wall.

And just hose water through until its relatively clean i guess? Once the oil cooler is back on and the engine full of oil I'll be able to run it again. I just didn't want any of the sludge in my cooling system to choke up my cooler.

I can't like your post either, I've "over liked" my quota for the day.

[Hadouken]

Exactly. Hopefully get the bulk of it out and then when you run a coolant flush that will get the rest of it out