Rust in Coolant pipe

[Blake H]

Took the heat exchanger off my 6bta to get cleaned. Going to reinstall it with all new hoses and found the pipe leading to the thermostat to be extremely rusted. Anything I should do for this issue? Or just flush remaining coolant as much as possible and fill with new?

 

Topic

[Clark Leighs]

If you can, take a sample of the so called coolant and send it to an oil testing  lab.  Yes, they do coolant testing also. Heavy rust like that says you have had seawater enter the engine which could do interior damage.

Pressure test the system for leaks. Remove as much rust as you can.    Then use a product such as Cummins cleaner,  RESTORE, following directions for treatment AND removal/flushing.   Be prepared to do it a couple of times.     Refill with proper coolant and water.

THe change cycle should be every 2 to 3 yrs. I suggest 2 yrs max. untill you get this under control and testing YEARLY to ensure nothing else is going on except the lack of attention.  This looks like either there is a  leak that purged the coolant replacing it with seawater  or  a  total, long term ignoring of the engine requirements.

And as D. Roth suggested get the heat exchanger tested before you go to far as it that is the source it needs to be attended to. 

[donald roth]

Recommended coolant change interval is 3 years.

Your motor looks like it has been running on water for a while.

Heat exchanger leaking?

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