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Using Vinegar to clean cooling system


hawaiianstyln

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Either this is a stupid question or I'm way behind the times:  Has anyone ever used a product on a fake-a-lake with a pump to suck in Vinegar (or something else?) to clean the cooling system?  I started my boat up on the trailer yesterday to de-winterize it and check things out and began to overheat.  I'm thinking the thermostat is stuck/rusted closed.  I heated it up on the stove past 160 and no movement.  I then realized how much junk is built up on the inside of the hoses.  WOW, it's like my boat has never brushed it's teeth before.  :)

I did use salt away when I lived in Hawaii with my last BU, but from "what I know", this boat has always been in fresh water (bought used from Wisconsin last year).

 

 

thermHousing.jpg

tstat.jpg

Edited by hawaiianstyln
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looks like @shawndoggy did a vinegar flush a few years back and worked like a champ after searching.  So I'm assuming I should pull the trigger and clean internally, just wasn't sure if that was bad for anything internally?

 

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1 minute ago, Nitrousbird said:

Sure you should be de-winterizing yet?  I'm well south of you and supposed to get a couple inches this evening. :(

Welcome to spring time...

I have a heated garage, plus I start riding soon.  I have a drysuit :)

 

  • Like 2
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1 minute ago, boardjnky4 said:

You could try this stuff too

https://www.evapo-rust.com/thermocure/

dude that stuff is magical!  I've used it on old gun parts before completely redoing them, but expensive to use flushing a boat when I read you should get about 5 gallons or so.  Unless I used a few gallons of that to pour into the Thermostat house and let it soak overnight.

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Just now, hawaiianstyln said:

dude that stuff is magical!  I've used it on old gun parts before completely redoing them, but expensive to use flushing a boat when I read you should get about 5 gallons or so.  Unless I used a few gallons of that to pour into the Thermostat house and let it soak overnight.

Yeah I was thinking just pour it into the thermostat housing and let it sit for a few days.

  • Like 1
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2 hours ago, oldjeep said:

Is that boat moored in the water normally? 

Well its in a Heated garage for the last 8 months in my possession but as i understood the last owner it was dry stored. 

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I really have to wonder why cannt you just use dawn dish soap or vinegar everytime you are done. Itseems like it can only do good. Salt away would be great but as i recall usingit in hawaii for years it was exepnsive 

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1 hour ago, oldjeep said:

Unless you have some really funky water that shouldnt be necessary.  All that damage around the hoses looks like electrolysis to me. 

Its actually not damage, its nasty buildup of some sort. Calcium maybe?  I can scrub it all off 

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That is what we see on our very hard water lake. If you don't wipe the boat down it will build up on the gell. Its one of the reasons I always use RV antifreeze for off season layup. The amount of build up well the block drys after draining is very significant. Year after year is what you are seeing. JMHO   You can't wash a vehicle with the water around my place if you don't dry it as soon as you are done. or use water from the water system.

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8 hours ago, hawaiianstyln said:

Its actually not damage, its nasty buildup of some sort. Calcium maybe?  I can scrub it all off 

Funny that there would be build up under where the hose clamps would be. When you scrub it off there is no pitting and the stuff is sitting on top the paint? 

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Previous owner used the boat on the 3 big lakes near downtown Maddison, WI and was acid washing it before i arrived to buy it so that makes sense.  I bet those lakes are extreme hard water. 

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4 minutes ago, oldjeep said:

Funny that there would be build up under where the hose clamps would be. When you scrub it off there is no pitting and the stuff is sitting on top the paint? 

I quickly scrubbed a small area yesterday and realized it was coming off but never fully cleaned it to identify pitting.  I was going to clean it all today and find out.  However, I was also thinking about soaking the housing in something (CLR, vinegar, etc..) 

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okay before and after using Kaboom Tub cleaner (for calcium/hard water build ups in the shower) and Evapo-Rust.  I scrubbed on it for about 10 min.  So yes @oldjeep, looks like some pitting where the hose clamps were.  It is interesting to see that the buildup is at those locations underneath where water should never be.

Makes me wonder about the 90+% of boat owners that DO NOT flush their boat after each use in high levels of hard water lakes.  I flushed my boat with Salt Away after each use for many years in Hawaii.  I would have never guessed you should flush in fresh water lakes, but it "could" makes sense.

 

after.jpg

Before.jpg

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Im sticking with electrolysis.  There is no way you should get deposits from anything between the hose and housing. The pitting supports that, as what you are likely seeing is the corroded aluminum, not mineral deposits from the water. 

Id consider checking all your grounds to make sure your cooling system isnt being used as the ground for something. 

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1 minute ago, oldjeep said:

Id consider checking all your grounds to make sure your cooling system isnt being used as the ground for something. 

Oh wow never thought about that.  I will check that here in a few!

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what's odd to me, all the years I ran my 04 VLX in Oahu Salt water, my thermostat housing and other areas of the same never had that buildup.  Electrolysis can also occur when you have 2 different metals touching in water (fresh or salt), right?

 

 

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6 minutes ago, hawaiianstyln said:

what's odd to me, all the years I ran my 04 VLX in Oahu Salt water, my thermostat housing and other areas of the same never had that buildup.  Electrolysis can also occur when you have 2 different metals touching in water (fresh or salt), right?

 

 

Yeah, but that is a different type.  I'm talking about stray voltage electrolysis

 

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2 minutes ago, oldjeep said:

Yeah, but that is a different type.  I'm talking about stray voltage electrolysis

 

Gotcha!

I did just check over the entire engine and cooling system.  There are no odd grounds or anything.  I did notice a tiny build up on the ingress side of the tranny cooler (internally).trannycooler.thumb.jpg.2d3cdd85f0549571773847ed6e01c5bc.jpg

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2 hours ago, hawaiianstyln said:

Gotcha!

I did just check over the entire engine and cooling system.  There are no odd grounds or anything.  I did notice a tiny build up on the ingress side of the tranny cooler (internally).trannycooler.thumb.jpg.2d3cdd85f0549571773847ed6e01c5bc.jpg

This shot is showing the buildup from water. It acts like ice as it builds up it increases how far it goes under clamps or gaskets. Its slow but consistent.  Do you know if it was dry stored over the off seasons?  My boat is one year older and still looks 90% cleaner in the water system. I truly think the off season is harder on the internal water system then the season that is seeing usage.  A drained engine is very humid and invites this buildup and rust. I also think gaskets and rubber once started into heat cycles last better with fluids. This is always a big discussion on this as well as other sites ( To use or not use antifreeze.) I would not recommend not changing your impeller buy out of curiosity I wanted to see how many years I would get out of my impeller keeping it in fluid year around. Eight years! Now my boat is a ski tug it does not see usage like most of our boats and I as well as the drivers of my boat are gauge watchers. Also at ski speed the boat will stay cool without an impeller but it still sees a lot of low RPM time also.   

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45 minutes ago, Sixball said:

Eight years! Now my boat is a ski tug it does not see usage like most of our boats and I as well as the drivers of my boat are gauge watchers. Also at ski speed the boat will stay cool without an impeller but it still sees a lot of low RPM time also.   

It seems like most threads I see with a bad impeller the guy first sees Ok temps at idle, then the excess heat from getting up to speed cannot be carried away and it overheats at speed.   

Your boat will stay cool at speed just because of the scoop action of the intake?  I don't think most boats are like that, or maybe most of  us with surfing barges aren't skimming along at 32 MPH

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