stopping rust in a 4 year old race motor

[dynoflo]

I have a gm crate motor that has been raced for 4 years with water only as a coolant. It is starting to show rust in water. What to clean out with and what to add to stop rust.

[af2]

I have a gm crate motor that has been raced for 4 years with water only as a coolant. It is starting to show rust in water. What to clean out with and what to add to stop rust.

Vinegar Then wash.

[dannobee]

You leave water in your race engine? Put some petcocks in the block drains and drain out all of the water occasionally. And don't let it sit over the winter with water in it.
Any of the two part cooling system cleaners will work. The one with the phosphoric acid then neutralizer usually cleans up most of the rust.

[mag2555]

Get a can of DuPont 2 part flush.
It's a acid and a neutralizer in powder form.

[Steve.k]

Doesn’t water wetter prevent that?

https://www.redlineoil.com/waterwetter
that said my grandpa used to put a 1/2 cup of mineral oil in rad of ol tractors. He said it kept the rust down on those early tractors as they ran on straight water. Would drain down every winter.

[dynoflo]

did the white vinegar deal and then flushed. seemed to work pretty well. got 4 gallons of distilled water in it now. added 16 ounces risalone hyper cool. ill have to keep an eye on it. thanks for replies

[rebelyell]

Get a can of DuPont 2 part flush.
It's a acid and a neutralizer in powder form.

Yes, that was great stuff (granular oxalic acid + a granular soda neutralizer) ...Is that still available?

Prestone had same but discontinued pn AS400. I thought both'd been taken off DIY shelves years ago. Part Number ?

I've been recreating it using DAP or similar hardware store Wood Bleach (granular oxalic acid).
OA will hurt ya, it's strong! Do use eye & hand protection.

[6sally6]

Have the same rusty water problem.
I did the white vinegar flush (drove it around about a week and drained it. Now use distilled water and antifreeze.
Only problem now is..........every time I drive the truck.........I want a salad!!!
6sally6

[rebelyell]

for the uninitiated
tracks are different than street in many ways

circle track cars routinely beat & bang & tear up radiators, & hoses blow off/bust; dumping water AF mix onto asphalt makes a slick mess that does Not easily/quickly dry off. Other cars wreck in it & Stinks up the show.
all tracks I've run at strictly prohibit AF. Dumping AF on track can get ya banned for the season, loss of all season's points or worse.
The dumbazz that does it becomes #1 ... #1 pariah!

[naukkis79]

Antifreeze isn't the thing preventing rust in cooling system but AF does have rust inhibitors. Those same rust inhibitors can be bought separately to be used with straight water. Glycol in AF makes tracks slippery, not those rust inhibitors.

[70MC]

Evaporust makes a radiator flush that worked wonders for a BBC I had that had very rusty water jackets. I put it in and left it for a week while driving the car.
I had to remove engine to make repairs and the water jackets looked brand new, no sign of rust.

[dynoflo]

raced the car saturday night. started 13 th finished 3, pulled in pits temp was 180. took cap off looked in rad and could see 2 rows of tubes and they looked like new. end of story.

[naukkis79]

Straight-water without corrosion inhibitors isn't fine for aluminium-head or other aluminium parts. They just don't rust, aluminium melt away with electrical corrosion.

[norm]

Straight-water without corrosion inhibitors isn't fine for aluminium-head or other aluminium parts. They just don't rust, aluminium melt away with electrical corrosion.

A zinc anode helps with this correct?

[dannobee]

magnesium is commonly used as the anode in fresh water. Zincs are for salt water, where mag would get eaten away rather quickly.

Check for electrolysis with a DVOM. Shouldn't have more than 0.1VDC. One more reason to install petcocks and drain the block and radiator frequently.