How to: Removing salt and scale from cooling system passages with vinegar

[Heligeorge]

Nice information and pictures regarding limescale and/or salt buildup and how to remove.
Thank you.
I have a Honda 1999 BF130 with about 840 hours now.
I got it 10 years ago with about 400 hours.
I have had no overheating issues in general, but I have noticed on occasions the amount of salt that accumulates and it is impressive.
I have on occasions used vinegar and it works great.
I have come to the conclusion that the engine must have salt and limescale buildup,so today I bought 3 4liter jugs of white vinegar.
I removed the lower unit and placed a large container, I used an old bilge pump and a piece of hose and connected the bilge to the water pipe.
i got a garbage bag and cut off the bottom and used is as a skirt to avoid vinegar from splashing out.
i ran the pump for about an hour, and occasionally started the motor to heat up the vinegar.
Now about two hours later the vinegar is brownish and turbid plus small pieces of hardened salt plus limescale came out.
There were two exceptionally large pieces that fell out about the size of cherries.
I have also dropped in an aluminium washer to note for corrosion or pitting and there ia absolutely none.
I have been contemplating on buying Rydlyme, but there are issues with shipping and therefore with 7€ worth of white vinegar 4,5% acidity, I have managed wonders.
I occasionally flush with Saltaway but SaltAway in my opinion just prevents fresh salt from crystalising and hardening.
It will not eat away at salt/limescale buildup...it just stops fresh deposits from hardening.
Tomorrow I will continue flushing for another few hours and can be sure to remove more stuff.
The alternative would eventually have been to get the head removed (it's a four stroke with pulleys and belts) the head gasket alone if €170 and the workmanship another €250?
All in all going the hard way with an expense of ~$500 ....

[olboatman]

Great to see info put together yrs ago being used today and added too. Gary

[Mr. Demeanor]

Nice information and pictures regarding limescale and/or salt buildup and how to remove.
Thank you.
I have a Honda 1999 BF130 with about 840 hours now.
I got it 10 years ago with about 400 hours.
I have had no overheating issues in general, but I have noticed on occasions the amount of salt that accumulates and it is impressive.
I have on occasions used vinegar and it works great.
I have come to the conclusion that the engine must have salt and limescale buildup,so today I bought 3 4liter jugs of white vinegar.
I removed the lower unit and placed a large container, I used an old bilge pump and a piece of hose and connected the bilge to the water pipe.
i got a garbage bag and cut off the bottom and used is as a skirt to avoid vinegar from splashing out.
i ran the pump for about an hour, and occasionally started the motor to heat up the vinegar.
Now about two hours later the vinegar is brownish and turbid plus small pieces of hardened salt plus limescale came out.
There were two exceptionally large pieces that fell out about the size of cherries.
I have also dropped in an aluminium washer to note for corrosion or pitting and there ia absolutely none.
I have been contemplating on buying Rydlyme, but there are issues with shipping and therefore with 7€ worth of white vinegar 4,5% acidity, I have managed wonders.
I occasionally flush with Saltaway but SaltAway in my opinion just prevents fresh salt from crystalising and hardening.
It will not eat away at salt/limescale buildup...it just stops fresh deposits from hardening.
Tomorrow I will continue flushing for another few hours and can be sure to remove more stuff.
The alternative would eventually have been to get the head removed (it's a four stroke with pulleys and belts) the head gasket alone if €170 and the workmanship another €250?
All in all going the hard way with an expense of ~$500 ....

Very nice. I am going to pump vinegar through my Optimax using the flush port hooked to a pond pump I have.

[Heligeorge]

Day two.
Have been pumping vinegar all day.
The spare car battery started to run down, so today I'm runing the old bilge pump with a small mains transformer ...
The vinegar is now brown grey and has gotten even darker.
Think.if there is salt limescale buildup,it can only accumulate where saltwater goes,eventually building up to the point where crucial orifices are totally blocked.
I have in mind the valve cover with its passages which, based on the salt I saw in the thermostat cover (the thermostat cover is about an inch in diameter ) and was really full.
I imagine the valve cover passages (which from pictures I have seen are only the diameter of a cigarette) must surely be clogged up.
Therefore the vinegar wetting the deposits and dissolving them must eventually penetrate along and continue until all is the deposits are gone.
I am doing this at my risk.
I figured a warped or eventually cracked block due to uneven cooling is surely worse than not taking the risk to try this.
By now ,any splashes (of the vinegar with the dissolved stuff ) that dry out dry into white stains that are very hard.
I will put fresh vinegar and continue tomorrow.
I decided to take a sample of the dirty vinegar.
I will let it dry and observe how much solids are left.
Theoetically I will be able to calculate the total amount of solids removed since I know the total vinegar volume and the sample liquid to solid ratio.
The final treatment will be run with muffs and a jab of Saltaway to top the process.

[R.grover]

There is a product out there that we find dose this well but costs more than vinegar made in the states (tracs descaler) and use a pump on to the water pick up or side flush.
Salt away like u say helps prevent (maybe)

[flabum1017]

Heligeorge, that motor probably has anodes in it, you may want to check them after running that vinegar through it.....

[Heligeorge]

Yes, there are anodes.
They are okay.
I think now the anodes are aluminium and not zinc anymore.
2 anodes in the exhaust side, 2 in the air intake manifold, and one in the oil cooler.

[Mr. Demeanor]

Yes, there are anodes.
They are okay.
I think now the anodes are aluminium and not zinc anymore.
2 anodes in the exhaust side, 2 in the air intake manifold, and one in the oil cooler.

I soaked some Yamaha heads in straight vinegar that had anodes in them and they appeared untouched. Soaked them overnight.

[Heligeorge]

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