How to remove oil from a boiler system?

This topic has 10 replies, 8 voices, and was last updated 14 April 2014 at 17:21 by Brian Wood.

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13 April 2014 at 16:50 #149741
Tim Stevens
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@timstevens64731
I need help from an experienced boiler user – I have a car engine & radiator in which oil has been getting into the coolant. I think I have solved the leak, but I still have an engine etc which is coated internally with oil in all the wrong places.

The engine is all cast iron (yes, that old) and the water pump is quite separate, and tha radiator is brass, so the only 'vulnerable' parts are the water hoses which are silicone rubber. Should I fill with plain water, run the engine up, and add some Gunk to emulsify the oil, then drain and refill with distilled & antifreeze? Would this work? Or is there a better way?

Many thanks – Tim

PS its a 1932 Wolseley Hornet Special, just in case that helps …
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13 April 2014 at 16:50 #1270
Tim Stevens
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@timstevens64731
13 April 2014 at 17:13 #149745
maurice bennie
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@mauricebennie99556
Hi Tim ,Why not use soap ,dish washer type.PS I was two when that was made and I love them.we had a three wheel 1934 BSA shed tears when that went Hope all goes well whatever you use

Maurice
13 April 2014 at 19:45 #149757
alan-lloyd
Participant
@alan-lloyd
I had an old Volkswagen, it had a water cooled oil filter housing, which rotted through to the oil ways, because the oil is at a higher pressure it went into the water, I filled it a couple of times with degreaser, but didn't run it up, drained and filled with water, it was perfectly ok. After all what will a little oil harm in the coolant system.
13 April 2014 at 20:53 #149773
Neil Wyatt
Moderator
@neilwyatt
Some years ago, my stepson had a narrowboat with an A-series diesel engine in it. He had oil getting into the water and we spent a very cold (ice on the canal) day changing the head gasket. Horrible job – although it's better access than a car, when you drop a tool you have to fish around in ice-cold oily bilge water to find it

Put it all back together (and it worked!) but the leak was no better, probably worse. Discovered it was a soft-soldered brass oil cooler with cracked joints. Constructed like a small water-tube boiler Took about five minutes to fix it back in the nice warm workshop. Ho hum!

Interesting arrangement, for those unfamiliar with narrowboats, there's no radiator the water circulates through steel 'boxes' built into the sides of the hull..

Neil
13 April 2014 at 23:19 #149782
Jens Eirik Skogstad 1
Participant
@jenseirikskogstad1
To remove oil in cooling system in the engine/radiator: Add 0.5 liter liquid soap + water then run engine to working temperture. Drain the cooling system and flush clean oil / water from the cooling system and refill coolant. The soap dissolves the oil and blends into the water, thus it is easy to remove from the cooling system by flushing with clean water.
14 April 2014 at 00:21 #149783
stevetee
Participant
@stevetee
If you use something like dishwasher powder make sure you flush it well afterwards, it is very aggressive. I had a friend once whose brake shoes were contaminated with brake fluid, I suggested he boiled them up with washing powder. Eager to do a good job he boiled them up with dishwasher powder which destroyed the glue holding the lining on the shoes.
14 April 2014 at 13:47 #149824
Ian S C
Participant
@iansc
One of our vintage tractor guys drove his old David Brown tractor to the A&P Show, about 10K, and found that the oil level in the sump was much higher at the end of the trip. We found that the block had a crack between the middle cylinders, and when the engine heated up, the crack opened, and the water leaked into the sump. Ian S C
14 April 2014 at 16:29 #149833
Tim Stevens
Participant
@timstevens64731
Thanks chaps. So, I need half a pint of 'liquid soap' – so will washing-up liquid do?

Interesting for me as a newcomer to the forum – most of the responses were about related experiences but not really an answer to the problem. Such is life …

cheers, Tim
14 April 2014 at 16:45 #149834
Tim Stevens
Participant
@timstevens64731
In answer to the query 'what does it matter?' the problem is that the oil is likely to be an insulating layer, with a double effect. It reduces the heat flow from the engine, as well as the heat flow out of the radiator.

Tomorrow I will try the effect of running the engine with plain water until it gets to near boiling (no fan) and leave it like that for an hour or two to reduce the oil viscosity and hope that some of it will float to the top. Then I will overfill the rad so the oil overflows (rather than draining back over the internal surfaces). Then I will have a go with soap, and overfill again. Two or three of these treatments might be enough.

Of course, I have just rebuilt the engine and I hope to have found and cured the leak, but perhaps not …

Cheers, Tim
14 April 2014 at 17:21 #149839
Brian Wood
Participant
@brianwood45127
Hello Ian,

I think the washing up liquid in a strong solution is probably favourite, but avoid stirring it too much with the water pump to reduce foaming.

Get it up to working temperature and leave it to stand for perhaps an hour or so before draining and flushing. Cold water is a better solvent for Fairy liquid, flush several times to get all you can out of the system. Then fill again with plain water and add about a pint of methalated spirit to 'kill' the remainder of the Fairy and act as a 'getter' for any remaing oil.

Get that up to temperature. I'd leave that mixture standing overnight before draining and flushing through again with clean water. Fill again with water, run the engine again to warm it up and see if any further oil appears in the header tank. If there is only a trace I would ignore it and make room for the normal coolant to be added.

Regards Brian
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