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      08-06-2021, 02:27 AM   #1
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How to flush cooling system contaminated with oil? N52

Hi guys,

So I have been unfortunate enough to have both oil cooler and oil filter gaskets fail on me and got a massive oil dump into my n52 cooling system.

The mess seems like a never ending nightmare, I keep cleaning and getting much of the contaminated coolant with oil out, but it just keeps coming up.

I'm talking about very thick and sludgy chocolate color mess.

Now the cooling system is completely clogged, car displays low coolant warning, engine overheats after 10 min of running, and radiator fan kicks in immediately.

Whats the easiest yet most effective to flush this mess once and for all? or at least to a level where its not thick enough to be clogging things around.

A simple procedure would be appreciated.
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      08-06-2021, 08:32 AM   #2
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In this case I'd call a shop and explain your problem.
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      08-06-2021, 08:55 AM   #3
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Quote:
Originally Posted by marvinstockman View Post
In this case I'd call a shop and explain your problem.
I already changed both gaskets and upgraded hose flange that goes to engine block with aluminum one since I was at it. Engine oil level is stable.

I already cleaned out a lot of sludge by removing the expansion tank and deep cleaning it twice. I also let the cap off with engine running, and it was expelling a ton load of sludge out of the expansion tank. But after each drive, its all chocolaty tick again.

I just need to know if there is an easy way to at least flush the radiator without taking it off, Im thinking about using dishwasher machine soap and run it through all the system.
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      08-06-2021, 08:59 AM   #4
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jojojijijojo View Post
Quote:
Originally Posted by marvinstockman View Post
In this case I'd call a shop and explain your problem.
I already changed both gaskets and upgraded hose flange that goes to engine block with aluminum one since I was at it. Engine oil level is stable.

I already cleaned out a lot of sludge by removing the expansion tank and deep cleaning it twice. I also let the cap off with engine running, and it was expelling a ton load of sludge out of the expansion tank. But after each drive, its all chocolaty tick again.

I just need to know if there is an easy way to at least flush the radiator without taking it off, Im thinking about using dishwasher soap and run it through all the system.
I wouldn't run dish washer soap. I would just buy gallons of distilled water and keep flushing ot out
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      08-06-2021, 09:57 AM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Mosaud1998 View Post
I wouldn't run dish washer soap. I would just buy gallons of distilled water and keep flushing ot out
Right, I wasn't actually referring to soapy dishwasher, but to the one used in automatic washing machines
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      08-06-2021, 10:11 AM   #6
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Originally Posted by jojojijijojo View Post
Right, I wasn't actually referring to soapy dishwasher, but to the one used in automatic washing machines
I wouldnt even use that honestly.
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      08-06-2021, 10:23 AM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Mosaud1998 View Post
I wouldn't run dish washer soap. I would just buy gallons of distilled water and keep flushing ot out
This is what I would do. Keep flushing it with water until it runs clean, then replace with coolant.
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      08-06-2021, 10:37 AM   #8
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What about using this?

https://prestone.com/product/preston...oil-degreaser/
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      08-06-2021, 10:49 AM   #9
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Originally Posted by CTinline-six View Post
This is what I would do. Keep flushing it with water until it runs clean, then replace with coolant.
That is ALL I would ever do. I would never run any soaps or solvents through my engine. You dont know what impact that could have on other seals, rubber in hoses, etc. And you never get it all out.

Id rather spend $100 on water and coolant than put anything inside there that wasnt originally designed to be in there. And Id probably do my coolant every few months for the next year to be sure.
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      08-06-2021, 10:52 AM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jojojijijojo View Post
Right, I wasn't actually referring to soapy dishwasher, but to the one used in automatic washing machines
Ohhhh hell no. Dont ever use that for anything you dont want to destroy. That stuff is basically powdered bleach, alkaline salts and enzymes that get activated when hot.

Ever notice how basically everything nice isnt called "dishwasher safe?" Its because that stuff is almost guaranteed to etch bare metals and plastics.
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      08-06-2021, 11:31 AM   #11
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Ok, so I will just use water then, but any tips on the actually flushing procedure? Filling the expansion tank then draining the radiator seems awfully slow and I don't think i will be able to get all the sludgy oil out.

Any tips on how to run pressurized water through the system without taking everything apart?
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      08-06-2021, 12:05 PM   #12
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Do not put anything in your cooling system besides distilled water and/or coolant. If you want to flush it, buy like 8-10 gallons of distilled water. Also, very preferably a radiator cleaner product, I personally use LiquiMoly's - it's helped a bunch of gunk come out. In regards to how do you actually flush it, just follow a guide for bleeding the system for air.

Drain Coolant -> Fill with distilled water to the brim -> engage water pump through bleed procedure -> Drain Coolant -> Repeat

Do that three or four times. The bleed procedure engages the water pump without the engine running, and it circulates the coolant around the engine while getting rid of air pockets. Make sure your battery is plugged into a trickle charger, or run the car after bleeding two times or you risk killing the battery. Then when you feel that you have sufficiently flushed the cooling system, refill with 1.5 gallons of BMW Coolant, and 0.5 gallons of distilled water until topped off properly. I really would recommend you get a few bottles of cooling system/radiator cleaner like the one that LiquiMoly makes, it will help break up deposits as well as any oil in the coolant.
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      08-06-2021, 12:16 PM   #13
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No amount of flushing with distilled water or coolant is going to remove any oil sludge left clinging to the surfaces. At the same time you don't want to put dish soap either. Looks like that Prestone radiator flush looks like an appropriate product for this service.

Just use that Prestone radiator and run it through the system via the bleed procedure and drain. Do this a couple of times. Then like others said use 10 gallons of distilled water to re-flush the system and drain (like 10 times or so). I know it's PITA but do not heat up the engine till you've done these flushes and you can no longer see oil sheen in your water/coolant.

Then finally fill up the coolant system with 50:50 BMW coolant/water.
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      08-06-2021, 12:18 PM   #14
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Fritzer View Post
Do not put anything in your cooling system besides distilled water and/or coolant. If you want to flush it, buy like 8-10 gallons of distilled water. Also, very preferably a radiator cleaner product, I personally use LiquiMoly's - it's helped a bunch of gunk come out. In regards to how do you actually flush it, just follow a guide for bleeding the system for air.

Drain Coolant -> Fill with distilled water to the brim -> engage water pump through bleed procedure -> Drain Coolant -> Repeat

Do that three or four times. The bleed procedure engages the water pump without the engine running, and it circulates the coolant around the engine while getting rid of air pockets. Make sure your battery is plugged into a trickle charger, or run the car after bleeding two times or you risk killing the battery. Then when you feel that you have sufficiently flushed the cooling system, refill with 1.5 gallons of BMW Coolant, and 0.5 gallons of distilled water until topped off properly. I really would recommend you get a few bottles of cooling system/radiator cleaner like the one that LiquiMoly makes, it will help break up deposits as well as any oil in the coolant.
Thanks for the tips, I have actually done a similar procedure before I started pulling my hair out.

Basically I deep cleaned the expansion tank, left the upper radiator hose disconnected from the expansion tank and redirected to a waste pan, then I started the electric pump and I kept watching all the sludgy coolant come out into the waste pan while I was adding distilled water into the expansion tank.

I repeated the above until the water was coming out clean from the small upper radiator hose that connects to the expansion tank.

I was thinking that all is well, and I topped up my coolant, repeated bleeding procedure one more time and went for a drive. Next day it was all full of tick sludge again like It was never cleaned before.
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      08-06-2021, 12:22 PM   #15
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jojojijijojo View Post
Thanks for the tips, I have actually done a similar procedure before I started pulling my hair out.

Basically I deep cleaned the expansion tank, left the upper radiator hose disconnected from the expansion tank and redirected to a waste pan, then I started the electric pump and I kept watching all the sludgy coolant come out into the waste pan while I was adding distilled water into the expansion tank.

I repeated the above until the water was coming out clean from the small upper radiator hose that connects to the expansion tank.

I was thinking that all is well, and I topped up my coolant, repeated bleeding procedure one more time and went for a drive. Next day it was all full of tick sludge again like It was never cleaned before.
Yes that is why I would do the procedure how I outlined, with a sealed system circulating the coolant in every nook within. Otherwise you risk missing areas with the procedure you did. Additionally there could be air pockets in the system when doing it that way and there is some risk you could damage the electric water pump by having it run dry. You should do the sealed bleed procedure with a cooling system detergent and distilled water 3-4 times to fully clean it out.
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      08-06-2021, 12:31 PM   #16
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Fritzer View Post
Yes that is why I would do the procedure how I outlined, with a sealed system circulating the coolant in every nook within. Otherwise you risk missing areas with the procedure you did. Additionally there could be air pockets in the system when doing it that way and there is some risk you could damage the electric water pump by having it run dry. You should do the sealed bleed procedure with a cooling system detergent and distilled water 3-4 times to fully clean it out.
Ok, I'm going to give this a try and get back with the results.
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      08-06-2021, 12:55 PM   #17
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TBH chemistry is very adamant and rigid. I am kind of curious to know how this pans out. I am skeptical as to how much circulation of distilled water/coolant will remove oil all sludged out.
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      08-06-2021, 01:13 PM   #18
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Originally Posted by jojojijijojo View Post
Ok, I'm going to give this a try and get back with the results.
Sweet, I'm sure doing that 3-4 times with ONLY distilled water will help considerably. I will say it is very much worth getting a few cans of this stuff to put in with the distilled water for the first couple of flushes.

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      08-06-2021, 01:34 PM   #19
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I think people are mixing oil sludge with oil staining. If it hasn't run THAT long it wouldn't have solidified the same. Water, mechanically, can do a lot. That is why I was saying to change the coolant repeatedly. Just putting water in and dumping it wont get it, its going to have to run through the system under pressure, at speed, to work. And no matter what you put in it its going to take that. Id be OK with something like the LiquiMoly in there, but its not going to work alone either.

Id fill and run the bleed cycle. Dump as much as you can, fill and run the bleed cycle. Do that like 5 times before turning the engine back on. after 5 times with water then put coolant back in.

Then maybe run it a little bit, like to let it get to temp and run the AC so the pump fires all up and really lets it move violently through the system. Then dump it again. Then repeat. Once you get it to a feeling of clean then probably open up the heater coil.

Chemistry is useful but you cant underestimate mechanical action.
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      08-06-2021, 01:45 PM   #20
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ryan stewart View Post
I think people are mixing oil sludge with oil staining. If it hasn't run THAT long it wouldn't have solidified the same. Water, mechanically, can do a lot. That is why I was saying to change the coolant repeatedly. Just putting water in and dumping it wont get it, its going to have to run through the system under pressure, at speed, to work. And no matter what you put in it its going to take that. Id be OK with something like the LiquiMoly in there, but its not going to work alone either.

Id fill and run the bleed cycle. Dump as much as you can, fill and run the bleed cycle. Do that like 5 times before turning the engine back on. after 5 times with water then put coolant back in.

Then maybe run it a little bit, like to let it get to temp and run the AC so the pump fires all up and really lets it move violently through the system. Then dump it again. Then repeat. Once you get it to a feeling of clean then probably open up the heater coil.

Chemistry is useful but you cant underestimate mechanical action.
This. Like I was saying, do multiple flushes so gets lots of distilled water. Very cheap from grocer. Although I would not actually run the engine until you flush at least two times with just distilled water + cooling system cleaner and the bleed procedure. Then you could run it for a bit, drive around, then flush approx 2 more times before filling with 75% coolant and 25% distilled water. You could go 50/50 too, not much difference unless you live somewhere where it frequently gets far below freezing.
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      08-06-2021, 02:04 PM   #21
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"I was thinking that all is well, and I topped up my coolant, repeated bleeding procedure one more time and went for a drive. Next day it was all full of tick sludge again like It was never cleaned before."

It's no longer an oil slick if the engine has been already driven. Hence the reference to sludge.

Sure you apply engine oil to rock in a river and the ample amount of river water will eventually wipe it away but that's not what we are talking about here are we? And it's not like one cycle of chemical cleaning alone would remove everything stuck to the sides.

This is a long process of circulating stuff and draining them from the radiator and any other place to disconnect a hose.
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      08-06-2021, 03:03 PM   #22
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LOTS of posts here. ANYONE a Chemistry Degree? A LOT of folks have spent a LOT of years studying the principles involved in cleaning/ degreasing, and testing different products. I'm NOT one of those folks, so I won't express an opinion other than "Water won't cut it".

While it is true that for an "UN-contaminated"/ Clean cooling system, you ONLY want to add distilled water and proper Anti-freeze with correct Corrosion Inhibitor, that is NOT OP's case. He has a LOT of Oil-based Sludge in the system. Why do environmentalists clean seabirds that have gotten coated by an oil slick. Nothing better to do? If Water "alone would fix it", just drop them off someplace with NO Oil.

So MAYBE we should actually READ and try to understand what the folks that have spent years learning the principles of chemistry, and specializing in "Surfactants", Emulsifiers, pH, and other related issues have written. You'll wait a LOOOONG time for the Movie, or even the Video.

Generally speaking, it appears that OP's MOST pressing concern is OVER-HEATING, and that he needs to concentrate on (1) improving coolant flow in the Water Jacket, and (2) improving heat transfer in water jacket and the radiator. BOTH of those require getting rid of the "Sludge". If he doesn't do that, car will overheat and damage will be done to major engine parts, OR he just can't drive it.

"Prestone Radiator Flush & Oil Degreaser" looks like a good product to EVALUATE. The SDS (Safety Data Sheet) was published December 2019, so it's been around long enough for any major issues from its use to have been reported. It has TWO basic ingredients:
1) Sodium Citrate, at least 5%; according to Wiki- "Sodium citrates are used as acidity regulators in food and drinks, and also as emulsifiers for oils."
2) Nonionic Surfactant; Wiki- "Surfactants may act as detergents, wetting agents, emulsifiers... Non-ionic surfactants are less sensitive to water hardness than anionic surfactants, and they foam less strongly."

So for anyone with Oil in Coolant, I would suggest reading the following and talking to some Shop Folk who see such a situation regularly:
https://prestone.com/product/preston...oil-degreaser/
https://prestone.com/wp-content/uplo...hDegreaser.pdf
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sodium_citrate
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surfactant#Non-ionic

And DO read any Directions/Instructions related to product use. The Temperature of the system, and HOW LONG you leave it in the system are important. There are BOTH (A) Chemical Reactions, and (B) Mechanical Actions involved in any cleaning operation. The Chemical part is what most of us don't understand, and Time & Temperature are important.
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