Muriatic acid or vinegar

[BQUICK]

to clean out scale and salt deposits from cooling passages?

[Brisco58]

I have the same problem and need to clean out the water jackets. I don't know what is best at dissolving the deposits, but the link below is a very informative with great pictures.

http://www.mbcboats.com/fusionbb/sho...id/26214/tp/1/

[BQUICK]

Cascade powder seems like my plan.........

[Crab Pot]

Casacade? Does it really work on salt deposits? thx.

I have a 2002 25 hp Merc Bigfoot. I believe it has excessive salt deposits thanks to the previous owner. (water flow minimal at higher RPM's...overheat alarm comes on). Does Cascade work? Any thoughts on White Vinegar? Anybody try any of this stuff?

[robert graham]

Maybe the Salt-Away product, made just for that?.

[BIG TEXAN]

I used 9% vinegar mixed with 50% water and it worked great but my boat is used in fresh water. Idled it all day off and on so has not to overheat the water or motor. My left side was running hotter than the right and sending alarm out at High speed. Idled it at 1000RPM it in the tank with out the stats to get it running through the motor immediately. We were going to clean the water jackets manually just to make sure and when we took the covers off they were clean. Put the stats back in and No alarm after this. If you need any more info let me know.

[Crab Pot]

Thanks very much guys. I'm gonna start with the 9% Vinegar mixed with 50% water. I'll give it a full day as you did. Probably wont get to it till the weekend but I'll let you know how it goes. Thanks again!!

[robert graham]

I may try your method, but if it's 9%vinegar and 50%water, what's the other 41%?....

[Tucker]

Bad Math...

[BIG TEXAN]

Big Texan

Sorry, 9% Vinegar is the type or strength. It comes in 5%, 9% and 20%. Most grocery stores carry the 5 and the 9. ($2.35 a gallon) 20% is available from AG. stores and can be used like round up as it will kill weeds, grass, etc. It is also much more expensive. 9% with 50% water will still turn grass brown but Vinegar in reasonable amounts is a good soil and plant treatment.

Good luck!

[Crab Pot]

Alright. I'm picking up my vinegar (6%) tomorrow from a food wholesaler (4 cases..16 gallons) @ $6.75 per case. Because my strength is only 6%, I'll remove my thermostat and slowly work up to a 3/4 Vinegar 1/4 water mix....Either way this should be interesting. Either my motor will melt or it'll run great and smell like sauerkraut for years to come. I'll let you guys know what happens.

[BIG TEXAN]

Did this solve the problem? How long did it take?

[Crab Pot]

Hi Big Tex. Sorry for the delay. I did flush the motor...doing what you did over the coarse of a day being careful not to get the motor or vinegar too warm. It WORKED GREAT!! I used a large white fish cooler filled to the top with crystal clear vinegar. Alot of crap came out changing everything from clear to not clear at all. The amount of water coming from the tell-tale gradually increased quite a bit in just the first hour. I would say my overall water flow DOUBLED when all was done. I then flushed the motor with fresh water (through the ears) for about 20 minutes. NO overheat ALARMS at all!!!
I'm going to the Jersey Shore for a couple of weeks and I wont be taking that boat/motor with me. I'll give it a try on the Chesapeake Bay when I return the first weekend in August. I really don't think I'll have any more problems..but I'll let you know. THANKS AGAIN FOR YOUR SUGGESTION !! You saved me a bundle ...I'll be back in touch.

[classic73montauk]

I hate to be a spoil sport, but I just pulled of the head-covers/water jackets off of my motor, and I can tell you from my newfound experience, that once you have a large build up of crap in there, flushing with vinegar is pretty useless. (This motor is used in Salt water)

Even with the head covers off, I had to scrape and brush all of the "calcium looking" buildup out and that was after soaking several times in full strength CLR. This was in a 1992 150 that I bought used. Hopefully, your vinegar flush didn't break off any chunks and obstruct any passages. I had tiny chunks in my passages.

I tried the Saltaway Flushing prior to pulling the heads with no positive results. After the heads were off, I sprayed full strength vinegar around the cylinder, and it didn't even remove the mud like substance inside. I had to scrape it out. The buildup just laughed and said " Is that all you got!! "

edited to say W.O.W !!! I just noticed this thread started in 2008 !!

[Crab Pot]

My Motor is a 2002 25 HP Big foot four stroke....used in salt water Hopefully my crap isn't as bad as yours and I didnt break off any big chunks...I guess I'll know in a couple weeks.

Oh Yea...I did end up using the vinegar full strength because it was 5% when I picked it up.