W202 C250 TD Fuel heater being eaten!

[JonathanC250]

Hello everyone,


I have just been attempting a glow plug change on my C250, and thought while i've got the Intake manifold off and a few pipes out of the way, i'll have a look at the fuel heater to see maybe if thats the cause of the bubbling fuel lines when running. upon removing it, i've discovered a little crusty limescale stuff on it, and something has been eating away at it, all the eaten areas are black!!!

Whats caused that? is this a common thing? i've never heard of it before


Any ideas welcomed!

Thanks
Jon

 

[JonathanC250]

By jc250 at 2012-05-12

 

[JonathanC250]

By jc250 at 2012-05-12



Pictures of what I mean.


Will this be ok to put back, or do I need to get a replacement?

Thanks
Jon

 

[Dieselman]

It will be fine to put back in. That looks like water corrosion, how old is the antifreeze.

 

[JonathanC250]

Thanks, thats good to hear!!

The antifreeze is about 4 years old, it was apparently done just before I bought the car according to the service history.

I tested it just before we had the snow at the end of last year and it was still good for about -36.

If that has suffered water corrosion, would the waterpump and thermostat suffered too?

 

[JonathanC250]

Also,

Is there anything I could put on the corrosion to stop it going any further, for example I have some FE123 and Phosphate wash for bits of rust I am treating on the car, wou ld either of those be any good?

Thanks
Jon

 

[hotrodder]

What flavour of coolant is it? Corrosion protection and freezing point are two different things. Colour isn't a definitive way of knowing the flavour but the traditional (often green or blue) coolants use silicates, borates or phosphates and need changing every 2 - 3 years. The more 'modern' OAT (organic acid tech, often orange) is a long life coolant in that the corrosion inhibitors continue working for longer

Dunno what fe123 is but commercial rust converters/phosphoric acid washes are for stabilising iron oxide with many of the commercial brands etching the steel and leaving a zinc phospate deposit behind.

 

[JonathanC250]

Its the older flavour antifreeze!!

Blue/Green in colour, so I best change that In the near future too, should i change the themostat too? while i'm there, would anything else have been eaten away at?

Thanks alot.

Jon

 

[Dieselman]

The thermostat won't have suffered as it is made of tougher metal, aluminium is the most likely to suffer.

Just refit it and change the antifreeze.

 

[JonathanC250]

Thanks alot for the help and advice,

Would it be worthwhile doing a cooling system flush before putting the new stuff in, would that get any of the other limescale stuff out??

any prefered brand of flush??

thanks again,

Jon