As a follow-up to the log and arduous saga of my engine rebuild and
associated trouble, I wanted to post a note regarding the block heater
fiasco.

My block heater (v3.0) works fine now. But only after an extreme
chemical flushing of the block water jacket. This is the first time I
have ever heard of a process of water jacket flushing, but I now know
that it is a procedure that could be of help to anyone experiencing
problems with block and engine temperature issues.

First of all, NEVER use radiator "quick fixes" like "Stop Leak" and
other panaceas that address symptoms but not causes. I cannot imagine
a Mercedes-Benz owner resorting to such measures, but apparently one
did with my car, in its earlier life. What "Stop Leak" does is fill
your radiator and engine block with, among other undesirable things,
is copper. The copper purportedly fills the hole and stops the leak
in the radiator that should have been replaced instead. Problem is,
on diesel Benzes, the copper also attaches itself to the elements of
the block heater. And shorts it out.

An additional benefit of the extensive and thorough flush administered
to my engine is that it runs about 7-10 degrees cooler. Apparently,
and any foreign crap introduced (such as "Stop Leak") into the cooling
system, collects as gunk in the bottom of the engine block and reduces
cooling circulation volume, and interferes with block heater, etc.

Liver and Learn!

Thanks to all who responded during this entire ordeal.

Just wondering: how does one add copper to a radiator?

If it isn't a metal then it might be in form of a salt, such as copper
sulphate. How is that supposed to selectively fill holes?

Any scientific answers?

Cheers
DAS

To send an e-mail directly replace "spam" with "schmetterling"
---
"randallbrink (AT) mac (DOT) com" <randallbrink (AT) gmail (DOT) com> wrote

On Oct 26, 6:42*am, "Dori A Schmetterling" <nob... (AT) spam (DOT) co.uk> wrote:
No scientific answers. I only recall this product being sold years
ago and wondering why anyone would use it. My understanding of it is
that the amalgamation will find its way into a hole in the radiator
and stop the leak. I suppose on an engine that doesn't require a
block heater, one may never experience the adverse side effect of it,
but it's definitely not for diesels.

these days the stop leak compound is a silicate of some kind. It remains
in solution when the water is cool, but will crystalize out at an opening
where it comes into contact with air and the engine is warm. I imagine at
times past some manufacturers used a copper salt as well. I've used an
organic sealer made by GM and it has worked extremely well. I've plugged a
definite head gasket leak for years now.

cheers, guenter

In article <d50322f5-b248-4799-9ed4-634d99911d5d (AT) j9g2000prh (DOT) googlegroups.com>,
randallbrink (AT) mac (DOT) com <randallbrink (AT) gmail (DOT) com> wrote: