rust inside where water pump used to be?

[mitch500]

m50
so today i went to look at a m50 that im thinking about putting in my e30. when i got there i notice the water pump was off the motor and when i looked inside the block i saw rust, is this normal? the motor seemed pretty clean on the out side but ive been told its just been sitting in a garage for 5 years i could even still see colant inside the motor where the water pump was. so if you could let me know you thoughts or if youve seen this before let me know.

[KangamangusDriver]

I would flush/backflush it very very well,


Water got in there at some point in its life, time to get it out.

[mitch500]

yes but is flushing really going to do much?, the rust will still be present. is this usuall for a little corrosion in there because coolant is usually 50% water i would expect some sort of rust formation in there. im sure many of you guys on this forum has changed your water pumps did you see anything like this in yours.

[KangamangusDriver]

I believe in order to rust, air has to be present.

If Im correct cooling systems are usually closed systems.
No air, hence the bleeding of them.

Once you get the air out, coolant in there should be no more active rusting.

[jlevie]

One of the functions of anti-freeze is corrosion protection and is the reason that coolant must be changed every other year. The oxygen scavengers in anti-freeze do get used up with time and significant rust inside of an engine suggests that it wasn't properly maintained with timely coolant changes or was run with plain water. That said, cooling system flush kits that contain oxalic acid will dissolve rust and can be used to clean up a poorly maintained engine.