David Leonard wrote:

Well, I finally discovered the cause of my inability to circulate
coolant...  Rust.  Upon taking the engine apart to replace the coolant
o-rings I discovered the massive amounts of rust shown in the picture.
And this picture does not even do it justice.  The rust was so thick
it
was not allowing any coolant to flow.  This is the front side housing,
but the others were just as bad.

I have had this engine for about 3 years.  It was originally built by
Atkins.  Someone, not me and probably more than about 5 years ago
judging by the amount of rust, put water halfway full in the engine
and
just let it sit there.  Although it was a "new engine," and only has
about 2 hours on it, I am not sure any of the iron parts are useable.
At least one coolant passage wall is eroded through and I am having a
hard time getting the rust out of the vertical passages that I cant
get
to with a screwdriver.

It is a relief to know what was causing my inability to circulate
water,
I just wish that I had gone with the engine that I rebuilt myself
instead of paying a hefty price for one from Atkins.  Another problem
is
that I broke off a piece of the rear side housing trying to loosen the
flywheel nut (one of the attach points for the redrive).  Haven't
decided what to do with that yet.

On teardown I also found that the front cover oil o-ring had not
seated
properly (was contorted into the lumen of the oil passage) which
probably explains my low oil pressure.

Anyway, thanks for everyone's input on my cooling system.  I have
never
heard of rust getting this bad but is something to think about for
those
of us who have engines sitting around for a long period of time.

David Leonard
The Rotary Roster:
http://members.aol.com/_ht_a/rotaryroster/index.html

Looks like you can salvage those TES O-rings Dave.

Paul Lamar

Dave,  I have been looking for a mock up engine for a long time.  I
this engine for sale?   If so,  where are you located.    Jerry

 
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