Flushing my cooling system

[1930]

Years ago they would put something in rad and let sit overnight, cleaned rad and engine block, more recently I've heard of guys using cocoa cola.

What can you guys suggest?

Haven't even opened cap, I'm just assuming it would be a good idea to flush the system out with something that would work and not necessarily something that's environmentally friendly

 

[747driver]

What color is the current coolant...does it look dirty ? Is the the first time you have changed the coolant ?

I use Prestone radiator flush cleaner first. Drain the system first then fill it back up adding the flush cleaner. Run engine to normal temp then drain . Hook up a water hose to back flush everything out while the engine is running to when it shows clean water coming out. Drain everything and add new coolant . While your at it inspect the hoses and thermostat if they haven't been changed in awhile !

 

[BX23S-1]

What color is the current coolant...does it look dirty ? Is the the first time you have changed the coolant ?

I use Prestone radiator flush cleaner first. Drain the system first then fill it back up adding the flush cleaner. Run engine to normal temp then drain . Hook up a water hose to back flush everything out while the engine is running to when it shows clean water coming out. Drain everything and add new coolant . While your at it inspect the hoses and thermostat if they haven't been changed in awhile !

I`ve been flushing ALL my engines exactly this way... it`s never failed me yet in 60+ yrs.

 

[oosik]

In all my years I've never had a vehicle with a "crudded up" radiator. I've used Zerex radiator flush and visually it made no difference. I will normally drain - refill with clean fresh water - run for 20 minutes or so - drain - add antifreeze and water mix. What comes out in the fresh water flush is only very slightly discolored water. I always shine a flashlight "down the hole" and see what the internals of the radiator look like. Stick your finger down there and rub on the internal parts - maybe a slight brownish-green film will come off - never anything more.

I think a lot of the "crudded up" radiator problems are due to - what type of water are you putting in your radiator? If you have highly mineralized water then its best to buy and use a gallon or so of distilled water.

 

[repete]

Every other year or so I will remove the upper and lower radiator hose and flush water backward through the radiator core. I do not get a lot of stuff out but do get some. By running the water from the lower hose it reverses the normal flow of the coolant that would be from the top down.

I do not use any of the flush additives as I feel if I have not got a heat problem running chemicals that "eat" away at stuff to make it cleaner may not be necessary. I have over 5000 hours on my little L2550DT. Additionally, my radiator is compromised by physical damage that happened 20 years ago when it got a stick shoved through the core. It went in between the tubes and pushed the radiator core back somewhat and left a 3/8" open hole through the core. One tough little tractor. It now has a 5/16 steel plate mounted on the brush guard to avoid this happening again.

 

[SDT]

Years ago they would put something in rad and let sit overnight, cleaned rad and engine block, more recently I've heard of guys using cocoa cola.

What can you guys suggest?

Haven't even opened cap, I'm just assuming it would be a good idea to flush the system out with something that would work and not necessarily something that's environmentally friendly

Decades ago, I routinely flushed cooling systems with commercially available flushing chemicals. After changing too many water pumps shortly after flushing, I stopped doing so. Haven't changed a water pump due to seal leakage in 30 years or more.

Flushing with H2O is OK.

That said, if you change the engine coolant per manufacturer's recommendations and use distilled water rather than tap water, you will never need to flush the coolant.

SDT

 

[Blondie70]

I drain mine. Fill with rainwater. Drain. Fill with rainwater again and run it a few times. Drain and see what it looks like. If dirty, I repeat until clean...then add the new coolant. Never use a flush chemical.