Help Identifying/Removing Radiator Deposits (PHOTO)

Are Holt's products available? They do have a radiator cleaner in their line (name fell out of my brain). Chances are, that you need their "rad weld" afterwards. :-)

Nick

deposits

Prestone,

would a

Looks like silicates from the ethylene glycol...

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I haven't seen those types of radiator deposits, but I wonder if the cooling system is filled with unfiltered well water.

Radiator shops used to routinely take a tank off and slide cleaning rods thru the core tubes. That's when radiators were all metal parts. The plastic tank models aren't as easily repaired with the usual practices of the old standard of soldering parts together. Calling a shop will determine if they will do that, and the approximate cost.

Compare the service/repair costs of a used radiator to the cost of a new one. The last new one I bought about 5 years ago was about $100. It wasn't marked made in USA, and I suspect that it was imported. It is assembled with soldered joints, no plastic tanks.

WB ...............

Is there something, safe for other system components, that will dissolve them?

Martin

The "new" option is attractive, but for the labor in getting it installed (it's a van, and a real B**ch to work on) and the fact that I'll probably have to order the radiator and be stuck until the middle of next week. If there's some magic sauce that will dissolve the crud, I'd like to have some.

Martin

Silicate deposits require a caustic boilout or mechanical rodding. The radiator needs to be removed from the car and cleaned. Last time I had it done, total radiator service including cleanout, test, etc was about $50 bucks or so.

Unless it's cold where you are, as a Temporary ban-aid, I would consider removing the thermostat to eliminate that extra little restriction that it causes (replacing used gasket with a new one). Always a good idea to replace a thermostat before it fails anyway. This may have detrimental effects on fuel consumption, or other ramifications (particularly if there's an engine computer), emissions, catalytic converter, blah blah.

This may provide a little more flow for circulation. Temporary, as in not running down to Baha, or driving competition sports. Drive like a granny, and avoid using the A/C.. you might be OK 'till next week.

None-the-less, I'd carry some coolant and/or be prepared for an emergency hose repair/replace.

A holiday weekend trip was interrupted once by a friend's van overheating. We were in several vehicles, and his had the gear, and something that sounds like gear. It felt kinda stupid to stand in a parking lot spraying water on his radiator (not the engine parts) with a trigger spray bottle. The evaporation helped cool down his coolant gradually.

I hope everyone has a safe and enjoyable Independence Day

WB ................

Nothing that I know of. Years ago I did a short stint of cooling system corrosion testing. I recall seeing a few cans of the mix you tried but I don't think it was very effective...

Are you sure that the thermostat was opening when you "treated" it? I didn't see any Prestone products that contained acid, but the directions for Gunk's radiator cleaned specify that you run the engine up to full operating temperature... then let it run for 20 - 30 additional minutes so the hot solution can circulate through the system and dissolve the crud. Gunk:

If the thermostat is stuck, the cleaning solution will sit cold in the radiator and the hot water will just circulate in the engine. Given the situation you describe, I think I would remove the thermostat and try the Gunk solution... then put a new thermostat in (unless you're certain the solution was hot and circulating when you did it). Just a suggestion, David

"Martin" wrote in message news: snipped-for-privacy@g44g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...

Running the heater also helps a lot. Unfortunately, it also makes it hell inside the vehicle (unless it happens to be winter) but it is better than being stranded.

IIRCC, The car I learned to drive on, was still on it's original rad when my Dad sold it ('31 Model A) in 1963. Now, we are lucky to get five years out of one thanks to our modern technology. Gerry :-)} London, Canada

That's a fairly-common generic "patch", but on Dodge trucks it's actually twice as hard to remove the thermostat as the radiator ;)

Mart> Unless it's cold where you are, as a Temporary ban-aid, I would consider

Yes, it was opening. Pretty easy to tell when the flow starts, either by putting your hand on the tank or watching with the cap off.

Hu, the one in my '92 Buick has never been changed.