radiator flushing
 

I'm looking for some advice on flushing the radiator on my 31 towne sedan. I have a huge mouse nest that I can see from the top made of seat stuffing. (i left the lower radiator hose off the motor about 30 years ago.)The nearest radiator shop is over an hour away.


Thanks in advance,
Jeff

Re: radiator flushing
 

Take it out turn it over and back flush with hose. Once it's back in, if you have a overheating problem, you can use evaporust thermocure, which I'm hearing good reviews on . Check the archives, as it was just recently discussed.

Re: radiator flushing
 

Drive to the radiator shop!!

Re: radiator flushing
 

I think a piece of thin wire with a hook bent into it and a lot of time will fish out the stuffing

Re: radiator flushing
 

I think fishing is the wrong terminology:-)
Mechanical removal, then some compressed air, then lots of water, I wouldn't spend a lot of time or money before replacing! Mice urine is corrosive.

Re: radiator flushing
 

See below.

Re: radiator flushing
 

old sump pump or pool pump back flushing it with a solution of simple green for 20+ minutes will clean it.

Re: radiator flushing
 

Fill with water and draino off the car for about 20 min. Backflush and repeat if necessary. The mouse crap will be welded inside. Wear eye and skin protection. The lye cleans very well. 20 mins max between flushes. You could follow up with evaporust or rust911. Make a backflush tool that uses air and water. Gently apply air bursts.

Re: radiator flushing
 

You need lots of flow and some pressure, so I used a sump pump to back flush my 28 a few years ago. As Big hammer said, there is very little that is more corrosive than mouse piss. It also can be deadly if you breath mouse droppings dust, so use care.

Re: radiator flushing
 

thats what i did using a pool pump - mostly old grease and bug parts (darn asian beetles for some reason) were clogging my radiator. Block wasnt too bad - just some fine silt and rust particles but i cleaned with a special made air wand and lots of poking when i was rebuilding it to get the water passage sparkling clean.

Re: radiator flushing
 

that's pretty slick. I"m going to try that for sure.

Re: radiator flushing
 

Notice the gentle curve on the 90* elbow I used. This will give much better flow than the sharp elbow.

Re: radiator flushing
 

Yeah and I like that fan shroud you have there Tom. Does anybody here ever see those for sale at the meets? Sorry, didn't mean to hijack the thread.

Re: radiator flushing
 

Once in a while they show up on ebay, but they are rather expensive.

Re: radiator flushing
 

Tom I have a quick question about the Sump pump, I notice that the one attached to the engine looks to be hooked up through where the water pump is, not the top of the engine where water would flow out and into the radiator. Am I wrong in what it looks like or is this the correct way to attach this rig? I am getting ready to do all this flushing and love the idea ! Just want to hook it up right. Also did you run your engine with the sump pump hooked up ?

Larry

Re: radiator flushing
 

The sump is pumping into the side inlet, and the return flow is out the top front, where the pump is mounted.

Be sure you use a grounded outlet for the power. The sump pump is metal, and you're playing in water, so you don't want any shocks.

I recently installed an outdoor outlet for 110 and 220, and I use the ground fault for added safety.

In the 70's a friend of my cousin was killed while taking a bath and the radio fell into the tub.

Re: radiator flushing
 

My radiator is still full, but I'd say 20 year old coolant, I guess I should flush it out and replace? it still looks nice and green

Re: radiator flushing
 

CB919ER..flush that 20 yr old coolant out. Old coolant become acidic with time.
Jeff

Re: radiator flushing
 

The OP said that he left the bottom hose off. Wouldn't that mean the mouse nest is in the bottom tank and in that case, wouldn't BACK flushing be the wrong way to go? You'd be trying to push the nest through the core.:eek: On the other hand, he said he can see the nest from the top. In THAT case, back flushing would be the way to go
My suggestion - pull as much of the nest out through and flush from the appropriate direction. You might use a dental mirror or fibre optic inspection camera to check progress as you pull out the crud. I doubt any of the chemicals mentioned above will have any affect on seat stuffing. The mouse crap might be though.

Re: radiator flushing
 

Yes , that dried up mouse crap carries the Hantavirus, very deadly use a good mask.