The Ford Barn

SSsssteamer · 03-07-2017, 12:39 AM

TSP is Tri Sodium Phosphate. (Known as a washing soda.) It primarily is used for cleaning walls in preparation to painting. Great for cleaning out the dirty paint brushes too. Can be purchased at most Hardware stores and also at the bigger Grocery stores. Anti freeze already comes with an additive like TSP, but it wears out in time (in a couple of years).
By adding TSP to aging antifreeze (your old 50/50 anti freeze water mix), it extends the corrosion protection of the antifreeze. You also can add it to just water too, and that is where it really shines!. No more than a hand full of TSP will keep the cooling system rust free, and it will also help reduce mineral deposits.

Benson · 03-07-2017, 12:50 AM

1. There is real TSP ... This one works better

2. There is the EPA version that is "dumbed down". They removed most of the Phosphate because it causes algae to grow in the ground water.

The label will sometimes tell you if it is real or not.

Google will fill in the details ...

5window · 03-07-2017, 08:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SSsssteamer

TSP is Tri Sodium Phosphate. (Known as a washing soda.) It primarily is used for cleaning walls in preparation to painting. Great for cleaning out the dirty paint brushes too. Can be purchased at most Hardware stores and also at the bigger Grocery stores. Anti freeze already comes with an additive like TSP, but it wears out in time (in a couple of years).
By adding TSP to aging antifreeze (your old 50/50 anti freeze water mix), it extends the corrosion protection of the antifreeze. You also can add it to just water too, and that is where it really shines!. No more than a hand full of TSP will keep the cooling system rust free, and it will also help reduce mineral deposits.

While all this may well be true, I would have to be really cautious putting anything as corrosive as TSP (ph10.0) into any cooling system, let alone one 80+ years old. I would bet it would also invalidate your antifreeze warranty. A "handful" of TSP is a pretty
imprecise amount, so one's concentration would vary quite a bit and I'm pretty sure quantitative testing data are not available. I'm not a chemical engineer, but I am a skeptic.

SSsssteamer · 03-07-2017, 09:18 PM

Shared on a private message: There are other cooling system cleaners that are used for cleaning the cooling system and they work better. But..... They have to be cautiously used or else cooling system damage can be done, like ruining a head gasket. One is the commercial cooling system flush, that is to be left in no more than 15 minutes. Any more and your head gasket is gone. I did that one when I was 15 years old. Sad smile Another cooling system cleaner is Wood Bleach. Found at only the larger paint stores. It too, is very harsh and it can do damage to the cooling system. It can really clean out your water jackets though.

One of the best fixes that I have been using on cooling systems that back up and boil over is: reverse flushing the radiator. The best way to reverse flush is to take the radiator off of the car and with it laying face down on the ground fill it with water. Attached an air hose with an air blow gun to the bottom hose outlet. Charge the lower tank with just enough air, not so much as to split a seam, but enough to blow the crap out from the radiator’s top tube sheet water tube openings. The last radiator that I did this to, it had 2/3 of the openings in the top tube sheet blocked. Afterwards, try your best to get the flotsam out of the top tank. The upper radiator hose inlet is the best place to jettison out the debris that was blow free by reverse flushing. Usually what comes out is rust scale, and mineral scale. They easily block off a good radiator’s water flow.

ronn · 03-08-2017, 07:36 AM

Be careful using any kind of soap in your radiator, IF the Model A is an early oval window Coupe. Or you will wind up with a Soap Opera Coupe.

May decrease the value

.......... As the crank turns, so do the Days of Our Lives

well done! obviously someone has too much time on their "dish washing" hands..........

03-07-2017, 12:39 AM	#21
SSsssteamer Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: Sedro-Woolley, WA Posts: 1,023	Re: Dawn detergent in radiator TSP is Tri Sodium Phosphate. (Known as a washing soda.) It primarily is used for cleaning walls in preparation to painting. Great for cleaning out the dirty paint brushes too. Can be purchased at most Hardware stores and also at the bigger Grocery stores. Anti freeze already comes with an additive like TSP, but it wears out in time (in a couple of years). By adding TSP to aging antifreeze (your old 50/50 anti freeze water mix), it extends the corrosion protection of the antifreeze. You also can add it to just water too, and that is where it really shines!. No more than a hand full of TSP will keep the cooling system rust free, and it will also help reduce mineral deposits.

03-07-2017, 12:50 AM	#22
Benson Senior Member Join Date: May 2010 Posts: 2,595	Re: Dawn detergent in radiator 1. There is real TSP ... This one works better 2. There is the EPA version that is "dumbed down". They removed most of the Phosphate because it causes algae to grow in the ground water. The label will sometimes tell you if it is real or not. Google will fill in the details ... Last edited by Benson; 03-07-2017 at 08:31 AM.

03-07-2017, 09:18 PM	#24
SSsssteamer Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: Sedro-Woolley, WA Posts: 1,023	Re: Dawn detergent in radiator Shared on a private message: There are other cooling system cleaners that are used for cleaning the cooling system and they work better. But..... They have to be cautiously used or else cooling system damage can be done, like ruining a head gasket. One is the commercial cooling system flush, that is to be left in no more than 15 minutes. Any more and your head gasket is gone. I did that one when I was 15 years old. Sad smile Another cooling system cleaner is Wood Bleach. Found at only the larger paint stores. It too, is very harsh and it can do damage to the cooling system. It can really clean out your water jackets though. One of the best fixes that I have been using on cooling systems that back up and boil over is: reverse flushing the radiator. The best way to reverse flush is to take the radiator off of the car and with it laying face down on the ground fill it with water. Attached an air hose with an air blow gun to the bottom hose outlet. Charge the lower tank with just enough air, not so much as to split a seam, but enough to blow the crap out from the radiator’s top tube sheet water tube openings. The last radiator that I did this to, it had 2/3 of the openings in the top tube sheet blocked. Afterwards, try your best to get the flotsam out of the top tank. The upper radiator hose inlet is the best place to jettison out the debris that was blow free by reverse flushing. Usually what comes out is rust scale, and mineral scale. They easily block off a good radiator’s water flow.

03-08-2017, 07:36 AM	#25
ronn Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: NNNNNNNNJJJJJJJJJJ Posts: 6,787	Re: Dawn detergent in radiator Be careful using any kind of soap in your radiator, IF the Model A is an early oval window Coupe. Or you will wind up with a Soap Opera Coupe. May decrease the value.......... As the crank turns, so do the Days of Our Lives well done! obviously someone has too much time on their "dish washing" hands..........