OT- Stop leak flush

[Ed Saniewski]

We are replacing the radiator in my son in laws truck and the former owner has been using a lot of Bars and other stop leak products. So now he wants to clean out the system before installing a new radiator. Any recommendations on what will safely clean the heater core and engine? Thanks

[RonC]

Run fresh clean water through it before you pull the old radiator.

[Mitch//pa]

Are you having a problem with the heat?..
install the new radiator,
put a pipe in the upper hose, (fence, pvc, etc) so it extends beyond the vehicle
Stuff a rag in the upper rad neck
Its better to remove the stat but can be done with it installed ,just takes longer
Turn on the heater
Keep a running hose going into the rad and let the old stuff flush out of the pipe, till its running clear...varying the rpm also helps
When complete drain down the system and refill with antifreeze.
You can also separately remove the heater hoses and flush out the heater core but i have had limited success in restoring one that way to produce good heat if you had a problem.

This is your best way short of using a cooling system flush machine.

[SeaSlugs]

fyi some modern vehicles dont allow coolant to flow in the heater core unless the setting is for heat. So blast the heat, best to remove tstat and flush like crazy with the hose.

[Ed Saniewski]

So we mixed up a little cocktail of TSP and Borax soap and flushed out the old system running the truck for 5 min, then drained it. then we repeated the flush 3 times more with water. I don't know what the old owner was putting into this system, but this stuff was coming out like black coffee. After we were done with the last flush, the water was clear. Thanks to all for the suggestions. Mitch, the original problem was a split in the top of the radiator. The heat works great.

[Special Coupe Frank]

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The "pellets" in Bar's Leak are very dark brown - blackish...

The TSP / Borax are strong akalis and would loosen and grease / petroleum based crud in the system. It also would attack aluminum, so best to flush a couple times with clear water after the TSP...

Good luck !

Frank

[Synchro909]

Originally Posted by Special Coupe Frank

The "pellets" in Bar's Leak are very dark brown - blackish...


Good luck !

Frank

A while ago, I wanted to put some soluble oil in the cooling system. The only ready source of the correct oil was to strain the lumpy bits out of a can of Bar's Leaks. When I saw them out of the oil, I thought I recognised what they were so I had a closer look. They were Dynamic Lifter - a garden fertiliser made from chicken $#!T. I threw it on the garden where it should be.