Radiator eBay/Mail Order?

[HammerDown]

Son of a bit*h, now the heater core is fogging the inside windshield...does it ever end!

 

[HammerDown]

I wanted to get back to this thread and talk about "radiator flushes, and cleaners"...I researched everything from white vinegar to Coke to CLR and so on. All of which the users say it cleans out the scale build up. But my fear is, does the scale build up get dissolved away or dislodged to float around in chunks to clog-up something else. And for those that use Muriatic acid and the such...wont that also attack the lead solder joint, weakling the seam and maybe cause leak too?

Anyhow, I used two bottles of Prestone HD rad cleaner & flush. Drove around some 4 days then drained it. It didn't do one thing for the scale build up a total waste...BUT...shortly after that treatment my heater core sprong a leak making me think it made a weak point weaker. Hopefully it didn't hurt the water pump bearing or the lead seams on my very old radiator. Time will tell.

 

[icanfixall]

The leak in the heater core was being sealed up by the scale in the system. A cooling system filled with quality coolant and steam distilled water will not fail. The water does not have the minerals in it to drop out and scale up the system. Its also not conductive so no electrolysis will be happening. That's another problem in some blocks and so easy to fix. Just change the coolant and use distilled water. No need for those JC Whipme cathodic protection caps. Fix it once and fix it right. I feel your system has been compromised by years of tap or well water in the cooling system. Now its dropped out and cleaning may open up leaks. Getting the scale buildup out of the radiator and cooling system is going to require something harsh. I'll bet some battery acid will clean out the scale but whats going to be left of the radiator or the water pump seal. None of the coolant ever reaches the water pump bearings. Unless you have a failed seal. The bearings are sealed in grease.

 

[laserjock]

I believe the stuff you buy in stores is about 30ish percent, typically I dilute it even more. If you want to epoxy the floor in your garage, thrown away the stuff they give you to etch the floor and use some muratic acid. Remember again its pretty caustic, the fumes can be nasty, and that if you are really concerned you can neutralize it with baking soda when you are done.

Please do be careful. Muratic acid is hydrochloric acid. If you use the wrong thing to neutralize it you get chlorine gas. You get some chlorine gas naturally. Typically it is about 30-35%. Sulfuric acid as Gary said is 98% at full strength. It is also very hygroscopic. That other 2% is mostly water. It's extremely difficult to get it any drier than 98%. Like refluxing with a drying agent tough. Been there, done that. Don't care for it. You need the water to do the chemistry. It has to dissociate the SO4 from the H2 (simplified version) to do the oxidation reaction to eat the steel. I would certainly not put it in a copper radiator. If it doesn't eat it, it would probably sulfate it up and clog it worse.

 

[Agnem]

We do sell a "Performance" brand aluminium radiator, which I have put in 4 IDI trucks with no problems. It's around $350 IIRC.