cooling system clogged

[biodiesel_wv]

Hey there,
I read a few threads here and I didn't see one like this so I figured I'd ask or call Click and Clack so they can laugh and me. I'll give you all the first laugh. I have a 1990 F-250 truck with the 7.3 Diesel International engine. The radiator went out, anti freeze everywhere. So, I went to the junk yard and got one. I swapped them in the Walmart parking lot with out making too much of a mess, but on the way home it over heated. Filled it up to try again and no luck, but there's stuff floating in it. I pulled the radiator and sure enough at least two mouse nests were in it (one on top and one in the bottom). I was a little stressed out when I put this radiator in, so I didn't pay too much attention just got it done.
I went back to the junk yard and got another radiator, this time I flushed it with a garden hose before I put it in my truck. Only a few acorns rolled out so I figured if it wasn't good at least it was better. But the truck still over heats. I think some of the shredded up shop rags from the first radiator and mouse nests must have gotten sucked up in to the cooling system.

My questions are:

What do you recommend I do?

Where is everything stuck?

Do you have to take off the alternator to get to the thermostat?

Would it even help to do a cooling system flush or should I use Drain-O, tough on hair and clogs?

This second radiator didn't have a port for the small coolant line that is T'd in to the line from the engine to the heater core, so I just plugged it, is this a big problem?

Is there any hope for me?

Thanks for your help,
Matt

 

[icanfixall]

First off don't worry about the lower radiator port from the heater hose. Thats there so the warm coolant heats up the lower header on the automatics. Makes the trans heat up faster so it works better??? The radiator you have is from a standard trans truck and is fine. I really don't know what to say about the pluggage. It may just be in the water pump. If it got past there then its stuck in the heads or also in the oil cooler bundle and thats a problem for oil temp control. Battery acid is H2SO4 and in a diluted state will "clean" way better than consintrated form. Battery acid is only 6% sulfruic acid but will eat thru metals faster than 98%. Keep us posted as to what works for you.

 

[Mont91]

That small hose to the bottom of the radiator is to provide cooling to the ttranny cooler until or instead of the thermostat opening to prevent the tranny from over heating. On really cold days under light loads the thermostat might not open to provide coolant to the tranny cooler thus overheating the tranny. There is a rather lengthy thread about this here.

Yes you will need to remove or at least loosen the alternator, the T stat might be plugged by the mouse nest. While the T-stat housing is off remove the lower hose and back flush with as much volume as possible. Another thought would be the engine oil cooler could be plugged by the nest.