Radiator Cleaning

[PirateMcGee]

Anyone have some good home methods to clear a partially blocked radiator that is out of the vehicle?

 

[2500ak]

Have you tried backflushing it? Apply water to the return side, often works with heater cores.

 

[PirateMcGee]

not yet, but planned on flushing stuff out that way

 

[corax]

Is it all metal or does it have plastic tanks? That'll influence your angle of attack. If it's all metal you're more likely to be able to use harsh chemicals to loosen or partially dissolve corrosion.

 

[PirateMcGee]

all metal.........I'm trying to avoid buying a plastic one

 

[bob91yj]

Radiator shops can rod it and boil it out if it's all metal.

 

[soonenough]

Is it all metal or does it have plastic tanks? That'll influence your angle of attack. If it's all metal you're more likely to be able to use harsh chemicals to loosen or partially dissolve corrosion.

The main complaint I've heard/read about the radiator cleaning solutions is that they end up killing the seals in water pumps. But if you've got the radiator out, you could try one of those solutions. Not sure how well it's going to work without the pump pushing it through the radiator, but you could give it a shot.

Semi off-topic, but if you use tap water for flushing, you might want to do a final flush with distilled water before adding coolant. Supposedly some of the junk in tap water can eventually lead to corrosion in the cooling system.

 

[PirateMcGee]

Radiator shops can rod it and boil it out if it's all metal.

the shops around here suck...........I tried