Hot Rods Clean out a brass/copper radiator?

What would you guys use to clean up the inside of a br***/copper radiator? The last radiator shop closed up a few years ago in our town. I have one that doesn't leak and looks great on the outside, and the cores look pretty good, but there is some flaky stuff inside. I'd like to clean out before I put it in my next project. I suspect what I see inside it a result of someone using tap water rather then distilled water. I'd probably like to clean out the motor coolant p***ages as well. The motor only has 44K miles on it. Currently, the motor is bolted into place, but the radiator is sitting loose, so I can't really do a coolant flush, I have no hoses. I've installed a new heater core, so its really just the motor and the radiator I'm concerned about. Gene

 

the greatest radiator cleaner is vinegar. it will clean the radiator so clean inside and the engine block it will look new. vinegar is cheap. fill it and let it sit for a day and rinse it out. 50/50 mix works the best.

 

the old radiator guys would say to never use an acid, as it will attack the solder first, and give you new leaks. i however have used white vinegar, soak a day or so and back flush with a hose

 

Thanks guys. It looks like a trip to the store to get a couple gallons of white vinegar. Gene

 

Does anyone know if vinegar will clean out an oil contaminated cooling system?


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I doubt vinegar will clean oil, but have not tried it. I would use Dawn dish washing soap for that, doesn't suds. But my tractor was over heating because of crud in the radiator. I put straight vinegar in it for about 2 weeks, mowed the gr*** a few times which would circulate it for about 3 hours each time.. Black crud came out when I flushed it for about 15 minutes. Haven't had any leaks or overheating since. That was two years ago.

 

Electrosol dishwasher detergent.
Fill system with clean water add 1/2 cup electrosol
Drive on highway for an hour, get cooling up to 200.
Drain, refill water run again.
Drain out all water and refill with coolant.
An old recipe from a Southern Georgia Lawyer.... use at own risk

 

I don't know if trisodium phosphate, TSP, is still available in your area, but that compound, is what was commonly used to clean engine blocks and br*** radiators. It was also commonly used as a cleaner for cement floors.
I would dissolve the TSP in hot water and fill the radiator it would be helpful if some heat could be applied to increase the activity of the compound.
After draining, the solution could be kept and used to clean grease off any steel parts.
Caution, do not use with alloy parts, or you will damage them.
Bob

 

Thanks guys, I can put some heat to the motor, but not the radiator without installing it and adding new hoses.
I think I'm just going to do the vinegar soak and flush both a day later. it doesn't look real bad, I just wanted to get rid of some more of what was there. Gene

 

If it is full of liquid, you can put a serious amount of heat to it without damage, as long as you keep the fluid in the rad topped up.
You can cook eggs in a paper bag over an open fire, if you are careful enough. As a matter of fact, I can imagine the pleasant smell right now.
Bob

 

HA! HA! HA! Me cooking??? HA! HA! HA! Then, cooking eggs in a paper bag, over an open fire? Picture a .2 second flaming bag, just before the eggs fell into the fire. The thing your smelling is the eggs burning up in the fire. LOL!

Think I'm going to just stick with the sitting a day with the vinegar soak. It really isn't that bad, its just that little extra precaution. Thanks for the laugh this evening though. Gene

 

Here is a link to show you that it is possible. I wouldn't have said if I had not done it.


Bob

 

The vinegar will work slower cold than it does to take the hard water residue out of your drip coffee pot but it should still work fine. My wife runs vinegar through my coffee pot every once in a while when she is "cleaning" it and it takes a pot or two to get coffee to taste right but it works better.

The Pontiac dealership I worked in in the 70's had a power flusher to flush cooling systems on the car that you hooked up to the car and after emptying the coolant out and putting water in you ran it with the cooling system cleaner for a set time and the pump in the machine pulsated the coolant pretty hard and evidently that shook the crud loose along with the chemical.

 

If you have a fountain in your yard, clean it, fill with clean water and add a cup of vinegar. When you add water add a few ounces of vinegar with it.. always will look great, clean, clear...

 

100% ******** ! I just soaked a br*** radiator overnight in white vinegar...ZERO change ! Still dirty, s***m filled, discolored on the inside and out.

 

I have an original br*** radiator from a 1950 Ford coupe off/out of the car. It is completely dry on the inside and out. When I shake it, I can hear scaling/**** rattling around inside. This radiator was in a car that had sat for over 35 years and still was full of green anti-freeze and not leaking. I was planning on trying to back-blow out the crude with air first and then filling and soaking CLR mixed with 50/50 water. I'm not sure if this is a good idea or not or how long to let it soak. I ***ume the block has crude in too and plan on using a vinegar/water flush with two in-line hose filters once I reinstall it. I may try the powder dish soap as well once it is installed for good measure. Any thoughts? Thanks in advance.

 

I didn’t know VWs had radiators.

 

With most things you soak in vinegar to to remove rust or the results of hard water (mineral deposits) you soak it for days not just hours.