Flushing The Coolant System

[v8s4me]

I'm helping a mate with an iron block and head engine (in a TVR of course!) which has been standing for a good few years and the muck coming out of the cooling system is awful, even after a good number of flushes. I was wondering if we could use a domestic central heating flushing chemical, after all domestic systems have steel rads, copper pipes & fittings and rubber seals (inside the TRV's) so pretty similar to an old style car cooling system really. This sort of thing.

Alternatively, is there an automotive product that's man enough for the job?

[Alan461]

Hi Joe, I don't know of any automotive product for this but the stuff you suggested on the link won't be of any real use (imho)
Mechanical means of cleaning would be best, pressure washing of some sort or vibration to loosen debris, I use a hammer drill on rotary stop, careful don't bust the block.
If the head is off can you get access down the gallerys with a pipe of some sort?

[Griffinr]

Holts rad flush

[v8s4me]

The engine is in the car and running so we don't want to take the head off. I was hoping there might be a product we could put in the system and leave for a while to loosen off all the crap which has built up whilst it has been standing and then flush through with a pressure wash or even a garden hose.

That central heating product works well, so as it is basically the same process that go me thinking. The heat exchanger in a boiler is a big lump of iron so very similar to the engine block.

[Griffinr]

v8s4me said:

The engine is in the car and running so we don't want to take the head off. I was hoping there might be a product we could put in the system and leave for a while to loosen off all the crap.

That's what Holts rad flush does.

Get it as clean as you can first by flushing then use the rad flush following the instructions. Mine was the same 5 years ago and it's been spotless since I cleaned it out.

[v8s4me]

Griffinr said:

Holts rad flush

What was your experience of this product? It needs to be quite aggressive because the engine in question is so full of crap it could host a TV car show

[Alan461]

Agree with above, got to be worth a punt.

That ch cleaning product isn't aggressive enough, stick with the radflush

Edited by Alan461 on Sunday 27th September 20:22

[Alan461]

Agree with above, got to be worth a punt.

That ch cleaning product isn't aggressive enough, stick with the radflush

Edited by Alan461 on Monday 28th September 21:02

[Alan461]

Agree with above, got to be worth a punt.

That ch cleaning product isn't aggressive enough, stick with the radflush

Edited by Alan461 on Wednesday 30th September 21:19

[v8s4me]

Thanks chaps

[Griffinr]

v8s4me said:

Griffinr said:

Holts rad flush

What was your experience of this product? It needs to be quite aggressive because the engine in question is so full of crap it could host a TV car show

Does what it says on the tin (er bottle) seen no rust or sludge since. After I used the rad flush I ran with plain water for a week just to make sure it was fully washed out.

The only down side with an old system is that it may find some leaks that were previously clogged up.

[greymrj]

Holts Rad Flush has been around a long time and seems to have a good reputation. I remember using it sucessfully on more than one occasion on old engines. Last was a very clogged MGB I think. Think we had to do it twice but it was pretty clean afterwards.

[v8s4me]

Griffinr said:

...The only down side with an old system is that it may find some leaks that were previously clogged up.

Don't worry, I've got a few more old pennies somewhere

[Top Gear TVR]

A good flush should not be done in such a way as to deposit more crud in the engine or rad...

Remove rad and reverse flow, forward flow, etc, etc until clean- or less brown.

[Kitchski]

Top Gear TVR said:

A good flush should not be done in such a way as to deposit more crud in the engine or rad...

Remove rad and reverse flow, forward flow, etc, etc until clean- or less brown.

This.

[v8s4me]

Kitchski said:

This.

This?

[mk1fan]

v8s4me said:

Kitchski said:

This.

This?

Yes, this.

[v8s4me]

mk1fan said:

v8s4me said:

Kitchski said:

This.

This?

Yes, this.

Yes that was the noise the rad was making before I mended the hole