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Technical Radiator rust! SOS

Discussion in 'The Hokey Ass Message Board' started by miki562, Apr 10, 2017.

  1. miki562
    Joined: Apr 2, 2014
    Posts: 76

    miki562
    Member

    Hey guys, my radiators got some rust and I've flushed it twice already, it's inside my intake too and I'm wondering whether I should buy a new radiator, flush it with something you guys recommend or....??

    Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G925A using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
     
  2. typo41
    Joined: Jul 8, 2011
    Posts: 2,571

    typo41
    Member Emeritus

    It is possible, it happened to me, do you use the trans cooler in the radiator?
    A slight leak from the trans cooler into the radiator will give the radiator fluid a look of rust,,,
    I figured it out after 5 flushes
    With help on the HAMB
     
    deadbeat and miki562 like this.
  3. Remove the radiator and take it to a radiator shop,let them hot vat it and it will come out as clean as a whistle. HRP
     
    deadbeat, miki562 and firstinsteele like this.
  4. miki562
    Joined: Apr 2, 2014
    Posts: 76

    miki562
    Member

    Thanks for the tip!

    Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G925A using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
     

  5. miki562
    Joined: Apr 2, 2014
    Posts: 76

    miki562
    Member

    Thanks for the tip!

    Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G925A using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
     
  6. Jalopy Joker
    Joined: Sep 3, 2006
    Posts: 31,179

    Jalopy Joker
    Member

    having radiator hot tanked involves removing the tanks - might as well have core tubes rodded out while at it
     
    deadbeat likes this.
  7. What were you running for coolant?
     
  8. coilover
    Joined: Apr 19, 2007
    Posts: 696

    coilover
    Member
    from Texas

    A radiator CAN'T rust; it's either brass or aluminum and it takes iron to make rust. Any iron in the block, heads, intake, or even springs in the radiator hoses can rust but not a radiator. Your rust is coming from somewhere else and trying to clean it out of your radiator is like trying to dig a hole in water.
     
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  9. leon bee
    Joined: Mar 15, 2017
    Posts: 798

    leon bee
    Member

    I've been doing that panty hose deal on my old Buick nailhead. Been filtering out some interesting stuff.
     
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  10. Yep!

    I'd set it up to flush the block so is a 10 min job and flush it once a week.
    You'd be amazed at the shit that accumulates in there and comes loose a little bit of a layer at a time.

    We cleaned a bare SBC with brushes and rods and coat hangers and got chunks of rust sediment loose so big they wouldn't fit out of the freeze plug holes. Took two guys with a hose 2 hours before the water ran clean. Even found a lot of casting sand in the back corners of the block under the rust sediment.
     
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  11. miki562
    Joined: Apr 2, 2014
    Posts: 76

    miki562
    Member

    Thank you so much for your input! I suspected it'd be the block... it can be fixed though, right? It's not bad but it is constant rust...

    Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G925A using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
     
  12. miki562
    Joined: Apr 2, 2014
    Posts: 76

    miki562
    Member

    Okay, awesome! That really really helps. I'll make it a ritual to flush it once a week... however running lake headers now is really gonna piss the neighbors off

    Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G925A using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
     
    deadbeat likes this.
  13. straight water+cast irom=+++++++++rust
     
    Blues4U likes this.
  14. I was wondering the same thing. This spring I had a thermostat rust out! Seriously...

    It had new coolant and rust inhibitor, water pump lube and everything, just last spring. It has to be the block, because it has aluminum heads, manifold, pump and radiator. Oh, the engine is grounded good too.

    It doesn't run hot or anything, but i did notice it acted funny for a while before I found the thermostat rotted out.

    IMG_0283.JPG
     
    deadbeat likes this.
  15. smokehouse55
    Joined: Nov 22, 2016
    Posts: 2

    smokehouse55

    In the future, use no water at all. Use only straight any freeze. This will stop your rust problem.


    Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
     
  16. 49ratfink
    Joined: Feb 8, 2004
    Posts: 18,829

    49ratfink
    Member
    from California

    you need one of these you hook your garden hose to the heater hose and open the radiator cap until the water comes out clean. easy squeezy
    upload_2017-4-21_11-17-54.jpeg
     
    Bruce Fischer likes this.
  17. Blues4U
    Joined: Oct 1, 2015
    Posts: 7,589

    Blues4U
    Member
    from So Cal

    Yep. The 2 biggest causes of rust in the cooling system is lack of antifreeze in the coolant, and low coolant level (if the coolant is not in contact with the iron in the passages, it can't protect it from oxidation (rust). I've had guys create massive problems because they didn't want to add antifreeze until they got all the rust out of the system, so they just kept running water, day after day, generating more rust, and letting the system eat itself to death.
     
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  18. Blues4U
    Joined: Oct 1, 2015
    Posts: 7,589

    Blues4U
    Member
    from So Cal

    No, don't do that. Antifreeze is not intended to be used straight, it is intended to be mixed at about 50:50 ratio with water. Water has better heat transfer rate, straight antifreeze is not a good recommendation.
     
    Texas57, SEAAIRE354, Montana1 and 3 others like this.
  19. Aprules2
    Joined: May 22, 2014
    Posts: 27

    Aprules2

    I had the same thing happen with a few cars. I used the Prestone kit and flushed the hell out of the system. Then I shut off the hose and pulled the block drain out on one side and turned the hose on low, I found high pressure didnt loosen the junk like low pressure did. Then when it ran clear I shut off the water waited for it to all drain out,and did it again. More junk came out. I did that a few times, then I did the other bank the same way. I also removed the heater core hoses and tied them up. Then I filled them with the Zep Calcium Lime and Rust remover and let that soak for about 45min. Then stuck the garden hose in the lower heater core hose and turned the water on then let that run until no more suds and crap came out. The water ran clear and the heat was also much better!! Next I filled the system with water and added a gallon of the Zep cleaner and drove the car down the highway for roughly 20 minutes round trip. I came home and with the car running, just loosened the radiator cap a little bit so the pressure would bleed,drained it by pulling off the lower radiator hose, while it was still hot. Shut the car off quickly. The crap that came out was incredible my driveway was stained orange for weeks! But when I looked down in to the radiator it looked like fresh polished brass... Now your mission is to just flush the cleaner out so run the Prestone kit through it one last time. Take it for a ride come back check the radiator for suds, eventually there will be none left then drain it and refill with 50/50 mix..

    What is the Panty Hose trick?
     
    deadbeat likes this.
  20. 49ratfink.I got 1 of those kits hanging on my shop wall its never been open.Must of had it 10 years now.Bruce.
     
  21. Blues4U
    Joined: Oct 1, 2015
    Posts: 7,589

    Blues4U
    Member
    from So Cal

    A number of years ago I decided I was going to do some preventative maintenance on the wife's OT minivan (w/ Chrysler V6), and I installed one of those kits in the heater hose and started flushing the system out same as I did many times on my American V8's. But that was a big mistake, it created pressure in the system sufficient to blow out a seal on the water pump. That was an expensive mistake....
     
  22. Road Runner
    Joined: Feb 7, 2007
    Posts: 1,256

    Road Runner
    Member

    I have posted this before over the years...

    Oxalic acid removes rust and scale build up in your engine, radiator and heater.
    Oxalic acid crystals are available at hardware stores in form of 'wood bleach'.
    Available in 16oz. containers, which gives the right mixing ratio with water for the typical car cooling system with 3-4 gallons capacity.
    [​IMG]

    Properly diluted this acid is just as mild and safe as vinegar (acetic acid) and citric acid, but is more effective and cost is the same.
    This treatment is safe to use with copper/brass radiators.
    It is supposed to be safe with aluminum radiators as well, but I would do some tests first to determine how much reaction time is actually safe.

    For best results it's essential to keep temperature at engine operating temp and to keep the flow going.
    Drain and flush first, then fill with the diluted acid mix and drive for 3 hours or longer.
    For heavy build up leave the acid in overnight and drive again the next day, then drain and flush.

    The final step is to neutralize any remaining acid with a mix of washing soda and water and run the engine again for a while, then drain and flush and finally fill with coolant, but using distilled water instead of tap water, this time.

    This method really works exceptionally well.
    My decade old engine had serious scale and rust build up, when I got it.
    Before the treatment and despite a new 3 core radiator, coolant temps easily climbed above 180 during the hot summer months with harder use.
    After the treatments, the same engine needed the thermostat to even get up to 180 degrees, even in the summer.

    Repeat after one year, then every 2-3 years.
     
    Montana1 likes this.
  23. 49ratfink
    Joined: Feb 8, 2004
    Posts: 18,829

    49ratfink
    Member
    from California

    sounds like the seal was going to blow anyway. I've used those things on a bunch of cars... OLD cars with old water pumps and old seals. how much pressure could there be with the radiator cap off??? probably less than regular running pressure.
     
  24. Yeah.

    There's some crazy thinking in this thread today.
     
    49ratfink likes this.
  25. Do not do this-
     
    SEAAIRE354 likes this.
  26. Inside the block there is rust scale stuck on the walls of the water jacket and sediment in all the nooks and crannies. There can be easily enough to stifle cooling, easily enough to turn a river orange, easily enough to tint 2000 sq foot of blacktop orange for almost a year. The scale will insulate the iron from heat transfer into the coolant because the coolant never touches the block.


    A nice flush removes the loose sediments especially from the radiator and heater core. LOOSE stuff goes only. But if it doesn't go it gets solid. The only way get it out and loosen it up is some sort of abrasion. The chunks can be so big they can't get out.
     
    Last edited: Apr 21, 2017
  27. Sheep Dip
    Joined: Dec 29, 2010
    Posts: 1,572

    Sheep Dip
    Member
    from Central Ca

    ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^Ditto^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
    Just read an article on proper antifreeze mix ratios and the heat transfer effects.
    Actually a little less than 50/50 is the best heat transfer but the corrosion factor increases, so the lesser of two evils is 50/50.
     
    Montana1 likes this.
  28. gimpyshotrods
    Joined: May 20, 2009
    Posts: 23,264

    gimpyshotrods
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    Freeze the water first.
     
    31Vicky with a hemi likes this.
  29. leon bee
    Joined: Mar 15, 2017
    Posts: 798

    leon bee
    Member

    "What is the panty hose trick?"

    I got that off the classic forum. You pull the top hose at the radiator after you've had your wife buy you some panty hose. Take a piece maybe 6 or 8 inches square, stick it into the inlet pipe a ways with screwdriver handle. Then hang on to the edge of it while reinstalling hose. Drive around a while, pull it out and see what you caught. First couple times I got a lot of crap out of what I thought was a pretty clean system.

    You can pay money for a real coolant filter.
     
  30. jimmy six
    Joined: Mar 21, 2006
    Posts: 14,802

    jimmy six
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    Our dirt track doesn't allow anything but water with maybe a water wetter product. We started using distilled water and the engine stays clean. We see nothing in the aluminum rad or intake water passages. Good luck
     
    Montana1 likes this.

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