[mbardeen]

As I go about righting the wrongs of the previous owners of my car, the biggest is that I probably have multiple years of damage & buildup in the cooling system by the use of tap water as coolant.



What's the best way of helping to reverse this damage? Would something like Wynns Radiator flush (supposedly safe for aluminum engines) be advisable?



If not, what should I do? Fill it up with a good coolant and hope for the best?

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[flash]

traditionally i would have the radiator boiled out. however the plastic tanks make this potentially problematic.



vinegar?

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[shelby987]

I have used CLR in the past on VW's where the previous owners had mixed VW coolant with the standard green coolant. Typically the result is that the aluminum heater core becomes completely clogged with sediment. I did my initial flush with straight CLR, then a follow-up flush with prestone radiator flush (marked safe for aluminum). 20k miles later heater is great, system is clean, and orange coolant is still orange (no strange deposits).



I have used vinegar in the past on different vehicles, with mixed results....unless you want to fill the whole system with vinegar and let it sit for a while, I think it gets too diluted to work effectively.

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[flash]

yeah - that's how i did it too - i got the vinegar really hot, poured it in, and let it sit for a couple of hours. then i did it again.



it worked fairly well, just like it does in your coffee maker.



never thought about CLR. i would be afraid of what it would do to the rubber seals and head gasket.

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[mbardeen]

I was brainstorming and came up with espresso machine cleaner, but I have a feeling that's uncouth and fairly expensive.



The radiator has been fixed at somepoint in the past, so the tanks (the things on either side of the cooling fins, right?) are metal.



But the radiator doesn't worry me too much, I'm more worried about the internal cooling passages of the engine being clogged.

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