Hey,

So my rad and resovoir have a nice layer of rust on them, and i'm trying to clean them up. The car actually runs fine in terms of temperature, but regardless i've drained the rad and pulled the resovoir, just a couple of quick questions.

How can I find the engine drain bolt? I'm pretty useless under cars and don't know where to look (a different thead there said by the oil pan?). My manual says there are 2 bolts.

How can I flush all that junk out of my rad? I put a hose in the top and let it run but doesn't that just go straight down the side and out the bottom drain plug?

The coolant looks clean, not dirty or rusty, its just the deposits in the rad and resovoir. Should I buy some rust remover for the system or will just water be OK?

Any other suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

 

there is some flush kits at autoparts stores and cleaner you can out in

doubt you will get rust stains out of the tank, they are pretty cheap on ebay may want to look there

as far as i know there is only one "drian" and that on the rad

 

Get some Prestone Super Clean, it's the best thing I have found. Drive around with it in there for an hour or so and you'll be amazed at the amount of rust that comes out. You'll need to flush it with clean water at least 3 or 4 times after that until the water starts looking clear. For the plastic jug, take it out and fill it with hot soapy water and shake it around a bit, it worked for mine.

 

A bottle brush works good for cleaning the reservoir. There available where you get dish washing supply's (grocery store, WalMart, etc.)

There's actually two water drains on the engine block, one on each side, down low behind the exhaust manifolds. There's probably not much chance of getting to them without major surgery though, and there usually tighter than (insert very strong adjective here). I wouldn't bother with trying to remove them.

 

Thanks,

When you say "flush" it out, do you mean fill it with water, run the car, and then drain it out? Because like I said before, if you just stick the hose in the neck of the rad, the water just falls straight down out of the rad drain.

I do have the prestone super clean. The fluid wasn't rusty at all when I drained it, but the rad has a bit of rust in it.

 

You can run the engine while the drain valve is open, just make sure you have equal amount of water going in thats draining out. Do it while the engine is cool obviously. I just stood there with the water hose in it until the water coming out looked clear.

 

Simple Green worked on my coolant overflow tank

 

you can pull the thermostat and run water through the block to clean that...
putting flush kits through the system will remove any rust and deposits due to the detergants that are in these kits. just be aware that remove some of these deposits can also expose pin hole leaks in the system.

 

yep thats what i did now i have a drain plug that leaks right under the motor mount

 

SIMPLE GREEN FTW!!

That stuff is amazing!

 

Leaking drain plug: These are pipe threads, and an easily replacable part
if necessary. Use teflon tape when re-installing. If leaking persists,
tighten about 1/8 turn at a time, until leaking stops.

Rust stain in reservoir: All the above are good products, but if the stain
persists, try CLR (Calcium Lime & Rust Remover), in any plumbing dept..

Good luck,
kk

 

A co worker of mine suggested using that CLR stuff and would remove all the deposist of calcium and rust. Any one tried this yet?