Cooling system flush

[SteveR]

This perhaps has been talked about before and I think it is a problem we all experience with these aging cars.

Recently I have had overheating problems with Miss Daisy. Traveling 10 miles was ok as long as I kept her to 40 mph, but that has been getting worse and worse and when we hit temps in the upper 80s that distance was around 3-5 miles.

I tried the vinegar trick with many flushings that did little. It got so bad that I did a wedding where I had to travel 5 miles to pick up the bride, and the temp rose to 200°F. Then I had to travel about 10 miles through town to the event. Luckily, I made it, but as everyone left, I noticed I left a trail of water. What I did when I got home was I bought one of these: Cooling System Flushing Gun - Welzh Werkzeug. You hook up your garden hose and your compressor. I backed flushed the radiator and was amazed at the chunks that came out of the radiator filler. I then was able to drive her to a car show 10 miles away in 88 degree temps and the car temp stayed at 185. At least I do not need a new radiator and it was an easy fix.

[Ivan_B]

Yeah, these are useful if you have enough pressure. Alternatively, just flushing with a hose, in both directions, also works. I did not retrieve any chunks, when I did this, but plenty of "sand" came out.

[Young Ed]

I wonder what you'd get out of the block if you pulled the lower freeze plugs? I bet there is a lot of gunk in there too.

[SteveR]

39 minutes ago, Young Ed said:

I wonder what you'd get out of the block if you pulled the lower freeze plugs? I bet there is a lot of gunk in there too.

I did replace one og the lower freeze plugs earlier this year. I was surprised to see very little gunk in there. It only came up the bottom of the plug. I now have another lower plug to replace and we will see what that holds.