Radiator Cleaning-Tips wanted

[HarleyJack17]

I have never had to do this, so all new.  Large brass OEM style radiator for my F-250. Has been out and drained for a few years, was new when it went in. Piecing the truck back together and ready to install the radiator but noticed there are white "growths" inside it. Not typical build up, I am guessing it may be like calcium.  Looks almost like tiny little plants growing inside it, multiple "strings" at the top that work their way up in the air. Obvious they would break off if I shot water in there. Just seems odd but I guess that is what happens. Should have ran water through it before storing it.

What is a good, or best, way to clean it prior to install?

[gregaba]

In the past I used muratic acid. Fill the radiater slosh around for about 3 or 4 minutes and drain and rinse with clean water.
You can redo it several times to get it real clean but you don't want to leave the acid in to long.
Just a little at a time.
Greg

[Yellow Truck]

Honestly, take it to a local rad shop that is busy. They have the tanks and chemicals, and can do any repairs. It cost the $30 to have mine cleaned, tested, and painted.

[RJP]

Try CLR. The stuff that is available at most grocery stores, Lowes, Home Depot, ect. Fill the rad. with full strength CLR and let it sit until the foaming stops. Empty and flush with clear water. Don't discard the used CLR as it is still useable for other less critical needs.

[GerryP]

Honestly, take it to a local rad shop that is busy. They have the tanks and chemicals, and can do any repairs. It cost the $30 to have mine cleaned, tested, and painted.

Some jobs are better left to the professionals.  Good advice.

[Falcon67]

Honestly, take it to a local rad shop that is busy. They have the tanks and chemicals, and can do any repairs. It cost the $30 to have mine cleaned, tested, and painted.

Some jobs are better left to the professionals.  Good advice.

If there are any left that even work on copper/brass units.  With everything aluminum for the last 20+ years and rockauto et al < $200 replacements, there's not a lot of call for "radiator repair".  The best guy here retired years ago, his little building was practically a EPA super fund site all on it's own LOL.  Razed and the surface material remediated, no kidding. 

[cjshaker]

Honestly, take it to a local rad shop that is busy. They have the tanks and chemicals, and can do any repairs. It cost the $30 to have mine cleaned, tested, and painted.

Some jobs are better left to the professionals.  Good advice.

If there are any left that even work on copper/brass units.  With everything aluminum for the last 20+ years and rockauto et al < $200 replacements, there's not a lot of call for "radiator repair".  The best guy here retired years ago, his little building was practically a EPA super fund site all on it's own LOL.  Razed and the surface material remediated, no kidding.

Same in my area. There used to be one in every town. Now, there is only one small garage within 50 miles (at least) that still does it, and it is NOT cheap to get them recored. I spoke with the guy a few times for jobs I had him do for me at work. The price was pretty expensive, but less expensive than replacing the radiator outright (oddball equipment that you can't get generic pieces for). He told me that the cores are really expensive for him to purchase.

[wowens]

Radiator shop without a doubt

[GerryP]

There are a good four or five where I live in San Antonio.  I know there are not a lot of good reasons for a consumers at our level to have a late model radiator repaired but there are a lot of commercial/industrial customers for these shops.

[Nightmist66]

Try CLR. The stuff that is available at most grocery stores, Lowes, Home Depot, ect. Fill the rad. with full strength CLR and let it sit until the foaming stops. Empty and flush with clear water. Don't discard the used CLR as it is still useable for other less critical needs.

I'll second that. I did mine about a month ago. Bought a gallon of CLR and sloshed it around for about 5 mins. and rinsed thoroughly with water. Came out nice.

[wowens]

If you use CLR or some other caustic material how will you pressure check ?
Pain in the ars to install, uninstall and then take to a radiator shop because of a pinhole.

[My427stang]

I am with the CLR gang, of course a shop can clean it, but to do it right, they take it apart and clean the core.  They generally don't have anything that is hotter or fancier without going inside

I'd fill it with CLR and water, get it hot, and dump it and refill with antifreeze.

[HarleyJack17]

Yeah, I am leaning toward the CLR, or vinegar. Hear you can use Phosphoric acid as well since it is safe for metals. The radiator is not junked up. Like I said, it may have a 1000 miles of use before the motor spun a bearing. BUT it has me learie to just wash it out. I meant to get a picture but got busy redoing the steering column on the old truck last night. There are no real signs of corrosion, just several of these " white sprouts" almost like moss spores that grew up into the air from the top of the core. The inside openings, top of the core, all that looks ok...just these growths. Odd deal. Kind of why I wanted a picture.
Will see what I can do.  Only one radiator shop even close to me and up in the air from what I have heard.

Thanks for the replies, tips.

Otherwise, I hope to hear the 445 come to life soon. Been way to long.  Lost a full two days this past weekend since I had to do a complete rear brake job on my sons '83 Chevy C10...what a p.i.t.a. Took almost an hour to clean one side thanks to a blown axle seal...thing must have been slowly leaking for years. Add to that about 20 minutes fighting that seal and three trips to parts store.  Longest brake job EVER!

[70tp]

Look for white corrosion where the tubes are soldered to the flat tanks on the outside.   If there is none showing it is still in good shape.   If white is showing it is already on its way out.   Radiators can go bad just sitting

[Yellow Truck]

Where I had mine done (Calgary) there are still several large shops. The one I used has been there for years, had over a hundred copper/brass rads sitting in queue to be cleaned and serviced, and because they have the big tanks for the caustic chemicals, it was in one day, back the next.

BTW they put a cap on its, hooked the top to a pump and ran pressurized chemical through the core while it was in the tank. Since it didn't need any repairs it cost me $30. That about the same price as a gallon of CLR. And they pressure tested it and painted it (the cleaning stripped the paint off).