[Rhett]

I was doing some research on what stuff would help flush the crud out my coolant system. I found that "pure Citric Acid" is aggressive enough to dissolve the dexcool sludge that lined my radiator hoses. This sludge was probably .030" thick and could be scraped off. Today I went out to flush everything out good and fix a leaky water pump gasket and was shocked to see my radiator hoses clean. It did leave a little bit of slime in certain spots, but that rinsed out with water.

Sorry for no pics but I wasn't thinking it would work as good as it does.

here is what I did:
1) drain and refill with water and prestone super flush. drove for a week or so.
2) drain, cleaned coolant tank with muriatic acid, added 2 cups citric acid and refilled with water. drove this way for about a month.
3) drain everything, this time I pulled knock sensors and flushed everything very thoroughly. I am waiting for my wife to get back with the wp gaskets to button everything back up but I am hopeful that this should end my heat problems.

If you want to try this, look for "citric acid powder"

 

[coryblackcb]

what damage would that do to the engine, radiator, and other parts though?

 

[WilDaBeaSSt]

fresh, with a hint of lemon / lime

 

[Eracer]

I was doing some research on what stuff would help flush the crud out my coolant system. I found that "pure Citric Acid" is aggressive enough to dissolve the dexcool sludge that lined my radiator hoses.

Interesting. My civie dggm had a very bad sludge problem. I musta used 4 cans of the rad cleaner on it in the same fashion. I forget exactly what acid it was. Warning however, running straight water will blow the water pump seal, doh ! There is a bottle of water pump lube you can throw in with your acid and water if you wanna go that way.

 

[Rhett]

Just to clarify- the citric acid is powder, you know the stuff on sour candy. The worst it does is burn your taste buds so it should be safe for everything else. I just finished putting everything back together and have heat again. Only time will tell if it lasts over the winter.

The muriatic acid is bad for your engine, but safe on the coolant tank. Just make sure after you clean with it you neutralize what's left- i think baking soda is good for this.

 

[SimplyTheBeSS]

flushing the heater core always helps your heat problem. Hope you flushed that too!