Can this be used to clean out a cooling system?
CLR in rad. water?
- Thread starter daves66nova
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It specifically says not to use it on aluminum, so if you have an aluminum radiator the answer is probably no.
How bad is your cooling system?
Not too bad,just want to give it a good cleaning. How long can i run it before the aluminum starts to get affected?
Kestas
Staff member
I wouldn't be worried so much about how long it's run in aluminum as I'd be worried about flushing all of it out from the nooks and crannies or neutralizing it before putting the cooling system back in service. I'm guessing this plan may be too aggressive for your cooling system.
Dude that stuff is potent. I'm not certain of the chemistry but it absolutely weakens Ca very quickly at home in the shower, and then takes LOTS of effort to rinse out. I'd choose a standard flush chemical that should be pump-seal and hose safe.
M
M
I think what you are really looking for is RMI-25. I would post a link, but the ones I found on Google are associated with non-sponsor Amsoil dealers.
Most radiator flush is Citric Acid as far as I know. If you want to be safe, buy them in chemical store and dilute it with water. How bad is the scale and rust?
Auto restorer has recommended it.
Folks... I didn't want to tell this story. It's complicated, inconclusive, and partially second-hand. But since at least two people in this thread are not completely aghast at the prospect of dumping a highly acidic household cleaner into their radiator, I feel duty-bound to share what I know of the use of CLR in a cooling system.
I work at a Detroit Diesel dealership. The other day a truck driver comes in... his truck is losing coolant at an alarming rate: a couple gallons a day, no external leakage. The engine is question is a Series 60 Detroit- 500hp, inline six, direct injection, overhead cam... a fairly modern design. I think the truck was about a '99 model, and had an aluminum radiator w/ plastic tanks. He relayed this long, sad story:
Several days previous, the truck had been running kinda hot, and he suspected that the cooling system needed a good flush. On the advice of a buddy, he put CLR in the radiator- quantity unknown.
After a day, the coolant was a dark, soupy, rust-colored substance. Thinking that the CLR had worked (and I reckon it had, in a sense), Super-trucker drains the rust-soup, flushes the system with water, and refills with new antifreeze.
A couple days later, the coolant is again a rusty/soupy mess. He flushes again and refills with coolant.
Again, the coolant turns into a rusty soupy mess.
Understandably alarmed, Super-trucker called up the same buddy who initially advised the use of CLR. Buddy said to use Red Devil lye to neutralize the CLR. Super-trucker did as instructed.
I don't know the immediate results of the Red Devil Lye... but suffice to say that a few days hence, Super-trucker is in our shop telling all this to me.
The truck had well over a million miles, and under Detroit Diesel's overhaul program, didn't qualify for much of a warranty if overhauled. His only option to get a reasonably warranty was to go with a reman engine, which we happily installed to the tune of ~$15k all said and done.
Unfortunately, I didn't get a chance to disassemble and inspect this engine- it would've been informative and good for a laugh. But in a Series 60 Detroit, there are only a few possible causes of this sort of coolant consumption: Cracked head, leaking injector tube, blown head gasket, or cavitated liner... that's about it. Granted, the engine had over a million miles and had been overhauled at least once before, but I'm pretty confident that CLR in the cooling system contributed to a significant mechanical failure... to the tune of $15k.
So my advice: Don't do it. You'll be sorry. Just like Super-trucker.
I work at a Detroit Diesel dealership. The other day a truck driver comes in... his truck is losing coolant at an alarming rate: a couple gallons a day, no external leakage. The engine is question is a Series 60 Detroit- 500hp, inline six, direct injection, overhead cam... a fairly modern design. I think the truck was about a '99 model, and had an aluminum radiator w/ plastic tanks. He relayed this long, sad story:
Several days previous, the truck had been running kinda hot, and he suspected that the cooling system needed a good flush. On the advice of a buddy, he put CLR in the radiator- quantity unknown.
After a day, the coolant was a dark, soupy, rust-colored substance. Thinking that the CLR had worked (and I reckon it had, in a sense), Super-trucker drains the rust-soup, flushes the system with water, and refills with new antifreeze.
A couple days later, the coolant is again a rusty/soupy mess. He flushes again and refills with coolant.
Again, the coolant turns into a rusty soupy mess.
Understandably alarmed, Super-trucker called up the same buddy who initially advised the use of CLR. Buddy said to use Red Devil lye to neutralize the CLR. Super-trucker did as instructed.
I don't know the immediate results of the Red Devil Lye... but suffice to say that a few days hence, Super-trucker is in our shop telling all this to me.
The truck had well over a million miles, and under Detroit Diesel's overhaul program, didn't qualify for much of a warranty if overhauled. His only option to get a reasonably warranty was to go with a reman engine, which we happily installed to the tune of ~$15k all said and done.
Unfortunately, I didn't get a chance to disassemble and inspect this engine- it would've been informative and good for a laugh. But in a Series 60 Detroit, there are only a few possible causes of this sort of coolant consumption: Cracked head, leaking injector tube, blown head gasket, or cavitated liner... that's about it. Granted, the engine had over a million miles and had been overhauled at least once before, but I'm pretty confident that CLR in the cooling system contributed to a significant mechanical failure... to the tune of $15k.
So my advice: Don't do it. You'll be sorry. Just like Super-trucker.
Onion is dead on on with his post. Dont do it. I have 5 trucks with Series 60 500hp Detroits. Had one with 960,000 on it and was running a little on the warm side. I was changing the thermostats out and washing out the radiator and the air to air cooler. I was not going to spent much time or money on this project because hot weather was about over and also my practice is at the million mile mark start getting ready to install a complete Detroit reman along with new radiator and air to air cooler along with other things that should be done at this time. My friend thats has a truck with the same engine stopped by to chat and suggested I pour some CLR in it for a flush. I told him I didnt think I could stand the pressure of doing that and why I did not think it was a good idea. Well he told he had just done that on his truck and what nasty mess came of of it. Week later he came over with a quart jar of what he had just drained out of it. It looked like creek water just as Onion has stated. The engine started loosing coolant and ever week end the coolant looked like creek water no matter how much they flushed. Over the following 5 weeks they had to replace injector tubes, water pump, oil cooler, and radiator because of leaking. This CLR has its place where it works great, but its dang sure not meant for automotive use. Detroit Diesel sells a cleaner-flush thats called Power Cool(something) that Ive used on trucks, farm tractors, and even cars and pick ups thats works really good and safe.
What about Simple Green? I used it to clean my overflow bottle, and it dissolved the sludge pretty well. And I saw a couple of posts on the web that had people using it, as well as Cascade dishwasher detergent, to clean oil out of cooling systems.
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