Leaks caused by Prestone Radiator Cleaner?

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My wife's Expedition obviously has some built up deposits in the heater core. Since the heater wasn't getting hot, I backflushed the heater core recently (with the garden hose). The heater blew HOT for about a week after that. It gradually started getting cooler & cooler (again). Now it's back to just blowing lukewarm.
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If I use Prestone Super Radiator Cleaner to get the deposits out of the system, how much of a risk is there that this will cause a leak in the system? Having to take the entire dash out to fix a leaking heater core would really stink.
 
So flush the rest of the system with water only if you are that concerned. Save trying the chemicals for if a plain water flush isn't enough.
 
Flushing ANY neglected system carries the risk of opening up leaks. Sometimes the hard deposits and corrosion products are the only thing preventing a leak in a corroded system. Big Jim has a good plan.
 
I've had two vehicles that both started leaking at the water pump seal within a few weeks after using Prestone chemical flush. I won't use it again, as I have never had a pump seal failure on any other vehicle.
 
Sambo, there's a good chance the flushant may have removed mineral deposits that formed a false seal. It's not good to depend on deposits to provide a seal. Like I've experienced a couple of times where I had to replace a radiator soon after flushing a neglected system, the flushant can remove false seals. It may be a good thing that flushing uncovers a weak component.
 
I'm curious about this too because it wasn't until I flushed the coolant for the first time on our 99 Grand Am that the Lower Intake Manifold started leaking. I figure that it made a normally weak gasket fail sooner because it hadn't lost any fluid at all until it was flushed with the Prestone Flush product. The coolant didn't even come out dirty, I will never use it unless I am sure there is something to clean up or if I think it might be clogged up, but even then I might try to find a different solution.
 
I have used the prestone flush and also the radiator super cleaner in multiple vehicles over the course of the last 12 years. The only one that leaked afterward was the result of the flush itself and not the cleaner.

Upon fixing the leaks it was appearant that crud and sealer had plugged the leaks. After scrapping away this crud and putting in new hoses, walla, no more leaks.

Go ahead and use the prestone cleaner and worry not about the cleaner doing damage, however, make sure you have a large supply of distilled or de-ionized water. You will have to fill up and drain your cooling system a minimum of five times to effectively get rid of the debris/contaminats.

Read the directions. The product works best when no old coolant is left in the system when you add the cleaner.

Good luck, and post any other questions you may have.
 
I use either Prestone or Winns whichever I can find by the case. Never had a problem with either. You want to get out any crud that is "sealing" against the seals, as it can wear down the shaft. But in reality you should clean before you get hard build up and change your anti-freeze frequently enough. That's not a problem here as I once had a mechanic do me a "favor" by draining my radiator because the water had turned green. Last week another did it becuase it had turned red.
If you are afraid of leaks, use the sealer. It reacts with metal and air to seal small areas. I used it in my Mitsubishi Fuso about 4 years ago and it is still in there, sealing.
 
The reason I need to use the flush product is because I am a recovering vehicle maintenance neglector.

BITOG is my daily support group to keep me from falling off the maintenance bandwagon. That bandwagon is well cared for, BTW.
 
Well, the radiator is being drained as I type this. Prestone Super Radiator Cleaner will be going in shortly. Wish me luck & no leaks.
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Use distilled or RO water. If you end up with a leak afterwards will most likely be from cleaning out the crud that was sealing it to begin with.

If you leak from a hose connection sometimes a few twists of the clamp will solve that. If you still have the factory "squish" clamps then you may want to remove the hoses and clean the crud from under there and then put on regular style clamps. This usually solves hose leaks if you had crud sealing it up before.

Keep an eye on your overflow tank for the next couple of weeks as it will most likely need to be topped off at least twice.

Good luck with that.
 
I've gotten slight radiator leaks a few times after using any Radiator flush.


Quickly fixed the leaks with Aluma-seal....great stuff
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The radiator flush, with it's multiple drain/re-fills, is complete.

No leaks so far, but the flush did nothing for the non-heat situation that I originally used it for.

I guess the no heat is from a blend door problem. I'm not looking forward to that.
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My wife is ready to throw in the towel. She is quietly but persistently petitioning for something newer.
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Work with me here. As long as you final flush with a gallon of distilled water, you can use a garden hose for the initial flushing, right? Not using a cleaner, just flushing with water.
 
Assuming you don't have extremely hard water. I had my water tested and I have 32 grains of hardness. In no way would I ever use my tap water in an automotive cooling system.

If you have a Reverse Osmosis system then use water out of that, if not then you can buy water or risk using your tap water. I like my peace of mind so I use water out of my RO unit.
 
Well, I wonder if there are any "stronger" flush products avaliable.

Perhaps you should take the car to a radiator shop...would they have any "stronger" solvents/cleaners to deal with this problem?

I guess that a new heater core is still cheaper than a new car...
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But that new Alabama built, 06 Sonata V6 goes for about $20KOTD and while at the library today, I noticed that CR ranked it in the #2 spot, just under the Accord and above the Camry.
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