Looking to gather some information on flushing my radiator. Currently have the Peak Flush kit in system with tap water. Plan is to flush it out and fill with Distilled for a few days before adding A.B's lower temp t-stat.

If the clean out does not appear to work with the Peak kit was contemplating Cascade. I've read that it can damage aluminum. Thoughts?

If anyone has tried Cascade- what kind of results did you see? What was the amount of Cascade that was used? I have a container of the liquid with Dawn in it.

Or does the Distilled White vinegar work better?

 

CLR works wonders from what I've heard.

 

A D2 radiator that is really sludged up will not be fixed by a flush. Just too late. Now as preventative maintenance, anything is an improvement over leaving the old coolant in there.

 

I agree with Buzz, if you are close or over 100,000 miles your radiator can not be cleaned out per the size of the veins, even an honest radiator shop will tell you to not waste your money, buy a new one, plus your plastic tanks are very brittle and will crack sooner then later.
What ever you do, replace the t/stat, cause it will plug up if flushed, and the pressure cap cause they wear out.

 

So, are you saying... Flush, then replace the thermostat, then bleed?

Is there an easy way to just clamp off the hoses, remove the thermostat, and replace, without loosing too much coolant?

 

They make a flat nose vise grip pliers, but the old hoses won't like it. Just flush, replace stat, then fill with final coolant. Then bleed.

 

I have a friend who has a Cummins with 265000 miles on it. He ran Cascade through everything and from shining the light down in the radiator, it looks way better than it did, almost brand new. Not sure how it would treat aluminum though.

 

It don't eat the aluminum pans and such that SWMBO has put through thousands of torture tests followed up by the potscrubber cycle in the Whirlpool dishwasher. Of course eating her cooking can bring on some internal stress.....

 

I think i'm going to try it when I switch to green coolant.