baking soda to kill vinegar

No one can tell you how much you might need as you don't know how acidic your coolant is. You need a pH meter (acid-base). Then measure the pH of the coolant you are going to use. Then measure the pH of whats in the car. Add neutralizer (baking soda) until the pH in the car is the same as what will go in. Drain the old coolant (dispose of properly) and flush at least once with water. Drain and add new coolant.
 
i don't know if baking soda would corrode any aluminum components, if any, with any significance, but might want to look into it.

but if for some reason i had flushed my coolant system with vinegar, i'd just flush it out with water until a simple test showed an acidity level commensurate with the water with which it was flushed.
 
Last edited:
Been a while since I did this...removed the thermostats and upper radiator hoses. Attached a garden hose to the passenger side head where the heater hose attaches. Let it run for 15 - 20 minutes. Removed the temp sender on the driver side and did the same thing. Removed the water pumps and blasted water into the block on each side. Surprised with the amount of crud that came out.
Use Irontite block sealer.
 
Baking soda is a mild base so I don't think it would ever affect things like an acid would. It just sodium bicarbonate. Sodium carbonate is also a mild base. Just flushing it well gets most any acidic liquid removed. I wouldn't think it would take a lot of baking soda to make a solution for flush. It depends on how much water a person wants to do the flush. If it's only a few gallons then it won''t take much. Maybe a few spoon fulls to two gallons.

Sodium Hydroxide is the strong base that can dissolve soft metals. It's otherwise known as caustic soda or lye and shares similarities with Potassium Hydroxide in its characteristics.
 
When we were kids, we used to make small bombs out vinegar and baking soda. We used to take plastic medicine bottles and put some baking soda in them and then poor vinegar in them quickly and snap the caps on, and boom it quickly blew the plastic tops way up in the air. It had a very fast reaction time. I never get to blow stuff up anymore; I miss being a kid.
 
When we were kids, we used to make small bombs out vinegar and baking soda. We used to take plastic medicine bottles and put some baking soda in them and then poor vinegar in them quickly and snap the caps on, and boom it quickly blew the plastic tops way up in the air. It had a very fast reaction time. I never get to blow stuff up anymore; I miss being a kid.

My Buddy Pat and I filled Testor's little paint bottles with match heads, hole in top for a rolled paper fuse. Worked great, then we found out how to make gunpowder. When asked we told the pharmacist the Saltpeter was for a sick horse .... He told us to be careful :-)
 
Back
Top