Evaporust and radiators

CWPASADENA

CWPASADENA

Well-known member
Hi Folks,

Has any one had any experience in getting rust flakes out of the radiator. I have a car in my shop that had been sitting a long time my customer recently purchased. The radiator was stopped up and he had a radiator shop rod it out. After a few hundred miles, the radiator stopped up again.

He brought the car to me and I found a lot of loose rust in the block, some of which found its way back into the radiator after it was cleaned out.

I am de-rusting the inside of the block with Evaporust and was wondering if anyone had experience using Evaporust in a radiator to dissolve rust flakes.

What is your experience?

Thanks in advance for your replies,

Chris W.
 
Chris
I think it would work good. You will need to put some cascade dish washing soap in first to get all of the grease out first. grease will mess with the evaporust. I filled my block with it and it seemed to work good. It will take about 3 gals to do the whole engine. Get all the grease out -flush out the system out good then put the evaporust in. I would start it and let it run for a short time to just get a little bit of heat in it. Do this every couple of hours for two or three days. It should dissolve the rust so it can be drained out. Let us know how well it works.

Big Iron
 
Chris Haynes said:
I have de-rusted blocks with muriatic acid. I have never tried it in a radiator.
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I have used muriatic acid on the outside of radiators to clean it in preparation for soldering...it does an excellent job. Never put it on the inside of one though.
Let us know how it turns out.
 

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They now have a new product just for radiators. What it will not do is dissolve any rust. It will make the rust inert and will clean what you have but that is why either an old pair of hose or the filter listed above. I like using the evaporust for blocks.
 
Radiators don't rust and evaporust doesn't clean. I have had good results using draino (lye) in cleaning out radiators off the car. Wear eye and skin protection. Plug the bottom and fill with heavy amount of lye for about 20 min then back flush well. Repeat if very clogged.
 
TSP Tri-Sodium Phosphate is an old solution for dirty/plugged radiators. Reverse flush the rad and then run the car for a while with 1/2 a cup or so of TSP dissolved in water in the rad. Drain and reverse flush again.
 
CWPASADENA said:
Hi Folks,

Has any one had any experience in getting rust flakes out of the radiator. I have a car in my shop that had been sitting a long time my customer recently purchased. The radiator was stopped up and he had a radiator shop rod it out. After a few hundred miles, the radiator stopped up again.

He brought the car to me and I found a lot of loose rust in the block, some of which found its way back into the radiator after it was cleaned out.

I am de-rusting the inside of the block with Evaporust and was wondering if anyone had experience using Evaporust in a radiator to dissolve rust flakes.

What is your experience?

Thanks in advance for your replies,

Chris W.
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I like Evaporust I have only used it with small parts that can be dunked in an open container. When I'm done with it and drain the Evaporust back into its container, in the bottom of the dunking container what's left is a sandy like substance. I don't know if flakes of rust would end up like the sandy stuff! Try it and let us know how it works, no harm will be done to your radiator as Evaporust will not harm copper, brass,solid iron,etc as it only attack's rust!
 
RonC said:
Radiators don't rust and evaporust doesn't clean. I have had good results using draino (lye) in cleaning out radiators off the car. Wear eye and skin protection. Plug the bottom and fill with heavy amount of lye for about 20 min then back flush well. Repeat if very clogged.
Click to expand...

The radiator I am dealing with was cleaned recently by a radiator shop.

It now has rust flakes in it from loose rust in the engine.

I am not trying to clean the inside of the radiator, I am trying to dissolve the rust flakes that are starting to plug up the tubes in the radiator.

That is why I was asking about using Evaporust for dissolving rust in a radiator.

Chris W.
 
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I would remove the radiator and turn it upside down to flush it out. You can also let it dry out and try sucking on the top with a shop vac. Be sure to start with a clean machine, so you can see if any rust flakes were removed.

Personally I like the sump pump with the upside down radiator to flush it out.
 
When I had my radiator out last year for an engine change, I turned it upside down, plugged the upper hose side, filled with water and then removed the plug. After doing this several times this removed a tea spoon of junk. Also the flow of water emptied out in about one and a half seconds, some say this isn't a valid test, but I felt better about my radiator.
 
CWPASADENA said:
The radiator I am dealing with was cleaned recently by a radiator shop.

It now has rust flakes in it from loose rust in the engine.

I am not trying to clean the inside of the radiator, I am trying to dissolve the rust flakes that are starting to plug up the tubes in the radiator.

That is why I was asking about using Evaporust for dissolving rust in a radiator.

Chris W.
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Back flush it out with water and compressed air. You can make a tool to do this and use low pressure air blasts. Evaporust does not dissolve rust
 
RonC said:
Back flush it out with water and compressed air. You can make a tool to do this and use low pressure air blasts. Evaporust does not dissolve rust
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If Evaporust does not dissolve rust, what does it do with it.

I have a jar of it that I put small rusty parts in and after a day or 2, they come out clean metal with no rust on them. The Evaporust will eventually turn black. At this time, the stuff does not seem to work any more so I dump the stuff and start with some fresh Evaporust.

Chris W.
 
Years ago I had some old engine parts somebody had taken the engine apart and left in buckets outside and filled with rainwater. Pistons rods lifters you name it. I bought about 10 liter bottles of Coke and dropped the parts and Coke in a big plastic tub. 3 days later things were getting clean, a week later no rust, no corrosion on the pistons. I often have wondered what Coke would do to gaskets and seals.

Where do you buy evaporust?
 
denniskliesen said:
Years ago I had some old engine parts somebody had taken the engine apart and left in buckets outside and filled with rainwater. Pistons rods lifters you name it. I bought about 10 liter bottles of Coke and dropped the parts and Coke in a big plastic tub. 3 days later things were getting clean, a week later no rust, no corrosion on the pistons. I often have wondered what Coke would do to gaskets and seals.

Where do you buy evaporust?
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And just think Dennis if your talking about coke a cola we drink it. Kinda scary.
 
I have heard that some chemicals for foods that we consume are hazardous materials when hauled down the roads in tanker trucks. Whats that saying eat drink in moderation! Another saying don't worry be happy :-)
 
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