Vinegar in Cooling System

Cape Codder

Cape Codder

Well-known member
Having done a search I could not find anyone that said when draining the vinegar from the cooling system they neutralize the system. If so with what product?
Cape Codder
 
I neutralize the vinegar with several flushes of water. It seems to take 6 - 8 water flushes to get all the remaining rust sediment out. I don't think my system is excessively rusty, but a lot comes out with every one of these vinegar flushes. I then fill it with 50/50 Prestone coolant.
 
Cape Codder....

Flush with water. If concerned, put some radiator water in a glass, and baking soda and check for fizz. None; then your done.

Marc
 
I am getting ready to change the water pump on my Tudor and will clean the radiator at the same time and would like more info on this 'Vinegar' cleans proceedure. How does it compare to the method that Roger Kauffman used with ( ? ) soap?
 
If you are just trying to remove oil and grease from you system, use about a half cup of Simple Green. Vinegar will remove some rust and corrosion. After a vinegar treatment flush several times with a final flush with about a half cup of baking soda, flush again after that. Vinegar takes time to work, at least a full day.
 
I cleaned the heater core in my semimodern and aging pickup last fall. For the first time in several years I have adequate heat for winter driving. May do it again this fall as it looks like I now need to replace the radiator, so I will definately have the opportunity. Rod
 
RockHillWill: Tom W. has done this and highly recommends this (hopefully he will ck in), fill the system w/white vinegar and run it, I think he did it for a month, then BACKFLUSH the system, probably a few times until clear. I don't remember if he neutralizes it or not. Try searching: "vinegar".
Paul in CT
 
I ran pure white vinegar for a week then flushed, then learned I didn't leave it in long enough, so I bought 3 more gallons and ran it for a month and flushed again. I flushed with water only about 4 times, then used 50/50 antifreeze. I also removed the radiator, layed it flat, fill it with water and then tipped it upside down to remove rust flakes that were blocking some radiator tubes. I flushed the radiator like this 4 times before the rust flakes quit comming out. :)

I then installed a nylon drier sock to trap any more junk before it reached the radiator tubes.

If the radiator tubes are blocked solid I'm not sure the vinegar will get in deep enough to clear them, but it might be worth a try. Vinegar was used to clean steam irons back in the days when we had to iron our clothes.:eek:

Try the easy fix first, then if it fails you may still need to remove the tank to rod it out.

BTW, I did run a cup of Cascade dish washing powder in water in my Model A for 3 days first, just in case some grease was in the system. Then I did the vinegar treatment. I think the vinegar may only work when warm, so drive the A a lot during the month.
 
If you do use vinegar, make sure you put some kind of filter in the upper hose to catch the rust chunks and debris coming out of the engine before it has a chance to clog up the radiator. Tom W. didn't do this when he put vinegar in his cooling system and it was a lot more work to clean the crud out of his radiator. I bought a couple of Gano filters to use when I do it, but a nylon stocking might work OK.
Rusty Nelson
 
I have used the vinegar method with good results. However, for even better results on a rusty block/radiator, try filling your cooling system with kerosene and running it for a couple weeks. This really cleans out the system. An old timer told me they used this method during WWII in the Midwest during the winter as antifreeze was not available. I have tried this method on a pretty rusty system and it came out super clean. I would put a filter on the return to the radiator to catch the flakes. It helps to keep the radiator from clogging up.
 
I used the method described in the Sep-Oct 2012 issue of the Restorer and it worked great. I ran the 3 gallons of vinegar for about 500 miles, and when I drained that I couldn't believe the amount of crud that came out! Then I ran the 2 cups of non-sudsing detergent, two quarts of kerosene, and 2 gallons of water solution for about 30 minutes. Drained that and even more crud came out. Then I back-flushed the radiator till I got clear eater coming through. Then flushed the engine till I got clear water. Put it all back together, added a pint of rust prehibitor, and four weeks later my water is running clean and cool.
 
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