Cleaning/Flushing the Cooling System...

Le_Petit_Lapin · 2 Apr 2007 at 14:52

Hiya,

Was whacking water in the cooling resevoir today, and noticed that there was a fair old ammount of what can only be described as "gunk" in there. Was browsing about today and found some stuff called "Cooling System Flush".

Just wanted to know if that would clean all the "gunk" out. Does anyone here know how you use it? Do you just whack it in and leave it, or do you put it in, wait a while then empty the radiator/resevoir? If its the second option, and I need to get the carr on a jack, is flushing it hard to do, or just a matter of undoing a bolt or similar?

Is there any specific product people here would reccommend off hand?

Cheers!

Phil W · 2 Apr 2007 at 14:55

What sort of "gunk" we talking?

Not the same gunk as i found in my old Astra i hope

There shouldn't be any need for any kind of "flush" additive, just a good couple of flushes of clean water should do the trick

Le_Petit_Lapin · 2 Apr 2007 at 15:07

Phil W said:
What sort of "gunk" we talking?

gunk of the oily type.

Phil W · 2 Apr 2007 at 15:19

Le_Petit_Lapin · 2 Apr 2007 at 15:28

Phil W said:
HGF?

Could be aye, the car is leaking coolant/oil when it sits somewhere overnight, and the wee "coolant low" light keeps coming on all the time, even when its full. Its not overheating though.

Phil W · 2 Apr 2007 at 15:30

Sounds like HGF to me, what car is it?

My car had the exact same symptoms, the problem only worsened and eventually the car lost all compression.

It had a suspected Porous head

Le_Petit_Lapin · 2 Apr 2007 at 15:39

1992 Citroen AX (Diesel)

It holds no special place in my heart, I think I might just kill it rather than fixing it, its not worth it (how much does a HGF cost to fix?).

Short on cash at the minute though, and need something to get from A to B in, might have to look for £500 bangers on Autotrader, hell, its not as if they could be worse than the AX.

What happens when a head gasket fails? Is it sudden, and not something I really want to experience, or is it alright to drive the car till it dies?

Phil W · 2 Apr 2007 at 15:45

Depends where it is, if you loose compression then the car won't turn over, or bump, or start.

Its unlikely to go between cylinders (lost compression between the 2 so it feels like its running on 3) so it will probably just... stop.

Get a Cavalier or Astra for <£500 !

Le_Petit_Lapin · 2 Apr 2007 at 16:06

How much does it cost to fix, out of intrest?

Phil W · 2 Apr 2007 at 16:07

No idea to be honest, depends how servere the problem is, more than the car is worth lets put it that way

You could buy another car with T&T for less than it would cost to repair it!

Le_Petit_Lapin · 2 Apr 2007 at 16:08

Phil W said:
No idea to be honest, depends how servere the problem is, more than the car is worth lets put it that way

You could buy another car with T&T for less than it would cost to repair it!

Yeah, thats what I was thinking. Cavaliers ming hard though mate.

Then again...pot, kettle, black.

Phil W · 2 Apr 2007 at 16:22

I don't know, if they are cleaned up they aren't all that bad, a guy on MK3OC bought one, detailed it and it looked superb (for a Cavalier anyway...)

Le_Petit_Lapin · 2 Apr 2007 at 16:33

Nah, thats not too bad tbh, worth considering anyway, at least it'll go.

Hmm.....my mother has just kindly offered me her old Nissan Serena if my car dies.....the one shes left sitting on her drive for about 2 years, and the last time I looked inside it, was covered in mould. :confused:

Insurance is oddly cheap on it though...

Matt82 · 2 Apr 2007 at 23:00

biological washing powder should clean it all nicely

timbob · 2 Apr 2007 at 23:30

Hey, Cavs are awesome! :cool:

[huzeeee] · 3 Apr 2007 at 00:47

Theres a substance farmers use to clean the pipes they milk cows with, i forgot what it is called now but apparentley it will dissolve rust and anything that comes in its path.

Cupra · 3 Apr 2007 at 01:04

that cant be good for the inside of a car engine though

Mat · 3 Apr 2007 at 09:20

Le_Petit_Lapin said:
Could be aye, the car is leaking coolant/oil when it sits somewhere overnight, and the wee "coolant low" light keeps coming on all the time, even when its full. Its not overheating though.

Can you get under it and identify whereabouts the leak is coming from, ie rad or block, front of engine, rear etc...? That might give you some idea what is going on. A sheet of card under the front overnight in a garage should help with that too.

[huzeeee] · 3 Apr 2007 at 10:53

Im quite sure now its called milkex but not 100%. Its bob on for cleaning your engine just as long as ou dont leave it in there too long (overnight sort of thing).

Le_Petit_Lapin · 3 Apr 2007 at 10:54

Mat said:
Can you get under it and identify whereabouts the leak is coming from, ie rad or block, front of engine, rear etc...? That might give you some idea what is going on. A sheet of card under the front overnight in a garage should help with that too.

Coming from the engine block, the front side of it.