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ive heard of people running bleach/water mix thru their coolant system to clean it out. heard of good results too. anyone ever try this?
and while im at it... whats the best coolant to use? ive been using penzoil green, but ive heard red is sposed to be better. how pricey is toyota red coolant?
I have already tried several brands of cleaning coolant stuff and no one of them seemed to do anything really... Unless others tell me it works I just don't believe it is useful.
As for coolant type there have already been several threads about it. Red is just supposed to be longer life I think.
Nothing scientific, but I have a bad feeling about that. Chlorine bleach is extraordinarily corrosive stuff. I'd say at a minimum before you go and try this, mix some of your proposed cleaning solution (approximately the same strength bleach solution), and soak a piece of aluminum and a bit strip of seal material in it, and see what happens. If it works, great, go for it. If not, learn the lesson in your bathroom or kitchen -- not inside your engine!
the mixture is supposed to be like 1 part bleach and 3 parts water i think, so its not like its pure bleach.
my bro tried it on his cressida a few weeks ago, really cleaned that sucker out and no problems since. he said he found the info on a supra forum too. maybe i should register at that forum.
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three liters est. 1992
1.5 liters est. 2006
Originally posted by ryuji16 ok ekpolk, im feelin ya on that.
the mixture is supposed to be like 1 part bleach and 3 parts water i think, so its not like its pure bleach.
my bro tried it on his cressida a few weeks ago, really cleaned that sucker out and no problems since. he said he found the info on a supra forum too. maybe i should register at that forum.
Again, I'm not telling you not to, I'm just suggesting a healthy dose of caution before you try this. 1/3 is still a very potent brew. Spatter some of that on some bluejeans (please, use old ones!!!) and that will give you an idea of what I'm talking about. Just do a little testing first. A worst case scenario for your friend's Cressida: bleach consumed "only" 90% of the seals it touched, so things still look good. I'd be watching that engine like a hawk. Whatever you do, please proceed with caution.
Oh yeah, on coolant selection, I'm not sure that the color part is really critical in a Toyota. What IS important is silicate content. The Toyota Red and like brews are silicate free (most "greens" are not). Silicates will greatly accelerate pump wear. Death will not come immediately, just sooner. Of course, if that bleach has burned your seals up, silicate content is going to be a moot point. . .
Btw I am forgetting some kind of experiment we had with a VW Passat some time ago. We used some brand of cleaning stuff and within the month that followed, water pump and heater core both died...
My advice would be when trying to achieve this, only clean the radiator, do this while apart, and do rinse it well afterwards
Originally posted by Lumberg A bottle of Prestone coolant flush can't be that much more than a bottle of bleach.
Ummmmm, yes it can. Even if it contains sodium hypochlorite (bleach), which I doubt (but I could be wrong -- now I'll have to go look to see for sure), it is certainly pre-dosed in a concentration that is appropriate for a car's radiator. I'd also bet that it contains useful instructions, that if followed, will minimize the chances of chemical damage to your car. It likely also contains other materials intended to ensure that the product performs as designed in a car's cooling system. Good luck finding any of these features in OTC Chlorox!
Using a highly corrosive laundry product in your car instantly turns you into a rolling science experiment. If you're willing to be that, and can accept the consequences, fine. If not, I'd really be looking elsewhere for help cleaning my cooling system.
Got curious, so I did a little digging and found the MSDS on the Prestone Superflush, Super Radiator Cleaner, and a couple other Prestone odds and ends. None of them contain bleach. It looks like the milder forms are citric acid based, where the "neglected radiator" formulation (SRC) has Sodium Hydroxide (nothing to pussyfoot around with, but not chlorine bleach either).
One more whack at this dying horse. I posted an inquiry about this over on BobIsTheOilGuy, a great discussion board which is more oriented to maintenance and technical issues. It has a cooling system discussion area. Here's the link to the responses I got over the last day or so:
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