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calcium in radiator

G

grizz02

Well-known Member
What is the best way to get rid of calcium in my tractors radiator it has plastic tanks would a little white vinegar work ? thanks
 
Drain your cooling system then rig up a way to hook a garden hose to the block drain and back flush it for a while. Then let that drain out and fil the system with 100% vinegar no water and run it till good and warm. Let it cool and then back flush again. Flushing it out first with the garden hose gets most of the free moving junk out and that way the vinegar can work better
 
Best way is a new radiator since the plastic ones can't be recored. If very much in the rad anything you have to clean it vinegar or acid of some sort the deposits have to go some where and settle in your block if you are talking about adding while on the tractor! I did it to a tractor and sure helped with flow but then had a heck of a time trying to get that out of block! Make sure you don't use hard water.
 
Phosphoric acid. Use it at work to clean heat exchangers all the time. For small job get some ice machine cleaner.
 
could I just add it to the rad run it for a while and flush and put new antifreeze in?
 

Like young fella old said it is better to reverse flush first in order to get the loose stuff out instead of using your acid up on stuff that is already loose. As 4520 BW said Phosphoric is more effective on calcium and mild on metals. You can get it from a dairy supply or a restaurant supply.
 
Will that penetrate and clear tubes that are already completely plugged or just clean out the ones that are partially plugged and still have some flow through them?
 
(quoted from post at 17:58:20 06/01/18) Will that penetrate and clear tubes that are already completely plugged or just clean out the ones that are partially plugged and still have some flow through them?
Click to expand...

The acid will dissolve only what it can get to, and it has to be passing through at least a little in order to keep bringing fresh acid to the calcium.
 
Well my question is where did it come from in the first place. I bought a new tractor in 2007 and at 5 years decided to do the flush and refill. To my amazement the system had a serious contamination with the stuff. I can't imagine any tap water being so heavily laden with calcium that it could cause what I saw. Gotta be something in the cast iron block or aluminum/copper/rubber/whatever they use these days, radiators??????
 
I have had luck with it opening them up. I have had to open several heat exchangers at work that were to far plugged to open but they had others stuff besides lime plugging them.
 
OK. Do they have to soak to open them up then if they're completely plugged,or just run them? I ask because I've never had any kind of luck cleaning one out. JWondergem says there's a place in Grand Rapids that can boil them out,but I never took anything there.
 
I have pulled radiators and taken them to a shop that boils them out with good luck. The best way to clean them is to keep the acid circulating. At work I have a pump to keep it moving but it also takes 100s of gallons of acid to. I have removed the lower hose and plugged the radiator then added the acid to keep it out of the block. That's how I done my 8300 and it runs cool now.
 
"I have removed the lower hose and plugged the radiator then added the acid to keep it out of the block."


I tried that on my 2-135 a year ago and it ruined the radiator. Made the core look like Swiss cheese.
 
Mixed it to heavy. I did that once and it ate out stainless steel plates in a plate n frame heat exchanger
 
I'm in alkali and soil PH is on that side of center. On the tractor mentioned, what was in it came from the factory. I do use distilled any time I do a battery or radiator. At a buck a gallon or less, no reason not to unless you forgot to stock up. Thanks.
 
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