I was buying some parts for my pressure washer a couple of weeks ago and I
saw a tech 'descaling' the heater core in a customer's washer; Coils have to
be descaled periodically because the heat accelerates the mineral buildup
inside and can cause the coil to become clogged and/or lose heating
efficiency.  They were using the pump on the machine to draw up the solution
from a bucket and they were draining the discharge back into the bucket. I
found this odd because most contractors are death on 'upstreaming' any kind
of chemical through their pumps; it's been known to damage the packings,
seals and o-rings over time.. When I mentioned this to the tech, he said
that the chemical he was using was formulated to descale without harming the
'soft parts' of the pump. It seemed to be doing a fair job of the descaling
process, and it occurred to me to wonder if it could be used in a car in a
similar fashion. You would have to deal with the issue of the slurry or
debris, but it also occurred to me that I could rig my washer to do the job
(which would even let me use hot water), or use a regular pick-up pump to do
it. It would be useful to be able to clean out a badly clogged system
without having to entirely dismantle it.

Robert

----- Original Message -----
From: "jimt" <wetwesty@TACTICAL-BUS.INFO>
To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Sent: Friday, December 10, 2004 1:05 PM
Subject: Re: clean heater core

On 12/10/04 1:57 PM, "Al and Sue Brase" <albeeee@MCHSI.COM> wrote:

> Does anyone have any ideas of possible procedures to clean a heater
> core? I'm getting very little heat out of it. It's been getting worse
> the last few years. I guess I should not have used stop leak way back in
> the 90s to stop the head gasket leaks!
> Yes, the coolant is getting up to temp. I've changed thermostats with no
> improvement.
> I'm able and willing to take out the heater core. With new ones a dealer
> only item and SO expensive I'd just l;ike to try cleaning.
> How about some slight caustic cleaner?
> I feel the best way to clean if it was out would be an ultrasonic bath
> type like jewelers use, but this is a bit bigger thatn a watch.
> My radiator shop says no to taking it apart. They would if it were brass.
> Al Brase
> 87 Vanagon, luke warm
>
>>
>>
>
>
I have cleaned some heater cores with a simple flushing with a heavy
cleaning solution. For that method I used the output stream of a parts
cleaner into one port and watched the output for any changes over a period
of time.

 Some I have poured heavy deliming solution used for pipes into them and
then let them sit for a while and flush out.

Not sure how this would work if there are plastic parts on the core.

........................................
jimt
Planned insanity is best.
Remember that sanity is optional.
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