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I saw one other mention of scaling inside a radiator within this thread, other than my brief mention at the subject above. I thought now would be a good time to share some info about cooling system crud and scaling. Just a heads up of something I have picked up over the past many decades I have been in the auto repair industry... In the early years of my auto repair experience I would find a lot of radiator that had scaling and crub build up inside their radiator. As long as there has not been any significant corrosion, those radiator (metal radiators, not plastic ones) can be rodded out. This is trickier with aluminum radiators as their tanks are not merely soldered on, they are welded onto the core framing. Rodding out a core is a simple process where a flat steel (rod) is pushed into each cooling pipe, whereby any deposits and scaling will be shoved out of the far end of the tube being "rodded out." After the core tube have asll been rodded out, and the resultant scaling and crud are flushed out of the end tanks, the previously removed tank(s) can be soldered back onto the core frame. The radiator is then checked for leaks by sending slightly compressed air are into the radiator while it is help under water in a working tub of water. Once the radiator is leak free it can be reinstalled in the vehicle.
What happens next will determine whether or not the rodding repair lasts or not. Back "in the day" engine coolant was sold in 1 gallon jugs, and needed to be mixed with water for a 50 % coolant, and 50% water mixture. Therein lays the potential problem. The scaling snd crud was often blamed on not changing the coolant enough, or have too low a concentration of coolant. Well, that may contribute to a degree to the problem. The larger offending cause is hard water, where there is a lot of calcium and/or magnesium dissolved in tap water. Inside the radiator, especially where the coolant percentage is too low, the scaling and other crud begins to build onto metallic surfaces. and the cooling tubes begin to get restricted again.
Now is a good time to mention that the degree of scaling and crud occurring will depend on where you get your water from. Some communities have amazingly naturally softer water as compared to other localities where hard water is significant and causes problems with all kinds of water based machinery and activities. And rather than folks getting educated about the benefits of water softening and purification equipment, folks add all kinds of detergent and surfacant compounds to soap (aka known as "detergent" once these compounds are added to the soap) in an effort to chemically fight the problem caused by hard water. These problems include a hard water ring in sinks, tubs, shower walls and glass, toilet bowl rind, water spots on vqrious surfaces, and water spots on a car when rinse water is not dried off quickly enough. If a person is fortunate enough to have a swimming pool and/or hot tub, you will see a hardness reside buildup at the water line, one that never goes away no matter how much you may scrub it away - it always comes back - unless you begin to use soft water. I do not mean to turn this post into a left handed commercial for water softener and purification equipment, but folks unfamiliar with this facet of life would do well to do some research and consider getting the equipment needed to treat your household water for whatever water condition you have 3with their tap water. Anyone who does that is welcome th thank me for that later. For the record, Lynda initially thought I was nuts when she first visited my home when I lived in Wisconsin, where I had a full blown water softening and purification system. Then she took her first soft water shower, and noticed how the water I used for food preparation (I was able to dissolve tea and sugar into cool purified water instantly, with no reside at the bottom of the glass, because there were no other compounds in the water competing to be kept soluble in the water. I truly believe that is when I began to become more attractive in her life. Anyway, back to the radiator and cooling system issues with hard water, and how to overcome it.
There are a few ways to correct the hard water problem. The first is to get a whole house water softening and filtration treatment system. That will help minimize or even eliminate the buildup of scale on your shower walls, bathtub, other water appliances, and in general help you live a more luxurious life. But, as nice as it is to have soft water in a home, it is fairly costly to get the needed equipment. This works because soft water has no (significant) amount of dissolved hard water compounds in it, thus there is nothing in the coolant to try to attach to metal surfaces inside the radiator. If water is ever used to top off a radiator, use distilled water. Better yet, if you have a reverse Osmosis water purification unit, use purified water to mix with the coolant concentrate.
DO NOT DRINK ANY FLUID WITH ETHYLENE GLYCOL OR OTHER ANTI-FREEZE COMPOUNDS IN IT, AS IT IS A HIGHLY TOXIC COMPOUND
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethylene_glycol).
The next way to prevent scale and crud from forming inside your radiator is to use only distilled water (not spring or drinking water) to mix with the coolant concentrate to achieve a 50/50 mix. An aside, back in the old days when all automotive batteries had removable vent caps for their cells, we were always told to use distilled water, never tap water. But, nobody bothered to explain why - so no doubt many otherwise good batteries were compromised because of dissolved minerals being poured into the battery electrolyte when someone would use tap water to top off level the cells.
The 3rd way to handle the coolant issue is to purchase premixed coolant, where you do not mix the contents of the premixed coolant jugs with water. And when you need to top off the radiator, use only the premixed coolant to do so. When the coolant is premixed in the manufacturing process, water without dissolved mineral content is used, so like when using distilled water to mix with coolant concentrate there is nothing in the coolant to begin to form scaling and crud. The cost per gallon for premixed coolant is higher than concentrated coolant that is mixed with water. But, not only do you have no mineral content in the premixed coolant, you are also definitely getting a proper 50/50 mix in the coolant solution.
Personally, despite the fact we have both softened and purified water in our house, I will prefer to purchase the premixed coolant as I have worries re: the mixture ratio of coolant and water.
I hope that helps my fellow enthusiasts previously unaware of the adverse impact of hard water in the cooling system (or battery) of automobiles find that information useful.
What happens next will determine whether or not the rodding repair lasts or not. Back "in the day" engine coolant was sold in 1 gallon jugs, and needed to be mixed with water for a 50 % coolant, and 50% water mixture. Therein lays the potential problem. The scaling snd crud was often blamed on not changing the coolant enough, or have too low a concentration of coolant. Well, that may contribute to a degree to the problem. The larger offending cause is hard water, where there is a lot of calcium and/or magnesium dissolved in tap water. Inside the radiator, especially where the coolant percentage is too low, the scaling and other crud begins to build onto metallic surfaces. and the cooling tubes begin to get restricted again.
Now is a good time to mention that the degree of scaling and crud occurring will depend on where you get your water from. Some communities have amazingly naturally softer water as compared to other localities where hard water is significant and causes problems with all kinds of water based machinery and activities. And rather than folks getting educated about the benefits of water softening and purification equipment, folks add all kinds of detergent and surfacant compounds to soap (aka known as "detergent" once these compounds are added to the soap) in an effort to chemically fight the problem caused by hard water. These problems include a hard water ring in sinks, tubs, shower walls and glass, toilet bowl rind, water spots on vqrious surfaces, and water spots on a car when rinse water is not dried off quickly enough. If a person is fortunate enough to have a swimming pool and/or hot tub, you will see a hardness reside buildup at the water line, one that never goes away no matter how much you may scrub it away - it always comes back - unless you begin to use soft water. I do not mean to turn this post into a left handed commercial for water softener and purification equipment, but folks unfamiliar with this facet of life would do well to do some research and consider getting the equipment needed to treat your household water for whatever water condition you have 3with their tap water. Anyone who does that is welcome th thank me for that later. For the record, Lynda initially thought I was nuts when she first visited my home when I lived in Wisconsin, where I had a full blown water softening and purification system. Then she took her first soft water shower, and noticed how the water I used for food preparation (I was able to dissolve tea and sugar into cool purified water instantly, with no reside at the bottom of the glass, because there were no other compounds in the water competing to be kept soluble in the water. I truly believe that is when I began to become more attractive in her life. Anyway, back to the radiator and cooling system issues with hard water, and how to overcome it.
There are a few ways to correct the hard water problem. The first is to get a whole house water softening and filtration treatment system. That will help minimize or even eliminate the buildup of scale on your shower walls, bathtub, other water appliances, and in general help you live a more luxurious life. But, as nice as it is to have soft water in a home, it is fairly costly to get the needed equipment. This works because soft water has no (significant) amount of dissolved hard water compounds in it, thus there is nothing in the coolant to try to attach to metal surfaces inside the radiator. If water is ever used to top off a radiator, use distilled water. Better yet, if you have a reverse Osmosis water purification unit, use purified water to mix with the coolant concentrate.
DO NOT DRINK ANY FLUID WITH ETHYLENE GLYCOL OR OTHER ANTI-FREEZE COMPOUNDS IN IT, AS IT IS A HIGHLY TOXIC COMPOUND
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethylene_glycol).
The next way to prevent scale and crud from forming inside your radiator is to use only distilled water (not spring or drinking water) to mix with the coolant concentrate to achieve a 50/50 mix. An aside, back in the old days when all automotive batteries had removable vent caps for their cells, we were always told to use distilled water, never tap water. But, nobody bothered to explain why - so no doubt many otherwise good batteries were compromised because of dissolved minerals being poured into the battery electrolyte when someone would use tap water to top off level the cells.
The 3rd way to handle the coolant issue is to purchase premixed coolant, where you do not mix the contents of the premixed coolant jugs with water. And when you need to top off the radiator, use only the premixed coolant to do so. When the coolant is premixed in the manufacturing process, water without dissolved mineral content is used, so like when using distilled water to mix with coolant concentrate there is nothing in the coolant to begin to form scaling and crud. The cost per gallon for premixed coolant is higher than concentrated coolant that is mixed with water. But, not only do you have no mineral content in the premixed coolant, you are also definitely getting a proper 50/50 mix in the coolant solution.
Personally, despite the fact we have both softened and purified water in our house, I will prefer to purchase the premixed coolant as I have worries re: the mixture ratio of coolant and water.
I hope that helps my fellow enthusiasts previously unaware of the adverse impact of hard water in the cooling system (or battery) of automobiles find that information useful.
