Back flushing the radiator
 

Can you back flush a radiator without removing from the car? If so, how?

Re: Back flushing the radiator
 

By disconnecting the top and bottom hoses and applying water pressure to the bottom radiator hose neck. The catch is you are fighting gravity, a baffle, etc. You can do the block at the same time though.

Re: Back flushing the radiator
 

you can, but to do it right you need a back flush tool, like the ones radiator shop use, its cone shaped so it can be wedged in the bottom radiator outlet, water and air hooked to it, the air creates turbulence to loosen crud, and the water to flow it out, check at your local parts store to see what it looks like, they may even have one to loan

Re: Back flushing the radiator
 

Can some sone post a picture of this gizmo/// nevre seeen sucha thing overhere- I just use a water hosepipe and an airline ( nice job on a summers day)

Re: Back flushing the radiator
 

As mentioned, you can somewhat do it, but I'd remove the radiator and turn it upside down to see if any rust flakes come out.

Have you tried Cascade to remove any grease, and 30 days of vinegar to remove rust and hard water deposits?

Re: Back flushing the radiator
 

Hi Tom. I just put the vinegar in two days ago, after my question to you about it. As you suggested, I'll leave it in about 30 days and then drain it.

Re: Back flushing the radiator
 

Ray, be sure to drive it several times during the 30 days, so it gets heated and circulated. Had mine not worked after 30 days, I would have tried an additional 30 days. After that I would have unsoldered the bottom tank and rodded it out.
Sure glad it worked out after 30 days of vinegar and removing the radiator to flush it upside down, as I didn't want to disturb an original radiator unless absolutely neccessary..

Re: Back flushing the radiator
 

I built the two (2) PVC adapters shown in "The Restorer", September/October, 2012; pages 9 and 10.

One back-flushes the block, the other the radiator.

I took the magazine to my plumbing supply store and let a master plumber pull the necessary parts. He thought it was a great use of PVC Schedule 40.

After completing a month of Tom's Vinegar Spa treatment, I back flushed everything and watched the brown water flow!

My underdash Rexaco is showing a decidedly cooler system, even in the muggy and hot conditions in the South for the month of June!

I'd highly recommend building a pair of backflushers for the times when you don't want to demount the radiator.

Re: Back flushing the radiator
 

Thanks! Somehow I had missed that article. I'll get the parts tomorrow!

Re: Back flushing the radiator
 

Tip: when back flushing the radiator, hook up the block flusher to the water pump side of the upper radiator hose. This way you can direct the gradoo from the radiator down under the frame rather than splashing all over the engine etc.

Re: Back flushing the radiator
 

Gradoo?

Re: Back flushing the radiator
 

It's a Southern thing for any icky stuff nobody wants on their clothes or driveway. In Louisiana I believe it is Gra-deaux.

Re: Back flushing the radiator
 

I wondered if it was a Jawja term; I hear those occasionally from my wife's family (Meansville, Barnesville, Marietta), but I hadn't heard that one. :)

Re: Back flushing the radiator
 

http://www.fordbarn.com/forum/showth...ght=back+flush

Old thread covering this topic.

Re: Back flushing the radiator
 

Do they ever bring up; "rise up outta the grave and snatch 'ya bald headed", or "that's some slap 'yo Momma (sweet tea, fried chicken, peach pie, corn likker, etc)

We're all "dumb like a fox" down here, so watch out!

Re: Back flushing the radiator
 

Yeah, sometimes I feel like I'm in another country when I'm there.. I love to drive the back roads and small towns in GA. Beautiful state.

Re: Back flushing the radiator
 

The darn Vinegar treatment sure works well to loosen all the junk in the system so that it can be caught by the filter (The small tubes in the radiator). Ask me how I know. Doing the vinegar treatment without installing an in-line coolant filter (like a gano) in the top hose is a total recipe for disaster, that will result in having to rod out or replace the radiator and no amount of backflushing will solve it typically.

Re: Back flushing the radiator
 

Gano?

Re: Back flushing the radiator
 

I put a gano filter inline in my top radiator hose after I installed my rodded-out radiator, and blasted out my block. It is well mad brass construction but the mesh screens are to open so I added a piece of nylon hose and I am catching a teaspoon of fine sand like material and larger chunks every 20 miles or so.


http://www.ganofilters.com/

I plan on posting pictures soon

Re: Back flushing the radiator
 

Out of curiosity, why place the filter on the top hose (where grit will fall back into the motor and gravity will work against the filter) as opposed to on the bottom hose (to keep grit from entering the motor and where gravity will keep sediment in the metal tube?