Heater core cleaning/removal?
- Thread starter Zack1978
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diesel trucks use a radiaor cover because diesel engines actually cool at idle, and they normally have oversized radiators which makes it
hard to warm up and maintain heat when the temps get really cold.
on a gas engine you should not have to use carboard...Get the right thermostat and appropriate gaskets.
Carboard restricts airflow across the radiator, which is not a good thing on a gas engine, and only appropirate on a diesel engine with the right type of "winter front".
I would only use the carboard as a temp solution to frezzing your @ss off...otherwise it might be a thermostat or heater core time.
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It is not a permanent fix, but it works like a charm! Cut a couple of SMALL holes in it to let the radiator breathe, and pull the cardboard come springtime.
The heater core can be flushed in place.
Don't use any of the off the shelf "radiator flush" crap.
Muriatic acid is what you want for cleaning out radiators and heater cores Don't get it in the engine. Isolate the heater core(s) to flush them.
Nothing wrong with restricting airflow to the rad in a gas or a diesel engine, and it is not an apporach that is resticted to specific types of vehicles or "fronts". It is not an approach that you should have to use in most areas, but if you see extreme temps then it may be the only way to get the engine to decent operating temps.
Mark...
Don't use any of the off the shelf "radiator flush" crap.
Muriatic acid is what you want for cleaning out radiators and heater cores Don't get it in the engine. Isolate the heater core(s) to flush them.
Nothing wrong with restricting airflow to the rad in a gas or a diesel engine, and it is not an apporach that is resticted to specific types of vehicles or "fronts". It is not an approach that you should have to use in most areas, but if you see extreme temps then it may be the only way to get the engine to decent operating temps.
Mark...
- Thread starter
- #26
Mark can you give some specific directions for flushing the heater as you mentioned above. Like how to isolate the engine, etc. Is there more than one core? If you have time, can you explain it like you were talking to a two year old. I don't want to remove my heater core, but the heat output on my 60 kinda sucks, and the thermostat and rad are fine.
Thanks,
Zack
Or in lieu of cardboard, an electric fan that'll just stay off until the engine's warm
Going down the highway in severe sub zero temps that doesn't help much.
I ran an entire winter with no fan at all a few years back.
Don't remember why anymore, just that I had to remember to reinstall one when spring rolled around.
Mark...
Not to be rude, but I'm felling lazy right now. Try this first... Search here and the LCML archives (I think that they are on Birfield.com???).
It has come up several times and been pretty thoroughly discussed. Also ran in Trails a while back.
Let me know if you can't find the info this way, and I'll toss it out again.
Mark...
yea my heater core heat output sucks to. I have water hosed flushed it and used LCR and what ever else. It put out the correct heat but now the heat output is not what it shoud be. Flushed cooling system 3 times even with lcr.
I might want to try muratic acid for the heater core then think about flushing it with a pressure washer. How long should the muratic acid sit in the core to do its job and what are the leading reasons why my water gets brown after three flushes?
I might want to try muratic acid for the heater core then think about flushing it with a pressure washer. How long should the muratic acid sit in the core to do its job and what are the leading reasons why my water gets brown after three flushes?
Muriatic acid is the stuff you want to use to clean out your rad or heater core(s). Do not bother with off the shelf "flushes". Waste of time and money.
Muriatic acid is a dilution of hydrochloric acid. It reacts strongly with aluminum. You don't want to introduce it to the engine (AL waterpump and thermostat housings...)
You can use a pair of 11/2 inch ABS tubing expandable "test plugs" to seal off the inlet and outlet ports of your radiator if you want to wach it out in place. Or you can remover it completely.
In an FJ60/62 it is a major PITA to remove the heater core. You can however wash it out while in the rig.
Disconnect the heater lines from the engine. Attach a couple of hoses to the heater hoses going to the heater core(s). It works best if one is long enough to pass out through the bottom of the engine bay and out to the side. Ideal if it is also long enough to lift the end of it up above the level of the lines coming out of the firewall.
The other doesn't need to be as long. You stick a funnel in this one and put the acid into the heater from this end, draining it from the other.
Before you start, blow the coolant out of the heater(s). Compressed air workes best for this. If you don't have compressed air, you can use a bicycle pump. Just wrap a pice of plasric trash bag around the end of the air pump hose and jam it in the heater hose.
After the coolant has been forced out the lowe hose, raise the end of that hose up above the leverl of the fittings onthe firewall and pour acid into the funnel stuck in the other hose.
Fill the core(s) til it starts to come out of the other hose. Let it sit for about 15 minutes. Drain the acid into a container. Use the air pump to foce it all out. Flsuh it with water. A high pressure flush with a garden hose works best.
After it has been flushed, blow the remaining water out and repeat the process.
That's all there is to it.
Be careful with the acid. It is not too bad on skin (eventualy will start to itch and burn a little bit. It's not good for your clothing and you DON'T want it in your eyes and you don't want to get a good steong whiff of it up your nose either. Don't spill it on Al or concrete If you do, dilute/flush/wash it right away. Beyond that, don't look to me for safety warning.., read the stuff on the bottle before you use it.
The acid that comes out of the core will probably be very yellow and have losts of black and white flakes and suspended aprticles in it. If you let the crud settle to thr bottom and carefully pour off the top to avoid disturbing the crud, this acid can be reused.
I keep it around for derusting nuts and bolts or for freeing frozen bolts on rusty frames and such. You can also reuse it for cleaning more than one radiator. Just give it a little longer to sit.
If your rad or heater core is swiss cheesed with holes that are just plugged with stop leak... They will probably leak like the sieve that they really are after an acid wash. But the acid wil not hurt the rad itself.
Mark...
Muriatic acid is a dilution of hydrochloric acid. It reacts strongly with aluminum. You don't want to introduce it to the engine (AL waterpump and thermostat housings...)
You can use a pair of 11/2 inch ABS tubing expandable "test plugs" to seal off the inlet and outlet ports of your radiator if you want to wach it out in place. Or you can remover it completely.
In an FJ60/62 it is a major PITA to remove the heater core. You can however wash it out while in the rig.
Disconnect the heater lines from the engine. Attach a couple of hoses to the heater hoses going to the heater core(s). It works best if one is long enough to pass out through the bottom of the engine bay and out to the side. Ideal if it is also long enough to lift the end of it up above the level of the lines coming out of the firewall.
The other doesn't need to be as long. You stick a funnel in this one and put the acid into the heater from this end, draining it from the other.
Before you start, blow the coolant out of the heater(s). Compressed air workes best for this. If you don't have compressed air, you can use a bicycle pump. Just wrap a pice of plasric trash bag around the end of the air pump hose and jam it in the heater hose.
After the coolant has been forced out the lowe hose, raise the end of that hose up above the leverl of the fittings onthe firewall and pour acid into the funnel stuck in the other hose.
Fill the core(s) til it starts to come out of the other hose. Let it sit for about 15 minutes. Drain the acid into a container. Use the air pump to foce it all out. Flsuh it with water. A high pressure flush with a garden hose works best.
After it has been flushed, blow the remaining water out and repeat the process.
That's all there is to it.
Be careful with the acid. It is not too bad on skin (eventualy will start to itch and burn a little bit. It's not good for your clothing and you DON'T want it in your eyes and you don't want to get a good steong whiff of it up your nose either. Don't spill it on Al or concrete If you do, dilute/flush/wash it right away. Beyond that, don't look to me for safety warning.., read the stuff on the bottle before you use it.
The acid that comes out of the core will probably be very yellow and have losts of black and white flakes and suspended aprticles in it. If you let the crud settle to thr bottom and carefully pour off the top to avoid disturbing the crud, this acid can be reused.
I keep it around for derusting nuts and bolts or for freeing frozen bolts on rusty frames and such. You can also reuse it for cleaning more than one radiator. Just give it a little longer to sit.
If your rad or heater core is swiss cheesed with holes that are just plugged with stop leak... They will probably leak like the sieve that they really are after an acid wash. But the acid wil not hurt the rad itself.
Mark...
I saw this thread last winter, but got the heat working better after replacing my thermostat. I still think it could be a lot warmer, so I am going to go through the heater core flush. I'll be documenting it in the classic "...For Dummies" style for other people that need pictures like me.
Hopefully this will take care of it once and for all.
Thanks for the helpful posts.
Hopefully this will take care of it once and for all.
Thanks for the helpful posts.
euclid - did you get bursts of warmer air prior to burping the system?
I got cold air till I ran it up on jackstands and pulled the idle up cable out. 2 mins later I had HEAT!
John,
If you can send me all the pics you can, I would be very grateful.
I have a major repair to do on my cables and such.
This past fall, as it started to get cool the wife was driving the Cruiser, and decided she needed some heat so she started flipping the dash levers, and one of them stuck so she forced it
. Now we don't have any defrost or anything else for that matter - the fan just blows and just a trickle of air comes out of the dash and defrost ducts 
.
Hey guys, I started on this Sunday afternoon, but could determine the heater hoses at the firewall. Well, I figured one out, but my Haynes manual sucks for pictures. Does someone have a pic of these that they can post up?
I will take my own for the writeup, but wanted to get the right ones the first time since I have limited time on this.
Also, Mark W mentions draining the coolant out of the core, but not filling it back up. Again, my Haynes is on the weak side for this as well. Does this just take regular 50/50 coolant/water or just water?
Thanks.
I will take my own for the writeup, but wanted to get the right ones the first time since I have limited time on this.
Also, Mark W mentions draining the coolant out of the core, but not filling it back up. Again, my Haynes is on the weak side for this as well. Does this just take regular 50/50 coolant/water or just water?
Thanks.
Here's the only pic of the firewall I had that may help.
Please ignore the hose routing - this is from a 350 with a block heater setup.
Please ignore the hose routing - this is from a 350 with a block heater setup.