noonie

Sorry, but I don't have the info at home. Oxalic is not very strong an acid. In fact I leave it in for 2 days (6hrs running time) in my own vehicles. I just use baking soda as the 2nd stage to neutralize. I have made garden hose adapters to plug and fit the heater adapters in the water pump and intake manifold to final flush with a garden hose. If changing coolant yearly, this process isn't often needed.

Will try to look at boxes tomorrow.

1982CorvetteDude

I did a little research on this as it sparked my interest too

Washing soda is in the same family as baking soda, it can be found in the laundry section at stores. Arm and Hammer is a popular brand.

This was also helpful

http://www.geocities.com/b_gillie/TSB990602012.htm

Lots of very good info, thanks everyone that replied

jackson

That link is to the very TSB I referenced earlier in this thread (99-06-02-12D). You don't need a coolant exchanger so long as you're comfortable with disposing of coolant/sludge. Basically, read through TSB, use common sense ... and use the TSB as a GUIDELINE. Prestone's P/N is AS100 ... GM's is 12346500 for the Prestone AS100. No air pockets allowed throughout procedure. Smart fellow will flush the system as best he can w/ water first. Then start the process following the TSB as guideline. Note the oxalic acid-cleaner part needs to be at operating temp & running for ~3hrs @ hi-idle. Then drain & flush w/ water. Then the neutralizer part needs to be at operating temp & running for ~10 minutes @ hi-idle. Then drain & flush w/ water. Then replace T'stat & cap and refill w/ proper coolant-DH20 mix. You should allow a half-day for complete procedure. I'm no dummy on this ... done it several times ... several vehicles ... I know how long it really takes when the reality of both running-time & cool-down cycles is included.

OF NOTE: I've had GM parts rep (who I'm pals with) tell me I'm the only person he remembered selling this stuff to ... INCLUDING that dealer's techs ... that tells me the dealership service dept has NOT been following its own corporate guidelines (read TSB). I'm not surprised ... it's just too easy for the importance of this issue to be lost on anyone who does a cursive flush and then looks inside rad hole and it "looks" clean ... the best most customers probably get is a new radiator ... but their system is still full of crap. I doubt the situation varies so much from dealer to dealer.

ALSO: I used AS100 (& a duPont equivalent) many years ago ... long before advent of dexcool/similar ... back then, AS100 was readily-available on any parts house shelf ... not so today. Some months ago, I contacted Prestone corporate via phone about AS100 ... Prestone Corp told me AS100 was no longer manufactured and that they could not locate any within their distribution system.

mikem350

It was common for GM to add a stop leak from the factory. Some of their service procedures required adding those brown stop leak "tablets" into the radiator.

The Camaro/Firebird sites have all kinds of info on this problem. My own experience is that after flushing out the brown goop, addind new Dex Cool, it did not come back.

DonsShark

I lunched my L82 engine thru improper coolant, but it wasn't the intake gaskets that failed, the aluminum intake itself was somewhat eaten and the entire engine ended up gunked up. Mechanic thought it was a blown head gasket the way it was acting until he got into it. The car was/is sorta low-milage (60,000) for a '79, spent a lot of time just sitting with old coolant before I got it, I guess that added to the problem.

1982CorvetteDude

Just wanted to give everyone an update, I ended up flushing the cooling system out with hot water, added some of that prestone system flush....ran it for a day or so, flushed again, then added the proper amount of regular prestone.

Car is back on track and heats up fine now Thanks for the input!

BTW......I couldn't find any of that "wood bleach" anywhere. All my local hardware stores quit carrying it.

ghoastrider1

thanks for the update..BUT, keep an eye on it. as someone posted...my problems came back a few months later. i didnt flush it anymore, traded the thing in and told the buyers the problem.

FeedVaal

Active ingredient in Bar Keeper's Friend : Oxalic acid. Available at your local Wally world.

caa5030

I just called my local dealer here in Harrisburg, PA. Sutliff Chevorlet. They have it in stock. I am ready for some none freezing temperatures so I can get to flushing.

jetdoc

Thats exactly what happend to our 76, the previous owner mixed the two and rootbeer color is the results. Flush, flush.

markmanmmarkman

Here's what the sludge looks like in my radiator. I have 100 miles on a new radiator heater and hoses. My old radiator wasn't cooling the vette well enough. Is this what oil looks like in a radiator? I don't notice much of a loss of oil. The car does leak oil, and I thought thats way it was going, also, the coolant level was really low. I thought I would see white smoke from the tail pipes if I was burning coolant.

silversport

I have used this with Dexcool as well...no problems...
Bill