11-19-2008 In Praise Of CLR

I decided to clean out my radiator and heater core myself thus saving at least 100-200 dollars. I bought a bottle of CLR (calcium, lime, rust) remover and a bottle of Lime-Away gel. I flushed the radiator and core with hot water and then poured half a bottle of CLR in the radiator and about a half a cup in the heater core. I put the core in the sink and filled it with hot water and then poured some Lime-Away in. I then put the radiator in the basement bathtub and filled it with hot water until it just covered the top of the radiator. I then dumped the rest of the CLR into the tub and some more of the Lime-Away and let it soak.

After just a few minutes I could see the brass top of the radiator begin to look like brass again.
I pulled the heater core out of the sink and shook it as it drained an huge gobs of crud poured out of it, even though it had previously been repeatedly flushed with hot water.

I’ll let them both soak for a few days and then post some before and after pictures.
There are still a few small pinholes in the core but since they are right along an edge and not in the area of the cooling fins I should be able to solder those up myself.

I took my alternator into an auto parts store today and had it tested; no output. The brushes or stator could be rusty or the thing could just be scrap. I’ll have to strip it down and check the insides but since it sat for 10 years I am not entirely hopeful. Alternators are relatively cheap but I’d rather not have to replace one if I don’t have to. And if I’m going to do so, I’d just as soon do the AC Delco alternator conversion so that I have higher output at low rpm’s.