Well after the fact I ask, I cracked my S4 rad. so I pulled my S5 rad. and washed it by sticking a hose in it and a light brown color flowed out, so i let the water run till it was clear, can I do this? Does it do damage? and what do you reccommend I do after installing on the S4(will a coolant flush be important after a diff. radiator is installed, thanks for the help on my ?'s Mike..

 

How can flushing it with water hurt it? It is made to flow a liquid. Unless its core is not made of aluminum it shouldn't need any other attention, other than to install it and fill with ~50-50 mix of water to ethylene glycol (Aka Zerex, prestone, etc).

I have washed a couple in the bath tub but not like you did, rather to remove all the cat hair, dust, leaves, etc. that had gotten stuck in the mesh over the years of driving. I just dipped the rad in the soapy water over and over again and all this crud came out from in between the cooling fins. I have no idea how the animal fur got on there!

 

To properly flush a radiator, you should take it to a radiator shop. You can't do what they can do at home.
Besides, it's not that much .

 

Would be better to just take the car into the shop for a flush instead, so the whole cooling system can get a proper flush rather than just the radiator.

 

or, just leave teh drain plug in the block removed, and run water through the engine part of the cooling system untill it comes out clean. then you'd be flushing the whole system. why pay someonw to do something that takes like 5 minutes ?

 

Because, if you want to do it right you take it to a radiator shop and have it done.

Now granted he is putting this radiator in a car that has been running and there is a good chance this S5 rad. is cleaner than the one it is replacing.

However, if it was a new engine normally the builder says you have to have your rad. and oil cooler flushed. So in that case you SHOULD pay to have it done.

James

 

Exactly. That's why you take the radiator to the shop and do it properly. They have sonic cleaning which cleans out rust sediments and contaminants.
You don't want to install an old radiator from another car and have whatever is in the radiator to be circulating in your cooling system. Always use distilled water!!!!
That keeps corrosion at a minimum. Besides, you flush the radiator once a year so what the big deal about buying distilled water?

 

yes you can wash them, but only on machine wash cold - but do not dry them as they will shrink.





lol, sorry - I couldn't resist...

 

Picky picky..

An amature radiator flush is still way better than no flush.

 

True...it's better than nothing but when an old radiator has been sitting empty, it's best to have it cleaned by a pro. When storing a used radiator, you should always fill it with coolant/water and plug up the ends.