Radiators are one of those things we tend to ignore until they start causing problems. A clogged, rusted or damaged radiator will cause your car to overheat, which can damage other vital components. If your radiator gets clogged with rust, what can you do? Are you stuck with the cost of buying a new one, or can you flush the rust out and get some more life out of it? That’s what forum user Dan, under the name AKBray907, wants to know. Let’s look at the problem and the possible solutions other forum users suggested.

The Problem

A rusty radiator prevents the engine from being able to cool itself efficiently, which can lead to overheating. Dan was wondering if he needed to replace his rusted radiator, or if he could just get away with flushing it. Flushing your radiator is an option, but it doesn’t always work.

Rust in your cooling system is the result of air getting into the system. Your antifreeze is half water and half coolant, so if you introduce oxygen into the system, it allows the water to oxidize the metal inside the cooling system.

Dan’s first step should be to check his cooling system to ensure there are no leaks that could be allowing air into the cooling system. They might not be obvious — a pinhole in the radiator or one of the hoses might not cause an obvious leak, but could be letting air into the system.

If you live in an area that sees a lot of snow in the winter, you could have a small rust leak on the lower part of your radiator, due to the salt cities use to keep ice and snow off the roads. That acts as a catalyst to speed up the rust process — that’s why the undercarriages of cars that experience a lot of wintry weather rust much faster than those who don’t live in snowy areas.

Flush or Replace?

So, does Dan need to replace his radiator, or can he just get away with flushing the cooling system? Well, according to his profile, he lives in Texas, so he doesn’t get a lot of snow. If there isn’t an apparent leak that is letting the air into the system, he may be able to get away with flushing the rust out of the system. User Nolan Speed mentions that he’s done this before with success. Pick up an adaptor for your system, or put a wrapped garden hose into your pipe to flush pressurized water through the cooling system and blast the rust loose. Drain the system, and refill it with the proper mix of water and antifreeze.

If there’s a leak, especially in the radiator, Dan only has one good choice — replacing the radiator. You can use stop-leak in the cooling system, but that’s only a band-aid, and you will eventually end up having to replace the radiator anyway.

When it comes down to it, the best idea is to replace the radiator. Cleaning the rust out of your radiator can help extend its life, but if you can’t figure out what’s causing it, you’ll end up with a string of rusty radiators and an empty wallet.

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