# Sticky  A better way for Spring/Summer Cooling System Service



## Lemans guy (Oct 14, 2014)

Gang; it is spring and a great time for cooling system service. If you have not done it in 4 or 5 years it is time for a refresh of that anti-Freeze. Mileage and time break down the rust inhibitors in your system, so even if your mileage is small the rust still wants to be there. Hoses also get soft from start and stop heating and cooling. So a nice rumnning engine means a great cooling system.

So I rebuilt my engine and complete cooling system about 4 1/2 years ago so time for a flush fill and refresh.

First drain all the coolant I drained the radiator petcock, the lower radiator hose and both engine petcocks. I then flushed with clear water and resealed the water was running clear as a Tennessee mountain stream. you will see the photos of pretty good looking green anti-freeze, no heavy rust evident.

Next after sealing it uo I poured in 1 Quart of a new product called "Thermocure" this is developed by the makers of Evaporust and if you have ever used that you know how good that is. Old rusty bolts and parts are like new overnight without any scrubbing or work if left in evaporust. So in went a quart of Thermocure and then I vacumn filled it with water.

You don"t have to vacumn fill just work to get it full, but pouring in more water after the thermostat opens. A good thing to do is to go to Lowe's or Home depot and for $4 or $5 dollars get a few 5 gallon buckets that are clear and have measurements on them. Measure when you take it out, and it makes it easy to know it is full going back in.

Thermocure is non-Tixic and very safe. It does not hurt gaskets or seals or interact with metal or aluminum. It only does one thing. It binds with molecules of Iron Oxide which is rust. It turns the rust to liquid.

To get it circulating and to work drive the car 3 good times over the next 2 to 3 days. Make sure the weather is above freezing as the water in your engine has no freeze protection for this process.

Now back in the garage drain again and you will see the water now comes out looking like coffee as any rust (and we all have it,) that was in the system has been liquified and comes out. You won't see any flakes or chunks. At least i didn't.

Even when sitting over night in those three days it is working to eliminate the rust Now flush with water get it running clear. Now is the time to replace all your hoses, radiator cap and thermostat, and any other cooling system components that you need to. If water pump or heater core needs changing do it now. But at least do the hoses, radiator cap and thermostat. 4 or 5 years on those they get soft and thermostat is just a wax pellet and spring that needs updating. rubber seals on radiator caps and internal spring go gradually bad as well.

Once done 50/50 antifreeze mixture and you will be running cool as a cucumber. All those other flush mixtures we all used over the years don"t hold a candle to this stuff. If you have a big 4 core radiator like I do you can use two qurts of Thermocure. I just used one and it worked great. looking in the Radiator it was totally clean. and you can see all th rust that was hidden in the cooling system. Now in the Bucket.

I don't sell or have anything to do with any products, just recommend what I see works good for the gang. 

"Thermocure" has a web page and video showing you how to do it. Wear some goggles and rubber gloves and get dirty!. Get that Pontiac running cool. Rust prevents ool Runningby narrowing passages and hurting heat transfer. So clean it out!


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## GTOTIGR (May 3, 2020)

Thanks for the recommendation LeMans guy. 

Something else to consider once you gone to that extent to clean everything - you may want to switch to Evans Waterless Coolant. It will prevent the need to de-rust your system in the future.





Evans Waterless Coolant, Prevent Engine Overheating


Evans waterless coolant, the solution to engine overheating & corrosion for classic cars, hot rods, muscle cars, power sports, off road, heavy duty



www.evanscoolant.com





Like you I don’t have any affiliation with Evans I’m just a satisfied customer. I decided to try Evans after completing my ground up restoration prior to putting coolant in my system. If converting there are instructions for transitioning from water/antifreeze on their website.

It’s not inexpensive but I felt the insurance associated with avoiding rust was worth it.

One thing to note that I was not aware of at the time I used it is that the Evans product at the molecular level is much small than water + antifreeze. Meaning that any little surface imperfection caused from a less that optimal surface to surface seal such as water pump to timing cover or freeze plugs will result in leaks. These leaks can be stopped by using Bar’s Stop Leak tablets. I used them and it stopped my leaks. The added benefit I guess to using Bar’s Leak is water pump lubrication.


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## Lemans guy (Oct 14, 2014)

Thanks GTO, good info. Yes a tad of Bars leak or a Bars leak tablet is not a bad idea when putting all new hoses and anti-freeze back in, even traditional stuff. The secret I found is don’t pour a bottle of Bars leak in there. A small amount like 1/4 of a battle can help to find and block a pinhole leak.

In the old days had a leak in the radiatordumped in a bottle of black pepper.It goes to the leak and seals it for awhile, enough o get you home. That is how bars leak works as well little fibers and stuff floating in it go to the leak and block it. But not big enough to block down tubes etc


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## BearGFR (Aug 25, 2008)

Great info, especially about the product for removing existing cooling system rust. I'm making this thread 'sticky'

Bear


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