Cleaning up Dex-Cool after radiator blowout

Sapere,

Dex-cool is water soluble. Rinse it off with a hose. No soap is required.

GMdude

Coolant is water soluble but:

1. Cold water does a poor job of dissolving it.
2. It has a very high surface tension and tends to stick to surfaces.

I find a good self serve car wash that actually uses heated water works very well. Start with the soapy water to release the surface tension, rinse, repeat a few times making sure to get in all the little areas it might have pooled up.

Do not forget if you are near electronic connectors, modules, etc, to cover those up before doing this.

David,

A cold water garden hose, dose just fine. Most car washes use a soap that is high in acids. This can cause problems under the hood. Never use a soap wand at a car wash under the hood.

If you want soap, get a safe engine cleaner spray from an auto parts store (degreaser), if the engine is grimey. Then rise it off. As for Dex-cool, any temp water is fine, and no soap is needed.

GMdude

Thanks guys for the tips!

"David" wrote

What are you talking about? Any temperature of water will rinse coolant away. There is nothing special that you need to do...it's not rocket science. You take your garden hose and rinse off the coolant...end of story.

Ian

Thank you, Ian.

At least there is one other mechanic here, that knows what he is talking about. :-)

GMdude.

Hopefully he listened to someone with car detailing experience instead of a wrench monkey. He wanted to remove the "Dexcool Residue". I have seen coolant system blowouts on neglected Dexcool systems. The brown sludge and surface residue is difficult to remove with only water. He was not talking about rinsing away clean, liquid dexcool; if he had been, plain old water would rinse it away.

I would like to know ONE car was soap that is high in acids. Every car was soap in use I have seen is slightly alkaline, like milk. It is the slight alkalinity that removes the acid rain deposits, the acid bird dropping deposits, etc.

FYI here is Sapere Aude description: "of DexCool residue on surfaces under the hood"

No it is not rocket science. It is very basic chemistry of soap cleaners to remove dirty substances stuck to surfaces.

David

"David" wrote

Well hell.....everyone knows that a car detailer knows a whole lot more about dexcool and the "residue" that is left lying around after a radiator "blowout" then a simple wrench monkey. My mistake.....

Ian