Cola; myth or magic?

[V_Mad]

I had a slight boil over the other day, caused by too many spirited runs, and forgetting to switch on the electric fan. I didnt lose much water, but I was not pleased with the colour of the water, which was brown.

At home I drained the rad and there was quite a bit of brown sediment in the coolant. I was disappointed with this as I had fully flushed the system earlier this year, including some rad cleaner and a rad reverse flush.

Having heard of the Cola trick I decided to put some in the rad overnight, in the hope that this would shift some more sediment. Unfortunately it came out clean this morning so, based on that experiment I believe using cola as a flushing agent is a myth. What do you think?

 

[64beam]

Hi Chris,

I have never heard of cola being used as a radiator flush, but I have heard of Coca Cola being used for cleaning tarnished coins. Where did you hear about being good for radiator cleaning? Over the years, I have heard a number of urban myths regarding Coke.

Regards, Robin.

 

[tony perrett]

I have never had much success with flushing agents as the fluid will take the path of least resistance and go down the unblocked tubes and not clear the blocked ones. The only satisfactory answer is re-coring.

 

[Bill Blue]

Most radiator cleaners, including the "10 Minute" types, will tell you in the fine print, for best results to add to the radiator and drive the car for several miles. The heat drives the chemical reaction. That used to be the way I used them, but have not used any radiator flush for several years. Cola, with a pH of 2 to 3, should eat away at the water encrustations pretty well. I'd say if it did not remove very much crud, there wasn't much there to begin.

Bill

 

[lgurley]

cleaning agent

The cleaning agent in cola is phosphoric acid. Then there is sugar. I don't know what the sugar would do to the cooling system but I think I would just get some phosphoric acid.

 

[V_Mad]

Hi Chris,

I have never heard of cola being used as a radiator flush, but I have heard of Coca Cola being used for cleaning tarnished coins. Where did you hear about being good for radiator cleaning? Over the years, I have heard a number of urban myths regarding Coke.

Regards, Robin.

I thought it was on this or the TEAE forum, but I cant find it now. I think the guy who posted it must not have flushed well with water before hand, so he thought it was the cola that did the trick. I think my rad must have some blocked tubes as the cooling is marginal. To gain any improvement now probably means a recore.