So the Saab is inching closer to being on the road. I have no idea of what, or how old the coolant is, I’m guessing there is some antifreeze in there, but it’s condition is unknown. So what are recommendations for flushing out 27 years of crud in the cooling system? Is there anything I can add to water to help dissolve, pickup, move out, flush out old sediment, rust, aluminium corrosion etc.? Also where do you dispose of old coolant, my local auto parts stores won’t take it.
Vinegar, with water depending on how harsh or gentle you want it to be. To be safe, you could try 1/3 vinegar and 2/3 water, heat cycle it a few times with that mixture then flush and put coolant in.
MiataMe called his town to ask where to dispose of coolant and he was surprised to find that since he's on town sewer they told him to pour it down the drain since he's connected to the treatment plant. obviously that example is not the case everywhere but the town should know of safe method.
GameboyRMH wrote: Vinegar, with water depending on how harsh or gentle you want it to be. To be safe, you could try 1/3 vinegar and 2/3 water, heat cycle it a few times with that mixture then flush and put coolant in.
IS that safe for the aluminium head and H20 cooled turbo?
WilberM3 wrote: MiataMe called his town to ask where to dispose of coolant and he was surprised to find that since he's on town sewer they told him to pour it down the drain since he's connected to the treatment plant. obviously that example is not the case everywhere but the town should know of safe method.
That simply stuns me, I will call though!
I was told the same thing. Flush it down the toilet and the treatment plant processes it. Definitely don't do this if you are on a leach field or private septic system. You will kill everything growing on top of it.
Coolant is sewer safe, I recall it had a safe dilution rate of 20:1
Adrian_Thompson wrote: IS that safe for the aluminium head and H20 cooled turbo?
1/3 mix should be safe for anything.
Adrian_Thompson wrote: That simply stuns me, I will call though!
It's ethylene glycol, mostly. Which is really close to sugar (and why animals like the taste of it). And why plants can process it so easily.
The metals will mostly be what the engine is, which I think gets processed pretty well, too. Heck, the iron is just like the iron that is coming out of our iron pipe home systems. But I think a lot of the final filters get the remaining metals- just like the water filters that people use for drinking water.
I've always used this:
Plus this:
If you can, remove the block drains to get everything out between flushes.
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