Baking Soda (Coolant Flush) ?
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Baking Soda (Coolant Flush) ?
Was reading over on another site that you can use Arm & Hammer Baking Soda to flush the cooling system on the diesels. It was also mentioned that it takes a lot longer to do this flush versus the Restore or VC-9 flush.
My Question:
is this an effective flush process?
Thanks,
Dave
My Question:
is this an effective flush process?
Thanks,
Dave
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Just my opinion but..baking soda is alkaline which is good but if you've ever tasted it, it is icredibily salty. I wouldn't put it in my truck. Also Dawn soap you get in the bottle makes a lot of suds. Any detergent for an automatic dishwasher or laundry detergent has effective surfactants that would clean the oil out and rinse away easier on the flush.
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Just my opinion but..baking soda is alkaline which is good but if you've ever tasted it, it is icredibily salty. I wouldn't put it in my truck. Also Dawn soap you get in the bottle makes a lot of suds. Any detergent for an automatic dishwasher or laundry detergent has effective surfactants that would clean the oil out and rinse away easier on the flush.
Great point !! This is why I posted it up to get opinions on this type of flush.
However... if someone did choose to use the baking soda method...... wouldn't it be safe as long as you flush until water runs clear and then use destilled water for final flush & fill?
or
would it still leave a residue in the cooling system?
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Some truly bad science in that post.
NaHCO3 + Al = bad
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I guess you could use it to neutralize the acid from the vc9? I would guess it would flush out ok. It would sorta be like the stuff in the bottom of an Alka-Seltzer glass. Salt+water makes a great electrolyte which promotes corrosion. Not sure what the benefit of soda in the cooling system would be.
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I would never put baking soda in my cooling system. I was going to say don't confuse baking soda with salt, but after doing some reading, baking soda IS a salt. This is one paragraph from Wikipedia that would prevent me from ever using it.
Sodium bicarbonate - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
I'm not certain but I believe the radiator tubes are aluminum. I'm not sure what other engine parts are aluminum, but I believe some are.
The other problem is that baking soda is chalky, lumpy and sticky when it gets wet. I think it would be very difficult to flush it all out.
Sodium bicarbonate - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
For cleaning aluminium objects, the use of sodium bicarbonate is discouraged as it attacks the thin unreactive protective oxide layer of this otherwise very reactive metal.
The other problem is that baking soda is chalky, lumpy and sticky when it gets wet. I think it would be very difficult to flush it all out.
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Yeah, we tend to think of salt as only being NaCl (table salt) but the term salt in chemistry applies to countless combination of acids and bases.
To put it in laymen terms a salt is formed when two elements from either side of the periodic table of elements are combined, (Na is on the left, Cl is on the right) so you can imagine the possible combos.
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We are truly lucky to have someone with you background on this forum. Some of this stuff must be a hoot for you! I never thought I'd see the PTE make an appearance here on FTE. Thanks for keepin us straight!
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Thanks Rusty, there are some pretty funny ideas popping up from time to time, (the RevX threads are my favorites) but in honesty I really only know my little segment of how things work, most of you guys are the real experts.