Mike1alike
Established member
[FONT="]Hello everyone, I will share with you this great fix, for the case your heater is not working but cooling system works fine, engine temperature is steady good and thermostat works fine.[/FONT]
[FONT="]So everything works just fine, then winter comes alog and you have no heat inside the car. And also, it's very hard to keep clear windows as [/FONT][FONT="]they are steaming.[/FONT]
[FONT="]The problem in this case is clogged radiator, the one inside the car located [/FONT][FONT="]
[/FONT][FONT="]under the dashboard. The reason it gets clogged is it has narrow lines inside for cooling liquid to pass through and dirt settles there. One very common way to get dirt in the cooling system is if you mix different type of antifreeze. Usually, the corrosion inhibitors are what is different in two types of antifreeze and you could end up mixing like one of mono-ethylene glycol (blue, yellow, green) - G11 type with propylene-glycol (red, pink, purple) G12 or G12+ type. The mixing takes place even if you drain one type and add the new one without rinsing the cooling system. And when mixed, those to form a gluey deposit and it clogs the little radiator.[/FONT]
[FONT="]The cleaning solutions on the market does absolutely nothing and in this case, if you want your heat to be working, most "mechanics" recommend you to change the heater. To do so is needed the dashboard to be dismantled. That is a lot of work to do.[/FONT]
[FONT="]The cleaning solution I used is simple to make and anybody can make it: water + [/FONT][FONT="]lemon salt, mixed ratio 100 grams lemon salt to 1 liter water.[/FONT]
[FONT="]I washed the cooling system with this mix of water + lemon salt. I drained the antifreeze, I boiled 4 L of spring water (in order to deposit the limescale on the resistance with which I heated it and not to wait too long for the engine to cool - mandatory if I put cold water! do wait for engine to be cold. DO NOT PUT COLD WATER ON HOT ENGINE because that can cause cracking of engine block or cylinder head) I put in it 400 g of lemon salt and (with slightly cooled water, not directly boiled) I put it in the system. The 4Ls came in almost perfect, there was little water left, the aerator was open. I started the engine and when it warmed up too (very quickly, the water was hot) it was already warm inside the car. I ventilated (bleed out air from the cooling system) and filled up water to the correct level. I kept the engine running for about 20-30 minutes; I was amazed at how well it warms up. At idle, the air heater on stage 2, 3 or 4 gave off heat. When I revved the engine up to 2000RPM, air got very hot. Sounds began to be heard from the radiator, there was still air or the dirt was dissolving. I stopped the engine, left it for about an hour, then again. First of all, I looked in the radiator, what the water looks like. It was no longer clear how I put it, but brown and very bad smelly. Here is a picture with how it looked like, when I drained it out: [/FONT]
[FONT="]https://ibb.co/JyLHLcN[/FONT]
[FONT="]Then I rinsed the system 2 times, with softened water. It helps if you drive the car around a little because there is still dirt in the system and running with water on cooling system, it gets cleaned. This is what water looked like after first rinse and the dirt that came out:[/FONT]
[FONT="]https://ibb.co/WsrD36q[/FONT]
[FONT="]https://ibb.co/CnPDkBk[/FONT]
[FONT="]And this is how water looks like after the second rinse:[/FONT]
[FONT="]https://ibb.co/qkbxCrF[/FONT]
[FONT="]Then I drained the water out and I filed up system with antifreeze. done the bleeding out air and the heat works like magic inside the car.[/FONT]
[FONT="]So in conclusion, it is worth washing with water + lemon salt, it is simple, cheap and very efficient. And a very encouraging fact is that I saw this method recommended on a forum and one man who did this cleaning posted again after 9 years and tells us that the car still gives him warmth and heating works better than in other newer car of his.[/FONT]
[FONT="]So everything works just fine, then winter comes alog and you have no heat inside the car. And also, it's very hard to keep clear windows as [/FONT][FONT="]they are steaming.[/FONT]
[FONT="]The problem in this case is clogged radiator, the one inside the car located [/FONT][FONT="]
[/FONT][FONT="]under the dashboard. The reason it gets clogged is it has narrow lines inside for cooling liquid to pass through and dirt settles there. One very common way to get dirt in the cooling system is if you mix different type of antifreeze. Usually, the corrosion inhibitors are what is different in two types of antifreeze and you could end up mixing like one of mono-ethylene glycol (blue, yellow, green) - G11 type with propylene-glycol (red, pink, purple) G12 or G12+ type. The mixing takes place even if you drain one type and add the new one without rinsing the cooling system. And when mixed, those to form a gluey deposit and it clogs the little radiator.[/FONT]
[FONT="]The cleaning solutions on the market does absolutely nothing and in this case, if you want your heat to be working, most "mechanics" recommend you to change the heater. To do so is needed the dashboard to be dismantled. That is a lot of work to do.[/FONT]
[FONT="]The cleaning solution I used is simple to make and anybody can make it: water + [/FONT][FONT="]lemon salt, mixed ratio 100 grams lemon salt to 1 liter water.[/FONT]
[FONT="]I washed the cooling system with this mix of water + lemon salt. I drained the antifreeze, I boiled 4 L of spring water (in order to deposit the limescale on the resistance with which I heated it and not to wait too long for the engine to cool - mandatory if I put cold water! do wait for engine to be cold. DO NOT PUT COLD WATER ON HOT ENGINE because that can cause cracking of engine block or cylinder head) I put in it 400 g of lemon salt and (with slightly cooled water, not directly boiled) I put it in the system. The 4Ls came in almost perfect, there was little water left, the aerator was open. I started the engine and when it warmed up too (very quickly, the water was hot) it was already warm inside the car. I ventilated (bleed out air from the cooling system) and filled up water to the correct level. I kept the engine running for about 20-30 minutes; I was amazed at how well it warms up. At idle, the air heater on stage 2, 3 or 4 gave off heat. When I revved the engine up to 2000RPM, air got very hot. Sounds began to be heard from the radiator, there was still air or the dirt was dissolving. I stopped the engine, left it for about an hour, then again. First of all, I looked in the radiator, what the water looks like. It was no longer clear how I put it, but brown and very bad smelly. Here is a picture with how it looked like, when I drained it out: [/FONT]
[FONT="]https://ibb.co/JyLHLcN[/FONT]
[FONT="]Then I rinsed the system 2 times, with softened water. It helps if you drive the car around a little because there is still dirt in the system and running with water on cooling system, it gets cleaned. This is what water looked like after first rinse and the dirt that came out:[/FONT]
[FONT="]https://ibb.co/WsrD36q[/FONT]
[FONT="]https://ibb.co/CnPDkBk[/FONT]
[FONT="]And this is how water looks like after the second rinse:[/FONT]
[FONT="]https://ibb.co/qkbxCrF[/FONT]
[FONT="]Then I drained the water out and I filed up system with antifreeze. done the bleeding out air and the heat works like magic inside the car.[/FONT]
[FONT="]So in conclusion, it is worth washing with water + lemon salt, it is simple, cheap and very efficient. And a very encouraging fact is that I saw this method recommended on a forum and one man who did this cleaning posted again after 9 years and tells us that the car still gives him warmth and heating works better than in other newer car of his.[/FONT]
