Radiator Flushing with Cascade Dishwashing Detergent?

man630 · Oct 16, 2010

I've been researching this topic today with some interesting results. Anyone using Cascade Dish Washing Detergent for a radiator flush? Most swear by it and some are against it. Highly recommended on the CAT Cummins Diesel Forums for removing oil from the cooling system. Some CAT Dealers even have a part # for it! Some use the liquid but most prefer the powder mixed with distilled water. Main Ingredients-Sodium Carbonate, Sodium Silicate and Enzymes

wsucougarx · Oct 16, 2010

huh, interesting. Much cheaper than putting 3-4 bottle of Prestone Super Flush.

mikelee · Oct 16, 2010

Yes it works well. I had a post on here a while back on this site on cleaning radiators. Of course if you have a lot of calcium buildup be careful might open some new problems.

rnd-motorsports · Oct 18, 2010

when I was younger worked at a maxi muffler the owner had a radiator shop in back I never used it but he recomended it alot and used it himself

rosco · Oct 18, 2010

I've used it to flush the oil from the cooling system when an oil cooler failed. It worked Good. It doesn't have the high suds that other soaps do.

taildragger03 · Oct 18, 2010

Curious to know how much to use for the size of the cooling system of a CUCV?

Medic5050 · Oct 18, 2010

zout · Oct 18, 2010

At the truck dealership I was a service manager at - that was common to use any liquid detergent for laundy - it cleans the guts of a radiator out really well and less than a brand name specific cleaner. If it don;t clean it needs professional help from there.

Make sure it is thoroughly rinced from the coolant system before adding your 50/50 mix

hemichallenger · Oct 18, 2010

We have always used dawn dish soap.

BIG_RED · Oct 18, 2010

I threw a 5 Quart jug of vinegar in my rad (M1009) and topped it up with water. Let it run for 5 minutes, revved her a bit, went for a drive around the yard, then drained it. Check out what came out: (my coolant was always clean before I did this, I was putting in block heaters and wanted to clean out everything for summer) (the pic of all the jugs is what the coolant looked like before this flush. I used half my week's recycling to bring my old coolant to the disposal place

) (fyi, the guy in the pics is a buddy of mine, not me.)

G-Force · Oct 18, 2010

Big Red.....
Why is there snow on the ground???

BIG_RED · Oct 18, 2010

LOL I live in Winnipeg, Canada. There's snow on the ground like 8 months a year. M1009's DOMINATE in snow. I go "snowing" all the time. It's awesome, it just melts off - no mud to clean. And you can still get REALLY REALLY stuck. (We're talking snow over the hood, halfway up to the roof stuck).

man630 · Oct 19, 2010

I found this info in my Cummins Operation and Maintenance Manual for B Series Engines: Coolant System Flushing: Use 0.5 kilogram (1.0 pound) of Sodium Carbonate for every 23 liters (6.0 gallons) of Water.

shootiniron · Oct 19, 2010

I used Cascade on my 813 w/ Cummins and it worked like a champ.I used about a half a box,powdered form, and mixed with hot water to disolve it completely.It really loosened all the crap that would'nt come out with the Prestone product.

strelnik · Jun 10, 2011

BIG_RED said:
I threw a 5 Quart jug of vinegar in my rad (M1009) and topped it up with water. Let it run for 5 minutes, revved her a bit, went for a drive around the yard, then drained it. Check out what came out: (my coolant was always clean before I did this, I was putting in block heaters and wanted to clean out everything for summer) (the pic of all the jugs is what the coolant looked like before this flush. I used half my week's recycling to bring my old coolant to the disposal place ) (fyi, the guy in the pics is a buddy of mine, not me.)

In the Mercedes mechanic forum of which I am a member, we often use either Dawn or Cascade as a first step, then, depending on personal preference, either vinegar or 10% citric acid in powder, mixed with 1 gallon of tap water, unless you live in the country and use well water, in which case distilled or drinking water is mixed.

After a 20 minute run in operation, not just idling, we cool down, flush and clean with fresh water. That usually does the trick, the idea is to degrease before derust..

lindyp38 · Jun 10, 2011

so we are talking about right off the shelf cascade....?

cjtroutt · Jun 10, 2011

BIG_RED said:
I threw a 5 Quart jug of vinegar in my rad (M1009) and topped it up with water. Let it run for 5 minutes, revved her a bit, went for a drive around the yard, then drained it. Check out what came out: (my coolant was always clean before I did this, I was putting in block heaters and wanted to clean out everything for summer) (the pic of all the jugs is what the coolant looked like before this flush. I used half my week's recycling to bring my old coolant to the disposal place ) (fyi, the guy in the pics is a buddy of mine, not me.)

Vinegar is as good as any to use I do it yearly to fight common factor in Diesel engines.
Flush and Fill.
Either Dawn or Cascade is ok when flushing out after an Oil cooler goes out in an Diesel engine or raditor looses a in tank trans or oil cooler that mix oil and coolent.

FMJ · Jun 10, 2011

When I was in the Navy we used TSP (trisodium phosphate) to clean our electronic cooling systems, brass/bronze pipes, worked great. I believe recently all phosphates were removed from laundry and dish washing detergents, not sure, but I think the phosphates are what do such a good job cleaning cooling systems.

You can buy TSP at Lowes.

rumplecat · Jun 10, 2011

I am going to have to try Cascade again, the last time I used it I got really poor results! But my oil cooler did dump a ton of oil into the coolant. I may try a combination of Dawn and Cascade, we use Dawn to clean our industrial equipment, I know it works!

4x4 Forever · Jun 10, 2011

We use Cascade in all of our EMDs, CATs, and Cummins offshore. The majors actually suggest and support its use. Works great and doesn't foam up like Dawn and ect. does. We use it when we have an oil cooler blow and after In-Frames.

Radiator Flushing with Cascade Dishwashing Detergent?

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