Farmall Cub

I was doing some tinkering on the Cub this afternoon. Took the coolant hose off so I could loosen the fan and saw the inside of the coolant passage. Let's just say that it looked worse than the original rusty sheet metal on the rest of the tractor.

What's the best thing to flush with? Will help remove/treat some of the rust or are we just talking about flushing the solids?

I would first drain the existing coolant if you have not already, and you will get an indication of how dirty the coolant is and proceed from there. You will remove some deposits this way but not all. Rust buildup inside the upper water outlet elbow is pretty typical for 50-60 year old tractors. Have you been encountering cooling performance issues?

If you ever remove your radiator and see how much debris and sludge is sitting in the bottom of your radiator housing, you will wonder how it ever worked at all....

As I remember, the owners manual said to drain it and put water and washing soda in the radiator and run it a couple of hours to clean it.

Owner's Manual has a lot of good information in it...

Please excuse my ignorance, but what exactly is "washing soda"?

BDFinch wrote:Please excuse my ignorance, but what exactly is "washing soda"?

Sodium carbonate, I have seen it for sale in stores before.

Dale:

Washing Soda is what our mom's used back in the day before things like Tide You can find it at Wally World and other grocery outlets and hardware stores.

Arm & Hammer Washing Soda. The grocery store I trade at carries it in the detergent section. Also used in electrolysis tanks.

And is washing soda still recommended for cleaning the cooling system? The best product?

Dale Finch wrote:And is washing soda still recommended for cleaning the cooling system? The best product?

I trust it before I would trust some of these newer, harsher, flushing chemicals found in automotive stores.

Dale:

I would use it unreservedly. It is one of the best products on the market for cleaning. If IH recommended it back then, it is good enough for me now. Course as you know TIJIMHO

The most important thing to do is flush the block. Crud builds up in the passages around the cylinders. Remove the water inlet neck on the right side of the block. Some have made flushing tools to attach to a garden hose to get a wand up inside. Search for "flushing tool". I have had good luck by putting my pressure washer nozzle in the opening and directing it around. The years of crud will pour out. This makes a big difference in the ability to transfer heat to the coolant from the hottest zones in the block.

Bob - don't you mean "remove the water -outlet- neck on the right side of the block"??? Al D

goldencub wrote:Bob - don't you mean "remove the water -outlet- neck on the right side of the block"??? Al D

Nope. I meant what I wrote. hot water rises to the top.