Dishwasher detergent & citric acid flush?

[nthach]

So I'm working on a friend's Explorer and I recall installing a new thermostat and gasket last summer, the old one had green sludge on it. I'm doing some repair work and PM on it and I'm going to swap the old green out with G-05 and I want to clean up whatever is in the cooling system. My plan was to use dishwasher detergent(I'll be using "enviromentally safe" detergent) for the first chemical treatment and the tried and true citric acid flush for the second run and flushina via Prestone flush tee for the last steps. This is overkill or should I worry about the water pump seal going out?

 

[The_Jeff]

If you're cleaning oil use dish detergent.
If you're cleaning lime scale use citric acid.
If you're cleaning rust, just use plain water driving around for a week, draining every night.

 

[JHZR2]

Look up mercedes citric acid flush. One of the diesel guys has a good how to on this.

 

[Bgallagher]

I think most dishwasher detergents now a days doesn't contain phosephates which a lot of the old disel guys used to use to flush the coolant systems. Otherwise I would flush it with a flush product and flush with distilled until clear and fill with the proper coolant/distilled.

 

[HTSS_TR]

If you use Prestone tee hook up to heater hose you don't need any chemical. Just hook up the garden hose to the tee, set the heater to max hot and run the engine with water running for few minutes. Close up everything then run the engine at high idle around 2k RPM until normal temp and the fan is on. Turn off the engine and wait some minutes for things cool down then do another flush with engine and water running for few minutes. Fill concentrate antifreeze in the engine via Prestone tee for 1/2 capacity, then top off with water.

That is how I flushed the coolant in my LS400 every 3-4 years.