Should I clean my cooling system?

[SecondMonkey]

I recently bought a '79 Chevy 1 ton truck with the 350 engine. It only has 49,000 miles on it, though it's been sitting idle most of it's life. It has an extra heavy duty towing radiator without anything extra like A/C or automatic trans to add heat to the system. The engine currently runs cold (I think I need a new thermostat) and the coolant looks nice and clean and green. Somebody installed a flusher kit on the heater hose, so it seems to have been well maintained.

That said, I can see some buildup in the radiator core, it is 30 years old after all. I also like to use distilled water, I have no idea if that's in it now. Do you think I should bother flushing the radiator and using some of the cleaning additives...or just leave well enough alone?

 

[Herz]

Flushing is very simple and cheap insurance, do it!

 

[crazyoildude]

sometimes its better to just flush it with water put in a new 195 degree thermostat and refill with a 50-50 mix of green or yellow GO-5
my father always said if it aint broke dont fix it and i always think about that after i fix the unbroke..
By the way nice truck great drivetrain flush the brake system with clean brake fluid change the power steering fluid and of course the transmission fluid and filter if it is an automatic if not change the transmission oil
and dont forget the gear oil... Truck should last a long time with the proper care if you keep the rust under control

 

[Sayjac]

fwiw, when I do a distilled flush series I use some Prestone Super Flush after the first drain, before the refill. I run it longer than 10 minutes, ~30-45 minutes, let the engine get good and warm and open the heater full. It's mild, citric acid. Never had any issues and cheap insurance.

To answer your question, IMO it would be a good idea, and I don't think it could hurt. Flushing T makes it an easy process.