Vinegar in the Cooling System

[Wild one]

Ran into a new one i've never heard of before today.
Was at the gas station today with our 300,which i'd just changed thermostats in last night.I spilled a bit of anti-freeze onto the plastic pan under the engine,last night,and i was on my way to the carwash to hose the engine down and wash out the pan.The car still had enough spilled anti-freeze to drip at the gas station,and an older guy,i'd guess in his early 80's noticed,and said the car was leaking,i told him,i'd spilled a bit of anti-freeze last night,and was on my way to wash it out. He then brought up the point of adding a couple ounces of vinegar to the cooling system,said he'd been doing it for 60+ years,and had never had to replace a heater core /rad or head gasket in all those years of adding vinegar to the cooling system.
I immediately thought he was crazy (didn't say it out loud though,lol),but the more i thought about it while washing the car,the more i started to wonder if maybe he was onto something.
I'm a bit leary of adding an acid to the cooling system,but i wonder if an ounce or 2 of vinegar is actually enough to do any harm,and would it actually help to keep corrosion at bay in the cooling system.
What do you guys think

 

[crash68]

Probably won't do anything with as little as would be added but why mess the purple koolaid, it has own quirks already.
There's quite a few tutorials on how to flush a cooling system with vinegar though on the internets

 

[Jane S]

Ran into a new one i've never heard of before today.
Was at the gas station today with our 300,which i'd just changed thermostats in last night.I spilled a bit of anti-freeze onto the plastic pan under the engine,last night,and i was on my way to the carwash to hose the engine down and wash out the pan.The car still had enough spilled anti-freeze to drip at the gas station,and an older guy,i'd guess in his early 80's noticed,and said the car was leaking,i told him,i'd spilled a bit of anti-freeze last night,and was on my way to wash it out. He then brought up the point of adding a couple ounces of vinegar to the cooling system,said he'd been doing it for 60+ years,and had never had to replace a heater core /rad or head gasket in all those years of adding vinegar to the cooling system.
I immediately thought he was crazy (didn't say it out loud though,lol),but the more i thought about it while washing the car,the more i started to wonder if maybe he was onto something.
I'm a bit leary of adding an acid to the cooling system,but i wonder if an ounce or 2 of vinegar is actually enough to do any harm,and would it actually help to keep corrosion at bay in the cooling system.
What do you guys think

Seriously dude, I'm not sure what is worse, that old guy or you. If it were a good idea don't you think a mfg would do it?
" NEW ENGINE COLLANT NOW WITH VINEGAR"!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

To avoid damaging your radiator and potentially your engine, your choice of cleaning product is important. Avoid using vinegar, because the acetic acid makes metal susceptible to rust. Additionally, bleach should never be used, because sodium hypochlorite (bleach) will corrode metals such as steel and aluminum.

 

[1SloRam]

Seriously dude, I'm not sure what is worse, that old guy or you. If it were a good idea don't you think a mfg would do it?
" NEW ENGINE COLLANT NOW WITH VINEGAR"!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

To avoid damaging your radiator and potentially your engine, your choice of cleaning product is important. Avoid using vinegar, because the acetic acid makes metal susceptible to rust. Additionally, bleach should never be used, because sodium hypochlorite (bleach) will corrode metals such as steel and aluminum.

Yeah @Wild one what’s wrong with you..vinegar is for washing clothes, duh LOL.
Jane, take it easy on the chemistry lesson ..I think we all can google then copy pasta the results, but nobody here is going to dump acid into their cooling system.

 

[Jane S]

Yeah @Wild one what’s wrong with you..vinegar is for washing clothes, duh LOL.
Jane, take it easy on the chemistry lesson ..I think we all can google then copy pasta the results, but nobody here is going to dump acid into their cooling system.

"I think we all can google then copy pasta the results, but nobody here is going to dump acid into their cooling system."

You positive about that?

 

[1SloRam]

"I think we all can google then copy pasta the results, but nobody here is going to dump acid into their cooling system."

You positive about that?

Yep, sure am. Especially since you enlightened us old nimrods with your previous post. Todays gold star goes to you.

 

[Jane S]

Yep, sure am. Especially since you enlightened us old nimrods with your previous post. Todays gold star goes to you.

"Yep, sure am."

Then why did the OP make the post if he wasn't considering using vinegar?

 

[1SloRam]

"Yep, sure am."

Then why did the OP make the post if he wasn't considering using vinegar?

You’re new here, so I’ll give you a heads up..sarcasm is all around us, embrace it.
Maybe check someone’s profile out before asking what’s wrong with them..you may be surprised what you find.

 

[Randy Grant]

If you really want to set off the sarcasm bomb, make a statement about towing/oil filter/oil. Any will get the ball rolling////

 

[GTyankee]

Vinegar works wonders on many things ..

I use a cap full of vinegar in a short gallon of water & a couple of drops of liquid soap to clean my Nebulizer that helps me to open up my lungs. It clears the crystalline build up where the assembly joints are & does it within seconds.
But that is a formula that is like a home remedy

Anti Freeze has certain chemicals to make up a special formula.
It protects iron, aluminum, rubber products, brass & it raises the boiling point of water.
Adding anything to that formula could mess up this or that

 

[FXR99]

I could soooo turn this discussion completely sideways with sarcasm over the misuse of vinegar but will refrain at the risk of suspension... That said lol I use vinegar to flush customers tankless coils when they are ******** about lack of domestic hot water, works like a charm when you know how to do it correctly and saves them a bunch of money to boot !

 

[Jane S]

You’re new here, so I’ll give you a heads up..sarcasm is all around us, embrace it.
Maybe check someone’s profile out before asking what’s wrong with them..you may be surprised what you find.

Thanks, much appreciated.

 

[2020PW]

Sarcasm??? The “what do you guys think” seems like a legitimate question as someone that’s contemplating the idea.

Either someone is trying to spread bad advice or doesn’t know what they are doing.

 

[LeeD]

Back in the old days the early long life coolants used proprietary blends of organic acids in the long life formulations. The long life blends didn’t prevent corrosion but they slowed it considerably down.
Acetic acids wasn’t one of them. Before aluminum started to be heavily used the old coolant blends were actually great at preventing corrosion but tore up aluminum so new formulations were required.
I have no idea what formulations are used today but it was an interesting time working with coolants during the transition.

 

[RamDiver]

This link provides some basic information on the different coolant properties.

Engine Coolant 101 The Right Coolant for Your Vehicle

Most drivers don't give engine coolant a second thought. It's just another item under the check fluids service included with an oil change. However, engine coolant performs three vital jobs

www.aaa.com

And for those curious about the more technical aspects but immune to being spammed, try this.

Coolant 101: What to Consider In Your System, Before Things Get Hot!

We take a look at a variety of automotive engine coolant based on traditional water/glycol mixtures as well as modern day waterless coolant products.

www.enginelabs.com

.

 

[Double Nutted]

Part of the coolant additive package is to keep the Ph UP to help keep hoses from hardening. Low Ph is a no-no in hot water loops, chilled water loops, cooling towers and even steam boilers. IIRC most, if not all, of my industrial treatment chemicals were in a sodium hydroxide base. It's very important. I even used to clean boilers and piping systems with TSP and then carefully neutralize with mild acid... but they had to be neutral, 7.0 Ph, in the end.

 

[Wmjohn]

Now that we have aluminum blocks and most or all aluminum or compatible components, you will never see rusty coolant as we saw routinely in the old days. The main source of the rust was the cast iron block. While the old timer meant well, those days have come and gone.

 

[Coastal WA Gal]

The vinegar thing worked a charm back in the bad old days when people put tap water from the hose into the radiator. Vinegar is great for getting rid of lime scale and sundry deposits from hard water, just not the thing for modern radiators meant to use modern coolant formulations. The old timer’s helpful tip is just half a century + out of date is all.

 

[FXR99]

One word "EVANS" all known coolant problems solved forever... I do prefer red wine vinegar in my homemade salad dressing...

 

[Wild one]

I agree with the last couple of posts,back in the days of cast iron blocks / heads and copper/brass rads it was probably not a bad idea,but with the advent of aluminium heads and blocks , (except for our Hemi's which still use a cast iron block),and plastic tank equipped aluminium radiators it's probably not a great idea anymore.
Some guys sure did come unglued over the idea though,and a couple of you really made me laugh with your comments