FTO AUSTRALIA

My mate has a POS 1986 mazda 323, didnt inspect the car properly before he bought it. Has thick sludge in the radiator, but no water in the oil so its okay for now. Ive bypassed the heater core as he got cracks in the hoses going to it.

Im just wondering the car gets a little hot on the idle and in traffic, the whole cooling system needs a clean out as its filled with oil and sludge, im wondering what solvents can i use to clean out the radiator and overflow bottle to keep the car going for a couple more months to a year before he can get a new one.

And do solvents harm the engine if they are just going thru the cooling system?

Any help appreciated.

give it a good flush first with engine/radiator flush, sounds more like a blocked radiator than gasket failing that pressure test will soon tell all

If its a piece of sh*t, pull the radiator out and do a reverse flush. If its still over heating pull the thermostat out and check if the electric termos are working, if it has them.

In my pos 1990 camry daily...i cut the core of the thermostat to help it run cooler and it has helped. Otherwise flush the sucker as per above posts.

Yeah i flushed it, the thermostat is not present or is stuck open haha. Just replacing the fuel pump on it atm as it wasnt getting any fuel in the carby. It should run cooler, there was so much oil that came out its not funny.