My uncle swore by using dish soap in the radiator, what a mess that was

Last summer my Uncle Bob told me to dump a bottle of Dawn Dish Soap into my '97 Ford F-150's radiator to stop a slow leak. I figured he'd been turning wrenches since the 80s so I gave it a shot. Two days later my coolant was all foamy and spraying out the overflow tank, cost me $90 to get it flushed at Mavis Tire in Cleveland. Has anyone else had a relative give them car advice that backfired this bad?

3 comments

3 Comments

charlie_ellis7d ago

Eh it's really not that big of a deal, you overpaid for that flush honestly. Dish soap in a radiator is dumb but it's not gonna destroy anything long term.

karen_west596d ago

Whoa hold up, I gotta push back a little on that. Dish soap in a radiator can actually cause some real issues over time. The detergents in it break down the coolant's corrosion inhibitors, and if you don't flush it all out perfectly, that residue can eat at gaskets and seals. Plus it foams up and can mess with the water pump's lubrication. It's not gonna blow the engine tomorrow, but it's definitely not harmless either.

dianal946d ago

Detergents break down the coolant's corrosion inhibitors" - yeah, that's exactly what I told my mechanic after I dumped half a bottle of Dawn in my '98 Corolla's radiator. He just stared at me like I was a math problem he didn't want to solve. Turns out that "myth" about it being harmless was written by someone who's never had to replace their water pump three months later. I learned the hard way that you should just buy the $5 radiator flush from AutoZone instead of playing mad scientist with your kitchen sink.