Pontiac Owners Club UK

I bought a used coolant bottle which needed cleaning inside. After trying various chemicals and cleaning stuff the results i got were naff. The grime inside the bottle just would not shift, and the shape of the bottle and neck size makes it almost impossible to get a brush or scraper inside.

After a bit of research online it seemed as though a popular solution State-side is to use cat litter, mixed with a bit of water and then shake like hell!

Well i thought it cant hurt to give it a go. Lucky my mum has a cat and let me nick a tub full.

Anyway, i poured about half a cup of litter inside the bottle and topped it up with water until the litter was just covered. Replaced the cap, and sealed the overflow pipe with tape. Shook like crazy for about 10 minutes.... results:

Before:





After:







Id say its done a decent job! some minor staining of the plastic left over, but i think its engrained in the material! im happy with it now! Maybe it will help somebody else..

Didn't help the cat, it's been walking round with legs crossed for two days...

looks good

I have often had too clean radiator expansion bottles and have found that using an egg cup full of bleach and adding hot water to it ,leave it to soak for about an
hour, can bring the bottle back to almost new

Bleach and warm water did nothing for this grime..

Cool. tell you how i done mine though, i went and bought a babys bottle cleaning brush, its on a stiff bendy wire so you can really scrub the inside and get into the corners.

Dip in TFR cleaner overnight should bring it up like new.

Rocky wrote:Dip in TFR cleaner overnight should bring it up like new.

This stuff? http://www.thebigshiner.com/SHOP/index. ... duct_id=46

Sort of we buy it in 25 litre drums but it is similar it cleans most things up like new but be careful on some materials or paintwork as will remove all waxes etc. I also use it on engines not quite as strong as degreaser but doesnt leave a smell.

Cheers, looks cheaper than Gunk

in the trade most of us use a couple of dishwasher tablets in the cooling system for cleaning and let it get hot empty out refill job done as most chemicals will leave a bit in not ideal where as dishwasher tablets pretty inert and do not foam up

I normaly use washing powder

with this thread i was referring to the coolant bottle plastic itself rather than the cooling system in general. The cat litter sort of removes any engrained grime and removes a little bit of that rustic (rusty) orange tint the plastic gets!

I like the dishwasher tab idea. Might give that a go before i winterise the cooling system!

dishwashers are also great for cleaning parts but dont tell the missis lol

i think i need to just buy new ones for my car when i put the engine bay back together, they've been cleaned up but still quite dingy

probably best to do that if you want a detailed engine bay. I was just looking to get mine functional at the time!!