I recently felt my radiator while the car was running and only the top half was getting hot, however the bottom hose was still heating up. After using a rad flush the problem persisted, I decided to take the radiator out to further investigate. I tried running water through it in reverse and shaking it to clear it out but had not luck, so as a last resort I pried off the intake side and was quite surprised with what I discovered.
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My initial plan was to clean out the gunk and clear the channels, the bottom half was so blocked I thought a new radiator was my best bet. My concern now is that if I get a new radiator what's stopping this from happening again? or was this just caused by irregular coolant changes during its previous ownership. I also removed the water pump, from what I can see it's fit to go back on the car once cleaned up but let me know if you think otherwise.
The hoses are all slightly dyed now, I'm assuming due to the rusty water running around them but I don't really want to invest in new ones because they seem in pretty good condition. Let me know what you think.
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Finally, what coolant would you recommend once everythings back in the car?
Any help is appreciated, sorry for so many questions
Thanks in advance!