Z28Red01

I was just checking my car inside and out when I thought to check my radiator and BAM straight rusty.

So what am I gonna need to flush it completely and how much AF do I need to fill it back up.

Any brands that you recommend the most and do you use straight AF and mix water yourself or do you go 50/50 from the store.

Any additives that are recommended?

LS6427

iTrader: (2)

Best/easiest way to flush and get every drop of old coolant out.

-Cold engine.
-Remove radiator fill cap.
-Remove the t-stat. (2-3 minute job)
-Put t-stat housing back on. (1 minute) Just put one bolt in, no need to put them both in, there’s no pressure in the system during the flush.
-Take the entire radiator drain valve (petcock) "off" and let it drain, don't just open it. It'll drain faster with it off and that’s what you want. ((Buy a new petcock valve, sometimes they break when you remove them all the way, they're like $2.00))
-Take a hose and stick it in the radiator fill cap, running medium to high.
-Start the engine.
-Let it run for about 15-20 minutes or until the water is running out the drain CLEAR.
-When it does your entire system is clean.
-Put the t-stat back in.
-Put the drain valve back in. Use the new one, what the hell.
-Put half a jug of Dexcool in the radiator. (Or if you live in very cold places, 1 ½ jugs of Dexcool)
-Fill the rest with water.
you do not need to use distilled water, clean hose water is just fine, just make sure your city water is clean.

**Start it up and let it run and warm up till the t-stat opens, you’ll see it flow in the radiator fill neck, once it starts to flow the level should drop down, immediately top it off with coolant/water. Then the flow will stop. Wait one more time for the t-stat to open and start to flow, if it drops down again top it off again. Do it again if you want to make sure. I always massage the upper and lower hoses while its warming up to help move the air bubble by the t-stat on the engine side of the t-stat. Squeeze it rapidly and fully like 20 times each until it starts to flow. Always works like a charm. Just keep checking your temp gauge until the t-stat opens to make sure it’s not overheating from a trapped bubble. May take 10-15 minutes to open the first time.

Done.

Z28Red01

Very nice write up, should be sticky'ed.

Z28Red01

I do have a question though, wouldn't taking the t-stat out mean having to replace the gasket if there is one?

99Bluz28

iTrader: (35)

Also don't forget to flush out the coolant reservoir.

LS6427

iTrader: (2)

No, the t-stat gasket is a round rubber gasket...it will last for 100 years. I've had mine in and out literally 20 times.

When you take the t-stat housing off it will usually stay on the housing. Just leave it there and put the housing back on.

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LS6427

iTrader: (2)

True.

In addition to everything I said in the write-up:

You can also start the whole process by removing the battery. Then you will see one bolt holding the over-flow reservoir in place. Take that out and then the tank will pull straight up and out. Very simple. Wash it out.

The metal line that attaches to the tank will pull out of that rubber grommet. I stick a high-pressure hose in that little hole and blast water in there and let dirty water come out the filler neck. Do it till its clean. Also, blow air through the metal line thats attached to the rubber hose and make sure its all clear. Shake the tank with water in it too to loosen up any crap in there. Then dump it out.

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ultraz

iTrader: (4)

I dont think thats an effective method. First off, it sounds like you let your coolant flow into the drainage which is a fineable offense. Secondly, why would you waste your time flushing your radiator if your using tap water. There is a reason they recommend distilled water. Everytime you break the seal of the T-stat, your supposed to replace the gasket.

Last, why would you stop the car from pressurizing the system and HOPE that water makes it to both sides of the motor to cool it evenly with the hose.

LS6427

iTrader: (2)

11 1/2 years and its worked great so far on my car. Gets every single drop of old coolant out and replaces it with fresh.

I'm here in hot South Florida and I only use a half jug of Dexcool, the rest is water. And quite frankly, I can care less about letting it run down the driveway. People who use alot of anti-freeze...its up to them to follow the law...its not my concern. I'm just telling them the BEST/EASIEST way BY FAR to flush a coolant system.
Obama is going to save the world anyway...so I don't worry about some anti-freeze on the driveway. Imagine if anti-freeze was our biggest concern on this planet.

WRONG....distilled water is waste of money. If a city has KNOWN bad...then YES use dostilled water.
We have very clean water where I live.....I think if my city water was bad, I would have seen a problem in 20+ years of owning cars and using hose water. My radiators are always 100% spotless like they are NEW, even 10 years later. So....thats a myth.


Wrong again dude.....my t-stat gasket is my factory original from 1998...and as I said already...I've had mine in and out at least 20 times over 11+ years.
Who told you to replce it every time?????? The dealership.

Not sure I understand your question......but......

There's no need to have a pressurized coolant system WHILE YOU ARE FLUSHING IT. It just needs water to move around the system to clean it out. The hose has nothing at all to do with the water flowing all over the engine......the water pump does that.

I've done this dozens of times, with a bunch of different cars. It works 100% perfectly. Everyone I know with an F-Body or Vette doews it this way, at least around here. Nobody ever buys a new gasket and everyone cleans their system out in 5 minutes this way.

Million ways to skin a cat....this is how I do it.


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badhoopty

just did this today... easy cheese.

cracked open the thermostat enough to where water could gush out around the housing, opened the petcock, stuck a hose in the radiator neck, started the car, and flushed for about 10 minutes.

i had already drained all the original coolant and filled/cycled/drained with water 3 times before the flush. so i'm confident i didnt contaminate the worlds water supply... it aint like all the millions of cars on the road dont puke it out on a regular basis anyway.

LS6427

iTrader: (2)

You said it.....

I'm at airports every day almost......if people saw what spills onto and into the ground at every airport on earth...every day of the year....they would stop their high horse tree hugging worries about some dude flushing his radiator.

The contaminants at one single normal size airport in the USA, in one day, is probably 1,000 times the pollutant that all the radiator flushes in the country can do in one day.

Flush away people..........this thread is about flushing, not pollution.


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Saturn5

How does your method flush the heater core, etc.?
When I've flushed cooling systems in the past, I've spliced in a T-connection to one of the heater hoses, then hook the hose up to that and run water through the heater and back out of the radiator. I haven't done a flush on my TA, yet so I'll bow to your experience. I just wanted to check to make sure, though.

Caribe

iTrader: (1)

Used LS6427 flushing method and ac condensor cleaning write up and the car runs a lot cooler now. This is in hot Guam weather also. Highly suggest doing them at the same time.

LS6427

iTrader: (2)

The coolant runs everywhere.

Do you run your heater when you flush your cooling system?


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hitmanws6

iTrader: (20)

this is a simplified method of what we do at work. we suck the coolant out of the reservoir and radiator, then hook up hoses to the radiator hose and radiator. one hose sucks out coolant, one puts fresh coolant in. this method is just as effective.

LS6427

iTrader: (2)

Do you just one circulation and you're done?

What if you want to flush out a system that had say a busted power steering cooler and the entire engine block and heads were full of black crud? Can you use just water to flush it for awhile until its all out?

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hitmanws6

iTrader: (20)

we circulate it enough to where we would get the crud out. imagine the fresh coolant being the water you are pouring in and instead of letting it just drain we are sucking it out. after a certain point we stop the flush, like you would stop pouring in the water when it runs clear. we let it run for 15-20 minutes make sure everything is ok, then send it out

jam01

uumm your wrong on the distilled water theory, tap water has impurities in it that is not good for your metals. unless you flush it once a year maybe then. you could always just buy the 50/50 mix.

LS6427

iTrader: (2)

Thats cool.


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