lildemars09

iTrader: (2)

I have been searching on how to do a radiator flush, it seems to be an easy job. The thing i was worried about was adding a chemical to the radiator to clean all the jun inside the radiator. i don't know if it is bad to put those chemicals in a LT1 engine or is it fine if i do it my self with one of these chemicals they have at my local autozone? or should i just take it to a mechanic to do it?
What i was told was drain the radiator, put water in the radiator with the chemical, run ur engine to operating temps, drain your radiator and repeat if dirty, if clean then fill it up and run the engine ad bleed the lines to get the air out of the engine.

LS6427

iTrader: (2)

Don't buy any of the radiator flush products, they all suck. Buy a gallon of "Formula 88" or "Simple Green" degreaser. Take the t-stat out and then reattach the t-stat housing with just one bolt. Drain the radiator and pour about half gallon in. Unscrew the petcock plug all the way out so the old coolant drains faster. Then top off with water. LEAVE the radiator cap OFF and run it for 15 minutes. Then drain the radiator. Fill back up and let it run for 2-3 minutes, then drain again. Then pull the drain plug and let the engine run with the hose continually filling the radiator until clear clean water comes out the drain.

Here's my write up.

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

-Cold engine.
-Remove radiator fill cap.
-Remove the t-stat from the housing. Leave the housing attached to the rubber radiator hose, just remove the 2 housing bolts and pull it away from the water to pump to get to 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 the valve itself. It'll drain faster with it off and that’s what you want. ((Buy a new petcock valve before starting this flush process, sometimes they break when you remove them all the way just because they're cheap plastic and they get briddle over time, they're like $2.00))
-Take a hose and stick it in the radiator fill cap, running medium to high.
-Start the engine.
-Turn heat on full blast
-Let it run for about 15-20 minutes or until the water is running out the drain CLEAR.
-((If you want to, you can wait till it runs clear, close the drain valve, add some degreaser and let it run for 15 minutes, then drain it all again. Then open the drain and put the hose in for about 5 minutes run it all out till its CLEAR. The degreaser will help break up the crap thats stuck DEEP in the BLOCK that sits and swirls and doesn't like to come out.))
-When it runs clear your entire system is clean.
-Remove the overflow reservoir from the car and clean it out real good. (I had to use gasoline to clean mine out because the sludge and grime was so thick inside. The gas broke it all down and then it flushed right out. I filled it about 1/3 up with gasoline and shook the hell out of it real vigorously, the black stuff kept coming out. I did that like 4 separate times with gasoline till no more chunks of black crap came out. Make sure the lines that go to the reservoir are also cleaned out. Or just buy a new piece of 3/8” heater hose and replace that line, 3 feet will do, then cut to fit. My sludge came from my power steering fluid leaking into my coolant system.)
-Put the t-stat back in.
-Put the overflow reservoir 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 to 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 and not total crap quality.

**Bleeding the system of air:
Start it up and let it run, radiator cap OFF, and let it warm up till the t-stat opens. I rapidly squeeze the upper and lower radiator hose like 20 times while its warming up to help move any air bubbles through the system and by the t-stat on the engine side. When the t-stat opens you’ll see the level drop as you squeeze it, its sucking the coolant through the system. You will also see the coolant start to flow in the radiator fill neck, once it starts to flow the level should drop down a lot, immediately top it off with coolant/water. Then the flow will stop when the t-stat closes. Wait one more time for the t-stat to open again and start to flow, if it drops down again top it off again. Do it a 3rd time if you want to make sure. I always massage the upper hose during the whole process to keep any air bubbles moving through. Always works like a charm. Just keep checking your temp gauge until the t-stat opens for the first time to make sure it’s not sitting there overheating from a trapped bubble. May take 10-15 minutes for the t-stat to open the first time.
If you do start to get hot while sitting there and the t-stat will not open…..you have an air bubble on the engine side of the t-stat. Shut the engine off and rapidly squeeze the upper and lower radiator hoses again. Then start the engine again and see if the t-stat will open. Sometimes you just have to work those hoses to move the air through. Even after it seems topped off after a couple cycles…check it the next time you have a cold engine…top off if needed.


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lildemars09

iTrader: (2)

alright thanks great write up.

dutinsss

iTrader: (2)

that write up should be a sticky. exactly how i've done it and it works great on about any car. some cars that's radiator cap isn't the highest point in the system have a bleeder screw to get the air out so it's a little different, but otherwise, that process is spot on.

LS6427

iTrader: (2)

Thanks, I don't know why they haven't made it a sticky yet. That process has helped hundreds of people. Especially that amazingly easy way to bleed the air out quickly the first time, every time, by simply pulsing the hoses.

This site isn't like it used to be years ago where mods make stickies to help people.

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02v8ta

iTrader: (8)

Thanks a lot! Big help.

Tram

iTrader: (14)

Simple Green won't toast my engine huh? Good to know!

01ssreda4

iTrader: (96)

Maybe if you asked nicely and lost the attitude more things would happen for your cute little write up. There is also a huge DIY thread you could submit the link to this thread to and then you wouldn't even have to worry about fooling with us good-for-nothing mods

Z284U2TRY

iTrader: (5)

This worked better than any other way I have used. That was a good write up and I have been reading write ups for over 10 years on this site.

LS6427

iTrader: (2)

I'm not the one that needs it as a sticky so I never asked......members needing a "flush" write up are the ones who need it......

But long ago........mods were more proactive on this site and made threads into stickies to help members on a regular basis. It just doesn't happen like that anymore.



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JekHawkins

So...my first time doing this, I'm going to try what was suggested. I'm a complete noob, though, just hoping I don't screw it all up.

LS6427

iTrader: (2)

Only thing you can do to screw up is to sit there while you are waiting for the t-stat to open during the "air bleeding" process.....and not watching the temp gauge to make sure you're not overheating because of an air bubble.

Have someone sit in the car and watch while you're watching for the level to drop down in the radiator. make sure you squeeze each radiator hose 20-30 times rapidly, then you'll be fine and the air bubble will move past the t-stat.

Otherwise, you can't really mess anything up.

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pewter2002

iTrader: (4)

I used this method and it works beautifully! Like he said, squeezing the hoses cannot be stressed enough to get those stubborn air bubbles out.

BrntWS6

iTrader: (7)

**** that just do H/C....it'll be clean and a lot faster when your done.

Daniel Richards

iTrader: (1)

bumping the thread for a bit easier way to do this that doesn't involve RUNNING the engine while water is pouring out the drain petcock.

remove the thermostat and reinstall the housing and add the degreaser and run the engine for a couple minutes, no need to bring it up to full temp with the thermostat out, just need to circulate the degreaser thru the system so be sure to have the hot/cold **** on full hot to allow it to get into the heater core, then shut the car off and drain the rad and run water thru the rad with the drain removed to clean out the degreaser from the rad, then take the upper radiator hose off the thermostat housing and run your hose through it and let it drain out the bottom of the radiator, then stick your hose into the thermostat housing end and "back flush" the engine block out the bottom the radiator (alternate between these 2 positions till the system runs clear) and just to make sure, remove one of the heater core lines and run the hose into it till water runs clear out the bottom of the rad, then reinstall the thermostat, upper rad hose and heater core line and refill the system.

you get a LOT more crap out when you back flush the system.

I would also suggest running without the thermostat for a few days and repeat the flush process (with just water) each day till the system runs clean, if it's been neglected there will be a LOT of crap that takes time to clear out.

Carguy8888

iTrader: (1)

I was going to do this in a few weeks thank you. Why is this guy removing the engine plugs & is it recomended?
http://www.ls1.com/forums/f6/diy-coo...-flush-157898/

Daniel Richards

iTrader: (1)

because he is just doing a basic drain and fill, not the FULL FLUSH that these cars most likely need.

I've been using Cascade Complete (about half a cup each time) per the recommendation of one of my mechanics when he saw how nasty it was inside the radiator and after 2 weeks (first week with the thermostat in and flushing every other day and second week without thermostat and flushing everyday) the water/cascade mix is finally starting to clear up, I'm gonna dump some degreaser in it tomorrow and try it this way as the cascade has been taking a lot more time then expected and I know the degreaser kicks ***. I plan to replace the water pump and upper and lower radiator hoses before I refill with actual coolant at the end of this saga as (unless the PO replaced it when he did the motor install then the pump has about 100k miles on it and in my experience that is the life expectancy of a GM water pump, hell I may even do the radiator itself if I can't get it cleaned up enough.

Carguy8888

iTrader: (1)

Great, I like this way better.

LS6427

iTrader: (2)

Remember though.......the way my write-up explains it......you RUN the engine with the drain valve open..yes..BUT the hose is in the radiator fill cap is keeping the radiator 100% topped off the entire time the engine is running. It's also cool water so the engine can only really get warm, not hot.

I do it that way so as much of the dirty coolant as possible that's passing by the drain hole can exit the system as new clean hose water is keeping it topped off.

Degreaser is what does the job.......just have to let it get in there and start dissolving all the gunk.

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Carguy8888

iTrader: (1)

"Put half a jug of Dexcool in the radiator. (Or if you live in very cold places, 1 to 1 ½ jugs of Dexcool)
-Fill the rest with water."

How much dexcool for a northeast car please 1 or more then one?