Coolant change coming soon. Pointers needed...

danman132x · Post by **danman132x** » Tue May 06, 2008 12:58 am

I'm doing a coolant flush/change on my car, and I just need some quick pointers.

The Mopar coolant I have says "embittered" on it. Does this mean its already watered down?

I'm going to pull the T-stat out and run water through the block with a hose to flush it out. Can I also put the "coolant neck thing" back on without the T-stat in and fill the coolant lines with water to flush it out better with the car on, such as the heater core?

How many gallons or quarts does it take? I have 2 of the Mopar Extended life coolant bottles that say Embittered on them. Hopefully this is full strenght so I can just add distilled water to it and make it 50/50

Please tell me there is a drain plug (petcock official name?) on the radiator like on my old 99 Neon...

Thanks for any advice. Cars 5 years now, and time to change for the summer.

jT · Post by jT » Tue May 06, 2008 1:16 am

i dont know if its the same on the 03 but my drain plug is a bitch and a half to access because of the location and whats blocking it.. but yeah there is a drain plug

and copied from srtforums:
'Embittered' means a chemical is added to give the coolant a bitter taste so (hopefully) children won't drink it.

:p

Adionik · Post by **Adionik** » Tue May 06, 2008 1:33 am

I still drank it

Swordfish2Cowboy · Post by **Swordfish2Cowboy** » Tue May 06, 2008 3:07 am

Adionik wrote:I still drank it

Keep it up, you're still typing.

Post by **Diablo0** » Tue May 06, 2008 10:31 am

You will have to dillute it and the drain is on the bottom of the radiator, I want to say the passenger side. It's not really all that hard to get to, just lay under the car and stick your hand up there. It's a white plastic winged screw.

You should be able to without any issues remove the t-stat to run water through, however I'm not sure, there may be a gasket there which you may not be able to re-use so you'd have to buy a new one. I can't remember since I haven't taken my t-stat out on my 2.0L yet.

Post by **occasional demons** » Tue May 06, 2008 12:10 pm

Diablo0 wrote:You will have to dillute it and the drain is on the bottom of the radiator, I want to say the passenger side. It's not really all that hard to get to, just lay under the car and stick your hand up there. It's a white plastic winged screw.

You should be able to without any issues remove the t-stat to run water through, however I'm not sure, there may be a gasket there which you may not be able to re-use so you'd have to buy a new one. I can't remember since I haven't taken my t-stat out on my 2.0L yet.

There is a rubber o-ring, that you may or may not be able to re-use, depending on how flattened it is.

danman132x · Post by **danman132x** » Tue May 06, 2008 2:39 pm

I'll probably just go and buy a new T-stat then just to be safe.

Paul56 · Post by **Paul56** » Tue May 06, 2008 2:44 pm

You can save yourself some potential grief and work by...

Before installing that new t-stat test it by dunking it into a pot of boiling water on the stove... if it opens it is good.

danman132x · Post by **danman132x** » Tue May 06, 2008 2:49 pm

Paul56 wrote:You can save yourself some potential grief and work by...

Before installing that new t-stat test it by dunking it into a pot of boiling water on the stove... if it opens it is good.

Did you have a bad experiance with a brand new T-stat not opening up on you?

Paul56 · Post by **Paul56** » Tue May 06, 2008 3:08 pm

danman132x wrote:
Paul56 wrote:You can save yourself some potential grief and work by...

Before installing that new t-stat test it by dunking it into a pot of boiling water on the stove... if it opens it is good.
Did you have a bad experiance with a brand new T-stat not opening up on you?

I have never run into that myself; however, I suspect my dad did at some point in his history of working on cars because this test was always standard operating procedure with him.

neonxrt · Post by **neonxrt** » Tue May 06, 2008 5:50 pm

You shouldn't need a new thermostat if your operating temp. has been good. But I would suggest replacing the O-Ring for sure, they're less than $1 at pretty much any hardware store (TrueValue, Ace, etc). Its not all that hard, the only issue I had was getting some coolant on the floor, which was an easy cleanup with some oil-dri. Just don't let your pet(s) near the area until you have it cleaned up if you do get any on the ground. Good luck!