Radiator flush how to

C1DoG · Post by **C1DoG** » Tue Jun 21, 2011 7:35 pm

Is there a more detailed Hot To about flushing the coolant out? The haynes manual gives crappy instructions.

Kelevra · Post by **Kelevra** » Tue Jun 21, 2011 7:44 pm

Dante said it best, man

EDIT: if you don't dispose of the coolant properly and a cat/dog drinks it from where ever you put it it'll kill them. since ethylene glycol tastes sweet they love to drink anti-freeze.

http://www.vetmed.wsu.edu/cliented/antifreeze.aspx

if you can't/don't have the means to dispose of it properly. take it to a mechanic.

C1DoG · Post by **C1DoG** » Tue Jun 21, 2011 8:21 pm

Kelevra wrote:Dante said it best, man

EDIT: if you don't dispose of the coolant properly and a cat/dog drinks it from where ever you put it it'll kill them. since ethylene glycol tastes sweet they love to drink anti-freeze.

http://www.vetmed.wsu.edu/cliented/antifreeze.aspx

if you can't/don't have the means to dispose of it properly. take it to a mechanic.

I took it to a mechanic today and they

up.

I asked them to put in the engine ice coolant that I got to go with my killerglass and they went and mixed it with the green. Which I didn't want.

Kelevra · Post by **Kelevra** » Tue Jun 21, 2011 8:50 pm

did you give them enough? did they even use it? if not I'd demand the bottle and my money back

hansken_yo · Post by **hansken_yo** » Tue Jun 21, 2011 8:59 pm

you paid them for a service they didn't provide.... just sayin

OB · Post by OB » Tue Jun 21, 2011 11:10 pm

Kelevra wrote:Dante said it best, man

EDIT: if you don't dispose of the coolant properly and a cat/dog drinks it from where ever you put it it'll kill them. since ethylene glycol tastes sweet they love to drink anti-freeze.

http://www.vetmed.wsu.edu/cliented/antifreeze.aspx

if you can't/don't have the means to dispose of it properly. take it to a mechanic.

Most quality coolants these days have bittering agents to prevent this. Especially the non-green HOAT type coolants. I haven't seen a new car with standard ethylene glycol (green) coolant in years. Plus, who drains coolant and doesn't at least transfer the old stuff into a sealable container? A lazy bone head, that's who.

Kelevra · Post by **Kelevra** » Tue Jun 21, 2011 11:15 pm

OB wrote:
Kelevra wrote:Dante said it best, man

EDIT: if you don't dispose of the coolant properly and a cat/dog drinks it from where ever you put it it'll kill them. since ethylene glycol tastes sweet they love to drink anti-freeze.

http://www.vetmed.wsu.edu/cliented/antifreeze.aspx

if you can't/don't have the means to dispose of it properly. take it to a mechanic.
Most quality coolants these days have bittering agents to prevent this. Especially the non-green HOAT type coolants. I haven't seen a new car with standard ethylene glycol (green) coolant in years. Plus, who drains coolant and doesn't at least transfer the old stuff into a sealable container? A lazy bone head, that's who.

you'll be surprised how many lazy boneheads there are. you give people too much credit

gcretro · Post by **gcretro** » Tue Jun 21, 2011 11:26 pm

I did mine by:
- Drained old coolant including the tank. Removed and cleaned the tank.

-Filled with distilled water + napa coolant flush. Bleed the air out. Drove around about 10 miles with high heat.
- Next day drained. Did see some crap come out.
- filled with distilled water. Drove about 15 miles over next 2 days with heat on.
- Drained again.
- filled with zerex hoat coolant and rest distilled water. bleed the air out. Topped off. Done.

redneckmoparman · Post by **redneckmoparman** » Wed Jun 22, 2011 3:32 am

you can either just drain and refill to do a coolant flush putting the same thing back in you took out or you can buy a flush Tee and some extra heater hose and you undo one of the heater hoses put the new hose on and connect both of the hoses onto the tee and a hose onto the third position run the car with heater on full hot fan does not matter and open the drain on the radiator and run it for as long as you please to do a 100% flush to get all of the crap out

C1DoG · Post by **C1DoG** » Wed Jun 22, 2011 5:46 am

Kelevra wrote:
OB wrote:
Kelevra wrote:Dante said it best, man

EDIT: if you don't dispose of the coolant properly and a cat/dog drinks it from where ever you put it it'll kill them. since ethylene glycol tastes sweet they love to drink anti-freeze.

http://www.vetmed.wsu.edu/cliented/antifreeze.aspx

if you can't/don't have the means to dispose of it properly. take it to a mechanic.
Most quality coolants these days have bittering agents to prevent this. Especially the non-green HOAT type coolants. I haven't seen a new car with standard ethylene glycol (green) coolant in years. Plus, who drains coolant and doesn't at least transfer the old stuff into a sealable container? A lazy bone head, that's who.
you'll be surprised how many lazy boneheads there are. you give people too much credit

I have 2 pets so I know about the antifreeze hazard.

I went back and took a long look at Meineke and when I got my exhaust done there. They used to have a lot of cars lined up to get done. I should have known better when there was only 2 cars in the bay and they were slow about getting them out. So what did I learn... find a good mechanic and become good friends, because you will need them.

Hudson_Neon · Post by **Hudson_Neon** » Wed Jun 22, 2011 10:24 am

drain it, put coolant aside, run a hose through it (the little bit that you get out isn't gonna hurt anything unless your are the state of california cause everything there causes cancer), put in a new t-stat, fill back up, burp the system, good to go

quicksilvr · Post by **quicksilvr** » Wed Jun 22, 2011 11:02 am

Yeah, maybe I'm a little too lax with my personal "coolant handling policy", but this is what I do:

-Drain coolant
-Remove and clean overflow bottle
-Remove upper rad hose
-Remove thermostat, take the rubber seal off the thermostat and put JUST the rubber seal back into the upper rad hose.
-Reinstall upper hose with no t-stat
-Run a hose with cold water into the top of the radiator and flush the normal direction of flow for a couple minutes
-Then run the hose into the upper radiator hose, and flush the reverse direction of flow for a couple minutes
-Then run the hose back into the top of the radiator and start the car
-With the car running, flush the correct direction of flow for a couple minutes
-Shut the car off, pull lower radiator hose off, and open drain bung in radiator
-Jack up the left side of the car, to help the radiator completely drain of water

When you flush the reverse direction (so water is coming out the top of the radiator) you will get a lot of horrible looking green gunk. I use a funnel to keep it from coming out and hitting the intake. I don't quit flushing until all I see, either direction of flow, is clear clean water.

Post by **occasional demons** » Wed Jun 22, 2011 12:26 pm

The problem with just draining it via the radiator, or lower hose removal, is there is still a fair amount in the block. Unless you pull the drain plug in the rear, you won't get it all out. But getting the rear plug out is near impossible without removing the exhaust manifold/header. (Well it might be accessible with an LTH.)

There is also the heater core. Which brings up another thing: No need to run the heat on full. The coolant flows continuously through the core, regardless of the temp setting.

A decent flush product I have used is Napa's Cool Prep. It is in a quart container, and you let it run 30 to 40 minutes. The stuff woks quite well. I ran it without the t'stat idling, so the flow would be sufficient. This was on the daughter's 1gn. The inside of the head was covered with green stuff that would not scrape off with any non metal tool. After 30 minutes it was spotless.

The thing is, it was an old bottle that sat on the self at work for prolly over 10 years, so if it is still available, or under that name anymore, IDK. Didn't see much on their web site.

Possibly the MAC 1400 is the same?

Hudson_Neon · Post by **Hudson_Neon** » Wed Jun 22, 2011 12:29 pm

right... i flush all that with a hose

quicksilvr · Post by **quicksilvr** » Wed Jun 22, 2011 12:41 pm

OD, yeah I know there's still clear water in the block. I wouldn't use this flush method in the winter time by any means. However, I had no problem doing this in the summer, when I plan on draining and refilling the coolant a couple times afterward. Get's rid of the water by dilution/combination.

C1DoG · Post by **C1DoG** » Wed Jun 22, 2011 1:05 pm

Alright... I have another gallon of Engine Ice coming by UPS on Friday. This time I will be smart and check with my mechanic and see if they will completely flush it and put the blue coolant in. If they mess up or don't do it, then I am going forward with doing it myself.

2005.Neon.SXT · Post by **2005.Neon.SXT** » Wed Jun 22, 2011 2:23 pm

I just use my shop's Radiator flush machine. Hook up two hoses, turn the car on, and that's it

C1DoG · Post by **C1DoG** » Wed Jun 22, 2011 2:50 pm

2005.Neon.SXT wrote:I just use my shop's Radiator flush machine. Hook up two hoses, turn the car on, and that's it

Danteneon · Post by **Danteneon** » Wed Jun 22, 2011 3:23 pm

2005.Neon.SXT wrote:I just use my shop's Radiator flush machine. Hook up two hoses, turn the car on, and that's it

I wish we had one here. You can only do water flushes on Subarus with a Wynns machine.

OB · Post by OB » Wed Jun 22, 2011 9:13 pm

Here's how I did mine when I changed to green coolant:

-Drain radiator, leave cock open.

-Drain overflow

-Run engine till at running temp while running hose water through it until it comes out out clear.

-Take hose water away and let the water pump push the majority of the hose water out the drain cock on the radiator. Be careful here, mind the temp needle. I only let it go for a couple mins.

-Turn the engine off, fill the overflow halfway or so, then fill the system through the filler neck.

-Run the engine again, without the rad cap on, until the t-stat is open fully again (it will have cooled off some by now). Air should bleed from the filler neck, along with some coolant overflow. The temp needle will skyrocket if there is air in the system, so use this as a guide. Once it's bled, cap it and drive it. Recheck it a few times. Done.

I'll be doing it at work from now on, now that I work at a shop with machines for all this stuff.