DIY / changing coolant, full coolant flush

[sanioll]

PLEASE SEE PICS BELOW, IS THIS THE CORRECT WAY TO DO IT?? ACCORDING TO FSM IT IS.

[sanioll]

,,,

[sanioll]

so i do have questions??

how big of a catch can do i need??

is the heater on all the time, adding clean water, running engine while heater is on, then flush again. So is the heater on all the time??

is that the best way to remove air bubbles from the system??

thanks.

[sanioll]

ALSO, I HAVE READ SOMEWHERE THAT DISTILLED WATER HAS BETTER THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY THAN 50/50 MIX. IS THIS TRUE? IS IT OKAY FOR SUMMER USE??

WHICH IS A GOOD COOLANT FOR KA24DE?? CURRENTLY I HAVE GREEN STUFF. IS OFF SHE SHELF, WAL MART COOLANT WILL DO THE JOB FOR HARD DRIVING??

THANKS

[ricebike]

my car has similar procedures & even w/ that FSM step-by-step, i had a few air bubbles ...

i made sure to 'tilt' the front end like others mentioned to help the air bubbles escape to the radiator. & kept an eye for it for a few days afterwards.

distilled water has less ion particles than regular tap water(something to do w/ electricity-induced corrosion between steel/aluminum metals) i think.

I used the long-life prestone yellow coolant/distilled water recently. 5 years ago, i had orange dexcool/distilled water.

i guess as long as you made sure all air is out & used proper mix of coolant/water, you'll be fine. heck, add redline additive if you're going to flog that engine. i've noticed some racers just used distilled water & that additive only.

that block plug was a PITA to get to on my SOHC; using a combo of universal joints/extensions/ratchet/breakerbar/torque wrench wif the driver side wheel off & me on my back---whoosh! i had a dexcool bath... soo i guess a wide catch can & i used a huge cardboard base to collect the excess backsplash (have 2 dogs-don't want them to be drinking this stuff up)

if you don't wanna risk crossthreading this engine block plug, disconnecting the bottom rad hose is a better alternative.

I was anal; flushed the car w/ tap water, then distilled water, then poured antifreeze into rad & top off w/ distilled-- checking w/ an antifreeze tool to make sure mix was 50/50.

hmm, read step 10... that's y it took me all day. to wait for it to cool down. but keeping the heater on full blast would ensure that air won't get trapped in there & the old coolant mix would be flushed out w/ the rest of the system.

u might wanna switch out the t-stat before the final flush to make sure there's no rusty sediment being trapped in between that area.

other members had the radiator cap open, heat on high, engine idling, wait till the t-stat opens up & see the fluid level go down, top off while engine idles, snap the throttle valve a few times, then repeat till no air bubbles come out of the radiator filler neck... i've seen it somewhere on the infiniti area.

all i can think of now...

[sanioll]

overall how would you rate the procedure?? in a rating of 0-10??

I assume engine contains no more than 2 gallons of fluid coming out of it?? so 3 gallon should be more than enough.

[ricebike]

ya, 'bout 1/2 in the rad... so a standard drain pan would be simple via drain plug... but that engine plug would splash all over the place (had to flush surrounding area w/ water afterwards).

scale... 2, mebbe 3 if you're gonna deal w/ the engine drain plug & t-stat... just d/t making sure you don't have any air trapped, causing your temps to go up & screwing your head gasket up.

zerothread?id=112177

this is the closest thread i found using my sucky search skillz; try this when the FSM procedures still leaves u w/ a few air bubbles. forgot to mentioned about massaging the hoses while refilling w/ the air bleed vavle open.


Modified by ricebike at 2:03 PM 5/24/2005

[sanioll]

gee i wonder what kind of job would goodyear do in doing a full flush??

i think i can do a lill better quaility work than they.

[sanioll]

sorry one last stupid question:

whats a t-stat??

[ricebike]

sorry one last stupid question:

whats a t-stat??

thermostat...j/k

well goodyear would have those power flushing machines that will ensure a complete changeover of the fluid (or was it firestone???) i dunno if u can do a special request on what brand u wanna run.

i did see a local pepboys that was doing it the old-fashioned way mentioned above, so i guess each shop YMMV if they have the equipment or not.

[sanioll]

more questions follow:

why do i have to change normally working t-stat?

can i simply not touch it? i dont have any cooling problems with my car.

is it okay to do a full flush without touching the thermostat??

[ricebike]

nah, u don't have to replace a t-stat. When i 1st got my car, I removed it, disconnected both hoses from the rad, put the garden hose thru the bottom & basically reverse flush the engine block. (it was a bit extreme,but i wanted to be sure there wasn't any crap in my system)

I also took the radiator out & flush that w/ a garden hose+ there was leaves n shizz stuck in between the AC condensor & the rad that i've cleared out.

[sanioll]

I also took the radiator out & flush that w/ a garden hose+ there was leaves n shizz stuck in between the AC condensor & the rad that i've cleared out.

amazing, how did leaves get in your cooling system??

well, ricebike, i thank you for your knowledgable responses. Now i feel confident on how to do it. You remember the first time your girlfriend says, baby i'm ready. Yes same way here.

hmmmm.. i went to walmart today, and couldn't decide on which coolant to get. there are something named tech that is full coolant $7 and others that are 50/50 mix already. wonder if brand matters. i'm getting green stuff again.

also i grabbed that coolant test thingy, 5 balls float testing tube for 94cents. heh, dont know even what they mean. the range is from -40 to +20 i think. which one is better?

ok, in two days i will be doing it.

[navysnail]

fyi: GM has a service bulitin out to change the "long life" coolants at normal coolant intervals due to corrosion taking place inside the engine. also, you dont want to mix the two together.

[ricebike]

san,

leaves were crammed in the space between the ac condensor & the rad; not inside the rad...

i'd like to help u out since u answered my pc ?s awhile back...

240,yup-yup... that's Y i switched to the long-life prestone yellow antifreeze. when i did that switch after 5 years of the orange stuff, the system was clean as a whistle <shugs>

PS: if you're goin to leave the engine drain plug alone & go for the garden hose reverse flush procedure, i'd just leave out the t-stat & water outlet housing---grab the top hose---insert garden hose---USING LOW PRESSURE,turn it on & let the crap go out till it's clear---use new fiber t-stat gasket & reinstall t-stat after testing it--- flush out rad seperately--hook everything back-- fill w/ distilled water,while air bleed valve open, massaging upper hose--proceed w/ fsm procedures

u want a low pressure so u won't blow out the heater core*

get enuff distilled water while u r there to do it 2x (overkill? not for me) they're less than a buck

[sanioll]

if you're goin to leave the engine drain plug alone & go for the garden hose reverse flush procedure, i'd just leave out the t-stat & water outlet housing---grab the top hose---insert garden hose---USING LOW PRESSURE,turn it on & let the crap go out till it's clear---use new fiber t-stat gasket & reinstall t-stat after testing it--- flush out rad seperately--hook everything back-- fill w/ distilled water,while air bleed valve open, massaging upper hose--proceed w/ fsm procedures

ha haha, i wish i could do that on the driveway. but the neighborhood is very clean and my father will kill me, if there is any dirt on the driveway. Not to mention if any coolant spills on the greeny grass.

i'll do everything in the garage with distilled water. let see, i get home at 10am, wait for it to cool down, 12 pm, drained 12:30, filled up warmed up drained 12:45, waiting to cool down 02:45, and fill it back in, and burb the system on the driveway, which is very incline. helpful now, but not soo helpful during winter.

[420sxse]

I know this is an old post, but I thought I'd add this for the sake of posterity.Running straight water is a bad idea, even in warm areas, because the term "antifreeze" is misleading. What it does, really, is stabilize the chemical state of the liquid coolant (you'll remember there are three states of matter:gas, liquid, and solid...for water that's steam, liquid, and ice). "Antifreeze" is important for preventing your water from freezing, and equally important to prevent boiling.edit: yes, water is better than ethylene glycol (the normal ingredient of the toxic variety of "antifreeze") at transferring heat.