short on drained coolant question

[turner]

When I drained my coolant yesterday roughly 6 quarts came out and same when using fresh water. The manuals said capacity is 11 5/8 quarts. I drained using the lower hose and air bleeder valve and cap opened . A mechanic told me not to mess with the drain plugs on each side of the engine as the threads strip easy. Is if possible the lower hose doesn'tdrain it all the way?

[longtooth]

You wont get it all out. There will still be coolant in the block and in the heater core, to get all the fluid replaced you will want to hook it up to a machine that cleans and flushes the entire system and it will use a couple of gallons. But for a drain and fill I think you have the right amount.

If you can look into the radiator see if there is any scaling(white build up). It can plug a runner.

[turner]

Yeah there was scaling. I forgot to buy a bottle of flush . Next time. Thanks Longtooth

[AJ.VALENTE]

Ya, what I do is drain the radiator every year. Figure that replacing half the coolant every year is as good as replacing all of it every 2 years.

'97 SE Hardbody