Remove radiator drain and only get a quart or two???

To begin, I have NEVER had an overheating problem with this vehicle, heats up, cools down just fine, never goes over 210. I just changed the water pump in my 97 due to it leaking and noticed that the coolant was brown. So, I decided to due a water flush. I removed the drain petcock on the bottom and got maybe max two quarts out of it. I can even leave the drain open, start the car and it wont drain anymore(with rad cap on or off)!?? The water I add will turn brown after an hour of running and then I drain it again, but i think im just draining the same water that I just put in!

Should I remove the stat and try again? Put some aluminum safe acidic flush in it?

I just want to make sure I am cleaining the whole (as possible) system out and not just the two quarts on the passanger side of the rad next the the drain!

Thanks!

I pull the heater hoses and flush thru there and separately flush the heater core so crap (Dex sludge) doesn't fill it up. Acid flush may help or may accelerate taking the heater core out. After a flush the water Pump seals may go later due again to the Dex crap. The system will always be dark orange as the entire system is impregnated with the organic Dex. The radiator tubes may also be getting clogged. Back flush that block till clear water flows and when you go to refill the block will still have water in it so 1 gal Dex will just fit in - that what I've found. Don't forget a new Stant cap too.

I definitely recommend that Stant radiator cap that muddog mentioned.

This is the flush procedure that I recommend:

For normal maintenance:

Buy the following:
2 gallons of distilled water $1
2 gallons of antifreeze $20
Prestone Flush 'N Fill kit $3
Prestone Radiator "Flush" $3

Turn your heater on and leave it on for the entire process

Drain the antifreeze from the system.

Install the "T" from the Flush 'N Fill kit and follow the directions that came with it.

Disconnect the water hose, close all the drains, add the Prestone Flush, fill with water, get engine up to operating temperature and run for 20 minutes, allow to cool then, drain the system.

Connect your water hose to the Flush 'N Fill "T" and flush one more time. Drain.

Fill the system with a 50/50 mix* of antifreeze and distilled water. Continue to fill the system over the next few days as the air is worked out of the system.




For clogged, neglicted, or extremely dirty systems:

Buy the following:

2 gallons of distilled water $1
2 gallons of antifreeze $20
Prestone Flush 'N Fill kit $3
Prestone Radiator "cleaner" not "flush" $4

*NOTE - If you can find them, the two part acid flush and neutralizer kits work much better than the Prestone Cleaner. Substitute for the Prestone Cleaner and follow the instructions on the package.*

Turn your heater on and leave it on for the entire process

Drain the antifreeze from the system.

Install the "T" from the Flush 'N Fill kit and follow the directions that came with it.

Disconnect the water hose, close all the drains, add the Prestone Cleaner, fill with water, run the engine 3-6 hours (you can leave it in for a few days if neccessary), drain the system.

Connect your water hose to the Flush 'N Fill "T" and flush one more time. Drain.

Fill the system with a 50/50 mix* of antifreeze and distilled water. Continue to fill the system over the next few days as the air is worked out of the system.


*When you do your final drain and fill....not all the water will come out so to get the proper 50/50 mix you should add the right amount of straight antifreeze then top off with the distilled water.

I pull the heater hoses and flush thru there and separately flush the heater core so crap (Dex sludge) doesn't fill it up. Acid flush may help or may accelerate taking the heater core out. After a flush the water Pump seals may go later due again to the Dex crap. The system will always be dark orange as the entire system is impregnated with the organic Dex. The radiator tubes may also be getting clogged. Back flush that block till clear water flows and when you go to refill the block will still have water in it so 1 gal Dex will just fit in - that what I've found. Don't forget a new Stant cap too.

See below response.

I definitely recommend that Stant radiator cap that muddog mentioned.

This is the flush procedure that I recommend:

For normal maintenance:

Buy the following:
2 gallons of distilled water $1
2 gallons of antifreeze $20
Prestone Flush 'N Fill kit $3
Prestone Radiator "Flush" $3

Turn your heater on and leave it on for the entire process

Drain the antifreeze from the system.

Install the "T" from the Flush 'N Fill kit and follow the directions that came with it.

Disconnect the water hose, close all the drains, add the Prestone Flush, fill with water, get engine up to operating temperature and run for 20 minutes, allow to cool then, drain the system.

Connect your water hose to the Flush 'N Fill "T" and flush one more time. Drain.

Fill the system with a 50/50 mix* of antifreeze and distilled water. Continue to fill the system over the next few days as the air is worked out of the system.




For clogged, neglicted, or extremely dirty systems:

Buy the following:

2 gallons of distilled water $1
2 gallons of antifreeze $20
Prestone Flush 'N Fill kit $3
Prestone Radiator "cleaner" not "flush" $4

*NOTE - If you can find them, the two part acid flush and neutralizer kits work much better than the Prestone Cleaner. Substitute for the Prestone Cleaner and follow the instructions on the package.*

Turn your heater on and leave it on for the entire process

Drain the antifreeze from the system.

Install the "T" from the Flush 'N Fill kit and follow the directions that came with it.

Disconnect the water hose, close all the drains, add the Prestone Cleaner, fill with water, run the engine 3-6 hours (you can leave it in for a few days if neccessary), drain the system.

Connect your water hose to the Flush 'N Fill "T" and flush one more time. Drain.

Fill the system with a 50/50 mix* of antifreeze and distilled water. Continue to fill the system over the next few days as the air is worked out of the system.


*When you do your final drain and fill....not all the water will come out so to get the proper 50/50 mix you should add the right amount of straight antifreeze then top off with the distilled water.


Thanks again all!

Well, I found a good write up on this. One question though, how do I know what hose is the heater core inlet and which is the heater core return?

Fill the system with a 50/50 mix* of antifreeze and distilled water. Continue to fill the system over the next few days as the air is worked out of the system.


*When you do your final drain and fill....not all the water will come out so to get the proper 50/50 mix you should add the right amount of straight antifreeze then top off with the distilled water.

Hey guys - here are a couple of products which will make the filling procedure much easier if you have shop air available:

http://www.etoolcart.com/index.asp?P...OD&ProdID=3621

Or from Snap-on:

http://buy1.snapon.com/catalog/item.asp?P65=&tool=&item_ID=66765&group_ID=12500&s tore=snapon-store&dir=catalog (http://buy1.snapon.com/catalog/item.asp?P65=&tool=&item_ID=66765&group_ID=12500&store=snapon-store&dir=catalog)

Here is the cheapest one that I have found:
http://www.tooldiscounter.com/ItemDisplay.cfm?lookup=ROB75260&friendmail=getinfo (http://www.tooldiscounter.com/ItemDisplay.cfm?lookup=ROB75260&friendmail=getinfo)

I also saw a refiller on Ebay for about $70.

If you use one of the above tools you can completely fill the system with water, then drain out just the right amount and refill with straight anti-freeze to get the 50/50 mixture. The other way to get the right mixture is to use a refractometer, don't have any links but I have seen them on Ebay for $30-$40.

Good Luck,

Sparky

Blazee procedure is what I use. To add to this though in your case I would go a step further. I would pull the thermostat out and run it without the thermostat while your running the cleaner in it and flushing. This way you have the water pump circulating the water with the cleaner right away, all the time. I would even drive it like this for about 5-10 miles. Yes it won't get to engine temperature, but the cleaner is still working, the trick is it needs to be circulating in the engine for it to clean. At this point, I'd follow the flushing procedure blazee mentioned, for sure install a new rad cap, and since you have to reinstall a thermostat, I'd go ahead and get a new thermostat too.