flushing coolant

[batman19]

does anyone know how to flush the coolant on v6?

on the book, it said i have to get to two drain plug in the engine, i cant find them at all and i remember last time i flush the coolant i didnt take them out

does anyone know where there are located?

[rlith]

Just turn your petcock on the radiator, drain, remove the thermostat (the best way) and start your flush with a good acid based solution...(don't forget to close the petcock before flushing)

[OffRoadSonoma]

Originally Posted by rlith

Just turn your petcock on the radiator, drain, remove the thermostat (the best way) and start your flush with a good acid based solution...(don't forget to close the petcock before flushing)

Hmmmm??
What would the point of closing the petcock be?? Doesn't flushing mean cleaning out and replacing with new?? If you close your petcock wouldn't that keep the acid solution in your system?? Ya. So this is how to do it.
Go to your local auto parts store and tell them you want a coolant system flush kit. They should sell it and know what you are talking about.
OK. So now, you are gonna have to drain the coolant from your system, so put it in some jugs or whatever you have, I just go to the auto parts store before they open and leave the jugs on the front door step, they must know what do to with it. So once your system is empty find the rubber hose that goes through your firewall and INTO your heater core. You are gonna have to make a single cut in the hose, somewhere you can get a garden hose to. In the kit it should include a T-valve with a removeable cap. Put the T-valve between the 2 hoses, and tighten them down with hose clamps. Once this is in tight (tight enough its not gonna leak when your engine is running, but not too tight that you crack the plastic T-valve.) So once the valve is in make sure your petcock on the bottom right side of the radiator (if you are standing in front of your truck) is open so the fluid can flow through. There should be an adapter that comes with the kit so you can screw your garden hose onto the T-valve. Screw your hose on and turn the water on. Once there is water flowing through the system and onto the ground, start your truck and just let it idle. THEN turn your heat on high and as hot as it goes. This makes sure the water is flowing through your heater core and cleans out the whole system.

OK>>>>>So once the water flowing out the bottom of the radiator is clear you know the system is clean. Turn the water off, close the petcock, and put the cap on the T-valve.
>>>>>Now you are gonna have to go to your Haynes manual for this. You have to find how much your coolant system holds. Once you find this, you are gonna have to get STRAIGHT radiator fluid, and poor half of the total volume of the system into your radiator. EXP( if your system holds 3 gallons total, you will put 1 1/2 gallons of coolant into the system.) Then once you poor the STRAIGHT coolant in, top of your system, radiator and resivour with plain old water. (You do it this way because your system requires a 50/50 mix of coolant and water. Since you can't get ALL the water out of your system, you just make sure you have the right amount of coolant. I probably confused the shit out of a couple people. So if I did confuse you just send me a PM and I'll explain more if you need it.
I hope it helps more than confuses you.

[rlith]

Ummm, you reopen the petcock when you are done loosening everything up.. And an acid based flush is much betrter than a typical prestone flush especially with older ones.

[blazee]

Originally Posted by OffRoadSonoma

Hmmmm??
What would the point of closing the petcock be?? Doesn't flushing mean cleaning out and replacing with new?? If you close your petcock wouldn't that keep the acid solution in your system?? Ya. So this is how to do it.
Go to your local auto parts store and tell them you want a coolant system flush kit. They should sell it and know what you are talking about.
OK. So now, you are gonna have to drain the coolant from your system, so put it in some jugs or whatever you have, I just go to the auto parts store before they open and leave the jugs on the front door step, they must know what do to with it. So once your system is empty find the rubber hose that goes through your firewall and INTO your heater core. You are gonna have to make a single cut in the hose, somewhere you can get a garden hose to. In the kit it should include a T-valve with a removeable cap. Put the T-valve between the 2 hoses, and tighten them down with hose clamps. Once this is in tight (tight enough its not gonna leak when your engine is running, but not too tight that you crack the plastic T-valve.) So once the valve is in make sure your petcock on the bottom right side of the radiator (if you are standing in front of your truck) is open so the fluid can flow through. There should be an adapter that comes with the kit so you can screw your garden hose onto the T-valve. Screw your hose on and turn the water on. Once there is water flowing through the system and onto the ground, start your truck and just let it idle. THEN turn your heat on high and as hot as it goes. This makes sure the water is flowing through your heater core and cleans out the whole system.

OK>>>>>So once the water flowing out the bottom of the radiator is clear you know the system is clean. Turn the water off, close the petcock, and put the cap on the T-valve.
>>>>>Now you are gonna have to go to your Haynes manual for this. You have to find how much your coolant system holds. Once you find this, you are gonna have to get STRAIGHT radiator fluid, and poor half of the total volume of the system into your radiator. EXP( if your system holds 3 gallons total, you will put 1 1/2 gallons of coolant into the system.) Then once you poor the STRAIGHT coolant in, top of your system, radiator and resivour with plain old water. (You do it this way because your system requires a 50/50 mix of coolant and water. Since you can't get ALL the water out of your system, you just make sure you have the right amount of coolant. I probably confused the shit out of a couple people. So if I did confuse you just send me a PM and I'll explain more if you need it.
I hope it helps more than confuses you.

That is a half-assed way of flushing a system. Rlith is right, you need to use a cleaning solution to do a thorough job.(an acid solution does give better results but I have found the prestone solutions to be very adequate). Over time deposits build up in the system and restrict the flow of coolant. Water will not remove these deposits, the cleaning solution will. A flush is pointless unless you remove the deposits, too. Removing the thermostat is not necessary, but will yield much better results. It is also recommended to replace the thermostat and radiator cap, as well.

The best way to flush (and clean) a cooling system is:

For system with minor deposits:

Buy the following:
2 gallons of distilled water $1
2 gallons of antifreeze $16
Prestone Flush 'N Fill kit $3
Prestone Radiator "Flush" $3

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

Drain the anitfreeze 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 $16
Prestone Flush 'N Fill kit $3
Prestone Radiator "cleaner" not "flush" $5

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

Drain the anitfreeze 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.

[batman19]

my truck is using the green coolant, but i bought the orange one. how can i make sure all my old coolant is out of the system so that i dont mix both of them?

[rlith]

Don't switch from the green to the orange coolant, stick with the normal stuff... What advantage do you think dexcool is going to give you?

[blazee]

Originally Posted by rlith

Don't switch from the green to the orange coolant, stick with the normal stuff... What advantage do you think dexcool is going to give you?

I completely agree, you should never switch from the green to the orange. Your system isn't designed for it and it will cause you nothing but problems.

[rlith]

Originally Posted by blazee

I completely agree, you should never switch from the green to the orange. Your system isn't designed for it and it will cause you nothing but problems.

Switching isn't a problem as long as he 100% flushes the green stuff out...Block and radiator components are the same through all years. My question is why does he want to put dex-crap in? Does he want to look forward to sludging and what not? OR does he think he'll get some non-existant performance gain from it?

[CreepingDeath94]

He probably wants to leave it in there for 100,000 miles thinking it will actually last that long, and then wonder why the car overheats and has cooling system problems by the 50,000 mile marker...Sorry, just a little venting after comign home from work where I deal with customer cars who dont maintain them and act like I broke their car when I tell what it is going to cost to fix it.

[Prandtl]

Thank you all for the informative posts, although I do have 1 question:

Is it necessary to remove the drain plugs from the engine block to drain all the coolant, or is it ok to simply use the petcock on the radiator? As far as I can tell, no one has mentioned removing the plugs from the block but it seems to me removing only the radiator petcock will not let out the coolant from the engine.

[Prandtl]

I did the flush, without removing the drain plugs from the block. However, I could not get the proper coolant concentration because I could only get about 4L of coolant into the radiator, and it needs 6L. What I did was I drove the truck for awhile, bought a coolant concentration gauge (~$5) and checked the concentration. Next, I drained the radiator and re-added more coolant, drove the truck again, rechecked with the gauge and repeated the process until I had the 50% concentration.

[rlith]

Originally Posted by Prandtl

I did the flush, without removing the drain plugs from the block. However, I could not get the proper coolant concentration because I could only get about 4L of coolant into the radiator, and it needs 6L. What I did was I drove the truck for awhile, bought a coolant concentration gauge (~$5) and checked the concentration. Next, I drained the radiator and re-added more coolant, drove the truck again, rechecked with the gauge and repeated the process until I had the 50% concentration.

Most autoparts stores sell a 50/50 mix so you don't have to worry about that.

[Zdreamin72]

question gentlemen, i have a 2001 Sonoma with a 4.3 V6 in it, and i can find any sort of petcok on the radiator, does anyone knwo where it is, i know i soudn liek a moron

[Prandtl]

Its on the driver side, sticking out of the side of the radiator, at the bottom. Remove the airbox for easy access.