Question about engine coolent?

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TenaciousD

Founding Member

Sep 15, 2001

320

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Tampa,Fl

Oct 20, 2005

#1

• Oct 20, 2005

• #1

I had to go get an oil change the other day(did'nt have time to do it myself)
and they said that I should get the coolent changed as it was murky brown instag of green, it was $59.99 and they would flush it out. my question is, is this somthing I can do my self i.e. is the a drain plug I can unscrew, flush it out w/ a hose and go to pep boys to get coolent my self. thanks for any help.
99GT

 

K

Kilgore Trout

Fried or Broiled ?

10 Year Member

Mar 30, 2005

4,749

95

134

Oct 20, 2005

#2

• Oct 20, 2005

• #2

Yes, you can do this yourself www.bullittarchive.com has instructions. However, depending on how much your time is worth $59 is not a bad price to be done with it...

 

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TenaciousD

Founding Member

Sep 15, 2001

320

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Tampa,Fl

Oct 20, 2005

#3

• Oct 20, 2005

• #3

Thanks. after doing a more detailed search it seems alot of people think an engine flush is a bad idea. pretty much I just want to replace the brown murky fluid w/ somthin a little cleaner

 

streetstang03

unModerator

Dec 27, 2003

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the dark side of the moon/home of the 1999, 2003,

Oct 20, 2005

#4

• Oct 20, 2005

• #4

drain the old coolant out of the bottom of the coolant tank by removing the plug (its on the bottom right side of the tank if you're laying on your back with your feet sticking out from the front bumper. you dont even need to jack the car up). just stick your hose in there and run water through it while the engine is on until its clean. after the water draining out of the bottom of the coolant tank has been clear for a while, take the hose out, plug the drain and refill with the right coolant/water ratio. should take no more than 20min.

 

T

TenaciousD

Founding Member

Sep 15, 2001

320

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Tampa,Fl

Oct 20, 2005

#5

• Oct 20, 2005

• #5

thanks for the advice, I will need a ramp or jack as I cant fir under there w/ the roush front end and springs but i'll give it a look

 

streetstang03

unModerator

Dec 27, 2003

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the dark side of the moon/home of the 1999, 2003,

Oct 20, 2005

#6

• Oct 20, 2005

• #6

didnt see that you have the stage III bumper in that case, yes you will need to jack it up

 

twogts4us

15 Year Member

Apr 1, 2004

4,188

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79

Dunedin, FL

Oct 20, 2005

#7

• Oct 20, 2005

• #7

streetstang03 said:

drain the old coolant out of the bottom of the coolant tank by removing the plug (its on the bottom right side of the tank if you're laying on your back with your feet sticking out from the front bumper. you dont even need to jack the car up). just stick your hose in there and run water through it while the engine is on until its clean. after the water draining out of the bottom of the coolant tank has been clear for a while, take the hose out, plug the drain and refill with the right coolant/water ratio. should take no more than 20min.

Click to expand...

But that doesn't drain nearly all the coolant as the block will still be full of crud. And I'm surprised the bullitt archive article (as Kilgore noted above) doesn't address the drain plugs in the block. To really do it properly, you'd want to remove these screw in plugs (and I'm not talking 'freeze' plugs) and flush the block.
The Haynes manual goes into more detail. To me, it's a pain to get to these plugs, and if the shop is doing it this way for $59, that's a pretty good deal.