RADIATOR FLUSH QUESTION!!!!!!!!!!

Georgie

New Member
Jul 13, 2005
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Montreal, Canada
I GOT A NEW ALUM FLUIDYN RAD AND NEW WATER PUMP AND A NEW HEATER CORE..... I WANNA FLUSH THE WHOLE SYSTEM OUT PROPERLY BE4 I INSTALL ANY OF MY NEW PARTS.. WHAT SHOULD I DO?? I GOT A COUPLE OF SCENARIOS...

1- FLUSH THE WHOLE SYSTEM AS IS..DRAIN AND INSTALL NEW PARTS...

2-REMOVE THE THERMOSTAT, REMOVE THE HEATER CORE AND BYPASS IT, BYPASS THE RAD...FLUSH THE BLOCK OUT AND INSTALL NEW PARTS....

3- THE SAME AS ABOVE BUT WITHOUT REMOVING THE RAD??

WHN I SAY FLUSH, THEIRS A PRODUCT THAT U ADD..ITS CALLED RAD FLUSH...

ANY SUGGESTIONS TO DO THE BEST POSSIBLE JOB???
THANX

:SNSign:
 
I would personally leave everything as is and disconnect at the top of the radiator and at the bottom and run water through until comes out clear. Then fill the system up with water only and run the car for a little while. Then do the same thing again. You can do this two or three times but two is usually sufficient. Then install your new radiator and other parts. This is how I have always done it and it seems to flush good.
 
Bypassing everything but the block will help you flush the engine more directly, mostly by process of elimination, but keep in mind that a lot of crud can build up in your heater core. It's hard to flush out a heater core - usually it's best to just replace the thing, and that's a whole headache in itself - but if you go about using that pour-in flush treatment stuff, it might at least help get rid of some of the light limey/rusty deposits and such.

There's two kinds of Prestone radiator flush that I've seen; one involves draining the system, refilling with the treatment and straight water, idling, draining, flushing, refilling, draining, etc. until clear and then refilling with 50/50 antifreeze; the other you pour in and just drive it as-is for a few days before doing the whole drain/refill/drain/flush/refill/etc. thing - not as concentrated as the quickie flush, but does the same deal. I'd lean more towards the leave-in treatment because it's likely to eat at those deposits of gunk a lot better than the other one can manage to do in just a few minutes ... plus the residual amounts of the less harsh flush aren't as likely to cause any issues later on down the road. (I'm assuming the quickie-flush stuff is a lot more caustic and likely to eat up more than just the bad stuffs, if given time.)

The quickie flush is in the smaller of the two Prestone bottles, but I think they cost about the same (around three bucks).
 
IM CHANGING THE HEATER CORE ANYWAYS..THATS WHY I WANNA BYPASS IT...DO THE QUICK FLUSH WITHOUT THE RAD, THERMOSTAT AND HEATER CORE.. ITS GONNA REALLY CLEAN MY BLOCK..

ON MY LAST DRAIN I INSTALL MY NEW RAD.WATER PUMP, THERMOSTAT AND HEATER CORE.. THEN 4 SURE ILL HAVE A GOOD COOLING SYSTEM!!

RIGHT?
 
If possible,remove the block drain plugs.This way you can drain out the crap that settles in the lower part of the block and refilling the system is easier.

If the drain plugs aren`t removed,you won`t get all the crap out.

They will likely be a pita to remove,I know mine were.I replaced the factory drain plugs with some pipe plugs using liquid pipe thread sealer.
 
Georgie said:
where is the drain plug? cuz my tranny is out and i can see little plugs behind the flywheel(its off)

There`s 2 block drain plugs.
On the passenger side it`s at the front side of the block and on the drivers side it`s at the rear side of the block.Both are near the bottom of the block on both sides.

You can`t miss them when you look.They have allen heads,(mine did).

But like I said if they have never been removed,they will likely be hard to remove.I had to heat the crap out of mine with a torch before they gave way.Penetrating oil didn`t work.
 
Georgie said:
SO I OPEN THEM WHEN IM IN THE DRAINING PROCESS??? CAN I RUN A WATER HOSE THREW ONE OF THE RAD HOSES(BYPASSED) AFTER IM DONE DRAINING TO MAKE SURE I GET ALL THE CRAP OUT..???????????

In my case I have an old heater hose with a flushing tee.This is the hose that goes from the steel heater core line that runs along the intake manifold to the water pump.(front of engine).

After I flush it out for a while,I then open the block drain plugs and turn the water back on to flush out the block.