flushing my engine coolant (3.1)

[rolledthatho]

hey guys i got the "Tee" kit from walmart to do a radiator flush, its kinda explains it on the back, but somewhat unclear, heres what i got....

 

tap heater hose, with tee

 

stick a garden hose into the radiator, or that little plastic lead...(splash guard or something)

 

let the pet cock open and let the coolant start to pour out... then cut on t he water hose, and crank the car letting it idle on highest heat, until nothing but clean water comes out of the radiator drain cock, then cut the car off, close the drain and refill, then refill again

 

any i missing anything or do i have anything wrong?

[rolledthatho]

also those drain cocks pour out fast as hell, so is the regular pressure of a garden hose gonna keep the water level up high enought no to over heat w/ that drain opened

 

 

seems like water would run through it faster than you could pour it in almost?

[Whiskey River]

If it's on a 3.1L then all you need to do is put that tee in line with a heater hose, remove the thermostat and let the water run but do not turn the water on fully. Turn it on enough to start flowing out of the radiator but not much faster as the water pressure may rupture a gasket. Home water pressure can be over 100 psi so be careful there. Otherwise, it takes about 10 minutes for me to completely flush my cooling system.

 

It would probably help to get a length of hose and use the radiator diverter instead of the drain cock. It'll be easier to see when the water is clear and when it is almost clear.

[Whiskey River]

If it's on a 3.1L then all you need to do is put that tee in line with a heater hose, remove the thermostat and let the water run but do not turn the water on fully. Turn it on enough to start flowing out of the radiator but not much faster as the water pressure may rupture a gasket. Home water pressure can be over 100 psi so be careful there. Otherwise, it takes about 10 minutes for me to completely flush my cooling system.

 

It would probably help to get a length of hose and use the radiator diverter instead of the drain cock. It'll be easier to see when the water is clear and when it is almost clear.

[rolledthatho]

so i have to take the thermostat off?

 

what does that do since the dirty water should be comming out of the drain cock anyway? if theres a way to do it w/o the therm having to come out i would like to do it, just so i dont have the hassle of going back up to the parts store and getting a new one/gasket, and sealer

 

i figured id just tap that hose cut on the water hose regular pressure but not full blast, then open the drain cock, then have someone crank the car and cut the heat on, while i hold the hose in the top of the radiator, then i would just look at the draincock until water started pouring out clear, and all would be done?

[Whiskey River]

so i have to take the thermostat off?

 

what does that do since the dirty water should be comming out of the drain cock anyway? if theres a way to do it w/o the therm having to come out i would like to do it, just so i dont have the hassle of going back up to the parts store and getting a new one/gasket, and sealer

 

i figured id just tap that hose cut on the water hose regular pressure but not full blast, then open the drain cock, then have someone crank the car and cut the heat on, while i hold the hose in the top of the radiator, then i would just look at the draincock until water started pouring out clear, and all would be done?

 

You don't have to, besides, the thermostat uses a rubber gasket, no need to go to the parts store. The only advantage to removing the thermostat is you don't have to start the car to do the same thing and it is quicker. The method they want you to use requires starting the car and getting warm enough to partially open the thermostat. If you take the thermostat out, there is no need to start the car.

[rolledthatho]

OHHHH, i see.... well, in that case maybe i should have waited

 

i decided that there wasnt a need for a full flush and just decided to open the drain cock, cut on the car w/ the heat on blast, and let it drain while i held a water hose in it, i did that for about 5-8 mins but the overflow tank never drained out... so i took the water hose out left a little water in the rad (as to not fry it) closed the cock, and went to crank the car hoping all my resovior would flow into the rad so i could flush that shit out, well it gargled slow as hell so i was like fuck that im gonna fry the rad w/ what little water i have in there. if its gonna go this slow... so by then all the radiator was pouring out was clean water, so aside from the overflow i was done... i then closed the drain, filled up w/ 50/50 and cranked the car, my heat was then cold (which is usually because the core dosent have antifreeze in it yet?)

 

so then i drive up the road i get maybe 1/8th mile and its overheating....so i come back and im letting it sit now, it was making a glug glug noise very slow like it was trying to fill the radiator, but im just confused...

 

because the radiator was full... and so was the over flow tank...and the overflow tank is STILL full

 

i know when you drain coolant you have to warm it up and re fill a few times to get in the system, but its full it seems like or it would be chugging from my overflow

 

the moral of the story is I SUCK AT THIS SHIT and im confused...

[GnatGoSplat]

Sounds like you have air in the system. When filling it, you need to open the bleeder on the heater pipe near the water pump (if there is one). When it warms up, you need to open the fleeder on top of the t-stat and let the air come out. When the air is out, coolant will squirt out that hole. If it's just spurting a little and bubbling, there's still air in it. It'll squirt a steady stream when all the air is out.

[rolledthatho]

yeah slow but surely getting there, there was air in the sys, and also it just needed more coolant

 

it took FOREVER FOR IT TO flow through the car tho, like i drove it started to over heat i come back overflow was full rad was full, so i wait like 1/2 hr and finnaly the overflow is empty

 

ive done this on a lot of cars usually when your rad is empty it drags from overflow and you can sit there and see it bubble out of the overfill tank

 

i honestly think evey hose and plug on this car is gummed up, maybe thats why... i can just see the inside of these hoses... it makes me wanna vommit

 

btw i wish i had a digital camera to take a pic of the coolant, i put money on...i could win dirtiest coolant of the CENTURY award...

 

ive driven a car 150k on the same coolant before and the worst it got was brown and sludgy

 

ive seen dark brown with moldy looking tank wallls etc, but this shit was MILKY BLACk w/ chips of shit all in it

 

my car already loves me...someone didnt take care of this thing....

[GnatGoSplat]

Milky black... ummmm, that could be really, really bad. Sounds like oil getting in the coolant!

 

As far as it taking awhile, yeah, W-body cooling systems take a bit longer to burp than other cars I've worked on.

[THe_DeTAiL3R]

I need to re-flush my system. All fucking goopy. I should have used distilled water damnit!!

 

Last time I flushed it, I took out the t-stat (PITA on a 3100), took the hose off the rad from the waterpump, and jammed the hose into the radiator. Pumped it full of water until it came out the waterpump. I tried to turn the stupid knob on the bottem of the rad but it broke off, so no way of getting water to come out the bottem.

[dsgrntld187]

yeah slow but surely getting there, there was air in the sys, and also it just needed more coolant

 

it took FOREVER FOR IT TO flow through the car tho, like i drove it started to over heat i come back overflow was full rad was full, so i wait like 1/2 hr and finnaly the overflow is empty

 

ive done this on a lot of cars usually when your rad is empty it drags from overflow and you can sit there and see it bubble out of the overfill tank

 

i honestly think evey hose and plug on this car is gummed up, maybe thats why... i can just see the inside of these hoses... it makes me wanna vommit

 

btw i wish i had a digital camera to take a pic of the coolant, i put money on...i could win dirtiest coolant of the CENTURY award...

 

ive driven a car 150k on the same coolant before and the worst it got was brown and sludgy

 

ive seen dark brown with moldy looking tank wallls etc, but this shit was MILKY BLACk w/ chips of shit all in it

 

my car already loves me...someone didnt take care of this thing....

You should pull the intake off and clean out the coolant passages. I had to do it to mine, I had no heat whatsoever on my car and it turns out the passages were plugged up.

[rolledthatho]

well i got my heat back, it just didnt have any coolant in the heater core, i think i have it done, i had to leave to go to work with it warm, so tomm morn i will see if it needs to be topped off

 

thanks for the help everyone...