DiscoStudd Posted February 1, 2015 Report Posted February 1, 2015 I'm using the term "HACK" as a parlance of our times, as in "LIFEHACK." This is a little trick I stumbled upon whilst flushing the coolant on my Impala. I purchased a Prestone Flush & Fill Kit and cut the heater hose that connects to the coolant pipe running to the top of the water pump housing. I then installed the garden hose tap across the breach in the heater hose. After flushing out the old coolant, I used the newly installed heater hose tap to fill the back side of the motor. I found that this drastically cuts down on the amount of bleeding that needs to be done when refilling the cooling system. Instead of filling the radiator and waiting for the thermostat to open, then refilling the radiator and bleeding both bleeders over and over and over again, adding coolant through the heater hose tap gets you "7/8ths" of the way full. Give it a try, it'll definitely save you time, and frustration!!! http://www.oreillyauto.com/site/c/detail/PRS0/AFKIT/N0185.oap?ck=Search_antifreeze+flush+kit%21s%21test_-1_-1&keyword=antifreeze+flush+kit%21s%21test Quote
rich_e777 Posted February 1, 2015 Report Posted February 1, 2015 Hell yes I`ll give this a shot, got the block drained already just need a hose. The grand am doesn't have a regular radiator cap so everything gets dumped into the reservoir and it seems like it would take to long to get the thermostat to heat up and I don't like to run the engine empty of coolant. I thought about using a pump to get some coolant in while the LIM is off just so there is something gin there besides air. Quote
94GrandPrix Posted February 1, 2015 Report Posted February 1, 2015 Could you run the engine with this as a permanent setup? Quote
Nas Escobar Posted February 1, 2015 Report Posted February 1, 2015 Hell yes I`ll give this a shot, got the block drained already just need a hose. The grand am doesn't have a regular radiator cap so everything gets dumped into the reservoir and it seems like it would take to long to get the thermostat to heat up and I don't like to run the engine empty of coolant. I thought about using a pump to get some coolant in while the LIM is off just so there is something gin there besides air. I hate that stupid design. My family has a Cavalier with that stupid radiator that is sealed. IDK if I can retrofit one with a normal filler neck. Quote
RobertISaar Posted February 1, 2015 Report Posted February 1, 2015 Could you run the engine with this as a permanent setup? yes, but I wouldn't necessarily recommend it. more points of failure for hot, pressurized coolant to leave the engine. we bought the same kit in..... 2005 or so? instead of cutting the hose, we just got another short section of the same diameter hose and clamped the heater core line on one side and the new hose on the other, flushed it and then put the heater line back in its place. Quote
DiscoStudd Posted February 2, 2015 Author Report Posted February 2, 2015 Could you run the engine with this as a permanent setup? Absolutely! There's a cap included to close off the opening after you get 'er all filled up.. yes, but I wouldn't necessarily recommend it. more points of failure for hot, pressurized coolant to leave the engine. Definitely another failure point, however it's in plain view, so if it were to fail, you'd notice it right away. Quote
Schurkey Posted February 3, 2015 Report Posted February 3, 2015 The Prestone flush 'n' fill fittings were standard operating practice when I was turning wrenches. It may be that the flush 'n' fill hardware back then was better-made than now; but I kind of doubt it. I've got a couple kits sitting on my parts shelf for "future use". Zillions of cars had them permanently installed. The clamps included suck, the hose will cold-flow through the worm-gear slots--but no-one seemed to care. Tighten the clamp some more, Bob! Quote
carkhz316 Posted February 3, 2015 Report Posted February 3, 2015 The Prestone flush 'n' fill fittings were standard operating practice when I was turning wrenches. It may be that the flush 'n' fill hardware back then was better-made than now; but I kind of doubt it. I've got a couple kits sitting on my parts shelf for "future use". Zillions of cars had them permanently installed. The clamps included suck, the hose will cold-flow through the worm-gear slots--but no-one seemed to care. Tighten the clamp some more, Bob! I installed and used one of these kits on the Monte back in 2006 when I was in school for Auto Tech. It's still on the car and is just fine. No leaks. Quote
GnatGoSplat Posted February 6, 2015 Report Posted February 6, 2015 I just use a MityVac hand vacuum pump to suck the air out of the bleeder fittings. As far as I can tell, using the MityVac got me pretty much all the way there. When it'd get up to temp and I opened the fitting, I just got a steady stream of coolant with no bubbles so i think the MityVac works quite well. Maybe not as inexpensive, but super easy and no mods to the car needed. Quote
mfewtrail Posted February 7, 2015 Report Posted February 7, 2015 If you ever use one of these, you'll wonder why you bothered spending any time bleeding a coolant system. http://www.amazon.com/UView-550000-Airlift-Cooling-Checker/dp/B0002SRH5G Bit expensive for a DIY'er, but it's very handy. Quote
carkhz316 Posted February 9, 2015 Report Posted February 9, 2015 If you ever use one of these, you'll wonder why you bothered spending any time bleeding a coolant system. http://www.amazon.com/UView-550000-Airlift-Cooling-Checker/dp/B0002SRH5G Bit expensive for a DIY'er, but it's very handy. I own this tool and have to say it works awesome. Perfect filling every time with no dinking around with bleeding or air bubbles. You don't need a big air compressor either. I use a little 5 gallon/ 1hp little guy and it will pull the cooling system down to 25-27inhg from a full tank of air and barely start to kick in again Quote
GnatGoSplat Posted February 9, 2015 Report Posted February 9, 2015 If you ever use one of these, you'll wonder why you bothered spending any time bleeding a coolant system. http://www.amazon.com/UView-550000-Airlift-Cooling-Checker/dp/B0002SRH5G Do you have to disconnect anything, or does it work through the filler neck? Quote
mfewtrail Posted February 10, 2015 Report Posted February 10, 2015 Do you have to disconnect anything, or does it work through the filler neck? It works through the filler neck. You have to pinch off or cap off the nipple for the overflow jug. There's probably videos of it being used on youtube. Quote
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