Coolant flush with a Flush and fill kit anyone?

[navid41691]

I want to do a complete coolant flush not just a drain and fill or stick a hose in the radiator and blast it away. I'm having a overheating issue and i'm pretty sure it's because the leak in my upper rad hose (replaced it) and there is now air in the system. Also the coolant looks so filthy.

The kit calls for the heater inlet hose to be cut to install the flushing tee. I'm not 100% sure which the inlet hose is though. Can anyone point it out to me?

[navid41691]

Also, has anyone else used the flush and fill kit with the flushing tee? any additional advice?

[jlevie]

I don't use a "flush and fill kit", nor is it necessary. You can accomplish the job by:

1) Get the front of the car 1-2' in the air on jack-stands.

2) Drain the coolant, remove the thermostat, and set the heater controls for
full hot. O-ring sealed thermostats require you to make up a temporary
gasket, which can be made out of pasteboard.

3) Add flush compound and fill with plain water. Then run the engine at normal
temperature as specified by the flush manufacturer (usually about 15
minutes at operating temperature). In cooler weather it may be necessary to
block off some of the air into the radiator to decrease the warmup time.

4) Allow the engine to cool until you can place your hand on the cylinder head
w/o discomfort. Drain the system via the radiator & block drains and refill with plain water.

5) Run the engine for 10-15 minutes or until temp is close to normal.

6) Repeat (4) and (5) until the water drained from the system is clear and
free of debris.

7) Fill with coolant. It is best to dilute anitfreeze with distilled water.
Tap water contains disolved oxygen and may contain minerals. Either of
which will reduce the lifetime of the coolant.

Notes:

You don't absolutely need to remove the thermostat, but doing so will allow
continuous flow through the radiator and will also make draining & filling
faster and easier.

Always allow the engine to cool to the point that you can hold your hand on
the cylinder head without discomfort. That will prevent scalds from hot
coolant and prevent thermally shocking the head when you dump the coolant.

Filling the system with hot water makes the process go faster and keeps from
having to run the engine a lot in a cold condition (rich mixture).

[5Toes]

So pics of bypassing the thermostat?

[navid41691]

So i did what you said, and thanks for the info, but now it seems like coolant isn't circulating through the hoses at all in other words there is no pressure in the hoses. why is that happening?

[jlevie]

Is this after flushing and re-installation of the thermostat?

Are the hoses getting hot? If there is no air in the system there won't be a lot of pressure in the cooling system. The hoses will feel firm, but but not hard. If no pressure is building at all, the expansion tank or cap could be bad.

[Eddie Haskell]

Try bleeding it. I bet you have air in the system. Search bleeding, there is mucho info. Dont dick with it too much. You can overheat it quick with air in system and nada circulation.

[navid41691]

I opened the thermostat bleeder screw and very little if any coolant comes out now. But the car is not over heating and its steady at a little less than half way on the temp gauge. There is still very little or not coolant in the upper radiator hoses though. That's not normal is it? or is it and i'm just being paranoid? The car can stay on and not overheat.

[jlevie]

Did you bleed the system like:

1) Using ramps or a jack get the front of the car 1' or more higher than
the rear. That will make the radiator and bleed screw the highest point
on the engine and facilitate removal of air.

2) With the bleed screw open, add coolant until no more air comes out of
the bleed.

3) Leave the filler cap off, or at least loose, and set the heat for max
temp and fan speed. Leaving the cap loose will prevent air that's still
in the system from causing a "coolant fountain" once the engine heats
up. Start the engine and allow it to warm up to operating temp. As it
warms up occasionally crack the bleed screw to release any air and top
up the coolant as necessary.

4) Once the engine is at temp bring it up to 2000-2500rpm for a few seconds
several times. Then crack the bleed until no more air is released. At
this point the heater should be throwing lots of hot air, which
indicates that the heater core is filled with coolant. You may have to
repeat this a few times to get all the air out.

5) Drive the car a bit, allow it to cool back down, and recheck the
bleed for air. Over the next few days you may get very small amounts (a
few bubbles) of air out of the bleed screw.