Mazda 3 04 Coolant ? + Silicon Hoses ?

[Ndx]

Hey Guys,

Thinking of doing a flush in my Mazda 3 ... I guess that It has oem coolant in it ... ( It was once flushed by Dealer )

I don't think that 04 uses that long life one ...

What coolant should I use ?

I'm planning to drain radiator and reservoir ... start car ... and drain and refill again. is that good plan ?

Car is now almost 6 years old ..
I can get for 50$ set of silicon hoses OBX ?
Should I replace those to ..

PS, I would like pre mixed coolant

 

[Ndx]

Zerex® Asian Vehicle Anitfreeze / Coolant ?

 

[stranger706]

I recently did a coolant drain and fill on my Mazda also. I did 2 back to back drain and refills (drove around for 20 min in between; make sure you do that). I used Peak Long Life 50/50 mix. They are $7.50/gallon at Walmart. Sometimes the auto stores have sales or 2 for 1 deals so check around. I used about 1.25 gallons each time I filled it back up. You'll have to add a bit after you drive around as the air gets purged out.

Don't waste money on a full flush. Its ok to have some old coolant mixed in.

I wouldn't worry about hoses yet either. They last a lot longer than before. Just squeeze them to make sure they are not getting soft/squishy/deteriorating.

 

[Familyguy]

My flush method:

1. Buy a half dozen or so gallons of distilled water from the local pharmacy.
2. Drain radiator.
3. Refill cooling system with distilled water.
4. Start engine.
5. Let engine idle for 5-10 minutes until the thermostat opens and things circulate for a couple of minutes.
6. Shut off engine.
7. Repeat steps 2-6 until I run out of distilled water.
8. Drain radiator.
9. Refill with full strength G05 coolant (cuz that's what my car takes).
10. That gives me approximately a 50/50 mix of G05 and distilled water.

Replace G05 coolant with whatever is recommended for your vehicle.

 

[440Magnum]

Originally Posted By: Familyguy
My flush method:

Replace G05 coolant with whatever is recommended for your vehicle.


Nah, just use G-05 in everything!

(only half kidding, actually)


Seriously: the only way I can think to improve your flush method would be to pull the engine block coolant plugs. That gets another gallon or more (depending on engine type) out immediately and makes for a more thorough flush. When I can get the drain plugs out, I flush using tap water and then do one final cycle with distilled since the only water left in the system once you drain the radiator and block is the heater core.

When I can drain that thoroughly, I also pre-mix G-05 and distilled water to 50/50 since there's virtually no fluid left in the system after the final drain.

 

[Familyguy]

A few iterations of flushes as I mentioned with distilled water effectively dilutes what you had in the system to a statistically insignificant amount. So you'll wind up with a block and heater core full of distilled water. When you mix in the coolant at the end you get your approximately 50/50 mixture of coolant/water. It just isn't worth the hassle to drain the block, even when it is convenient to do so (it almost never is).

 

[440Magnum]

Originally Posted By: Familyguy
It just isn't worth the hassle to drain the block, even when it is convenient to do so (it almost never is).


If you've ever seen how much manufacturing debris comes out of some lower engine water jackets...

Also, I usually replace the drain plugs with stop-cocks so that next time around I just open the drain valves ;-)

 

[Familyguy]

Originally Posted By: 440Magnum
Originally Posted By: Familyguy
It just isn't worth the hassle to drain the block, even when it is convenient to do so (it almost never is).


If you've ever seen how much manufacturing debris comes out of some lower engine water jackets...

Also, I usually replace the drain plugs with stop-cocks so that next time around I just open the drain valves ;-)



Hehe, I've never bothered and so far it hasn't bitten me in the fanny (a few hundred flushes later), but this is BITOG...the domain of the OCD mechanic.

 

[KrisZ]

One little trick I learned on my Mazda to speed up the drain & fill process (when doing multiple drain & fills), is to wait about 10-15 min after the car was warmed up (so the coolant is not that hot), don't remove the cap from the pressure tank, unscrew the drain plug, you will notice that the plug will not leak any coolant as it has to be pulled out a little. But instead of pulling it out and getting hot coolant on your hands, put a pan underneath and go and remove the cap from the pressure tank, because the coolant is still hot and the system is pressurized, the drain plug will pop off (it will still saty in place, so no worries of loosing it), no hot coolant on your hands.

 

[Ndx]

great ... Thank You... guys