Radiator "power flush" machine @ dealership?

[steven88]

I'm planning on servicing my cooling system real soon. What is BITOG's input on these "power flush" machines that are used by dealerships? I actually saw one being used and it looks really cool...but at the same time, I also wondered, does it really get ALL of the coolant out?

I can get it done for fairly cheap...however, I would rather pay someone to do this somewhat messy job...but at the same time, I do have the mechanical knowledge to do the flush myself...i.e. pull drain plug, fill with dis-stilled and keep running it until clear water comes out...which one would keep my cooling system happier? Using the power flush machine that the dealerships use? Or flushing the traditional way?

 

[Rock_Hudstone]

I had one of those machine flushings done after the Dex-cool turned to sludge in our '99 Monte Carlo.

I don't know if was the machine, they did a half-assed job or what, but it did not remove all of the Dex-cool residue. This is the main reason I do most of my own repairs, I've seen more messed up work by so called professionals over the years than I care to remember.

Anyway, I had to do another flushing myself, this time with a garden hose, (drain, flush, fill-repeat). That method did, and always has done an excellent job.
The flush machines, in my opinion, seem to be more for recovery and environmental reasons rather than the best cleaning menthod. Especially if very dirty due to a failure or neglect of some kind.

 

[cmhj]

I'm for the garden hose method.

 

[Kestas]

I use the garden hose and reverse flush. When I do it, it's with the thermostat removed, heat on full, and engine running (at times). I can't imagine missing any spots with this method, and it's undoubtedly better than using a power flush.

 

[Petty]

Garden hose works great, I use the Prestone flushing tee system, install a piece of 3ft hose onto the part that gets installed in the radiator cap opening and direct it into 2 five gallon buckets buy the time the buckets are full the water will be running clear and then direct the hose onto the ground for 3-5 minutes, for those who are worried about tap water drain your radiator and engine block if possible add mineral free water, drain again and add antifreeze, I believe if your vehicle is not prone to issues you only have to do this one time, then every two years drain and refill with a good quality premixed antifreeze and you will be fine.

 

[JustinH]

No need to really flush unless you have an abused system.

I drain the coolant in my saturn every fall, and refill with 50/50 supertech coolant/distilled water.

The coolant is like brand new, and it takes 10 minutes to drain the radiator and refill.

People will say coolant lasts 100k miles, and I'd love to see what is floating in their overflow bottle after 100k miles.

Total cost is 5 bucks, so its something I don't mind doing every year.

 

[mechtech2]

ditto Justin

 

[Donald]

The flush machine is sold to the dealership so his mechanic can do somthing else during the 15-20 min. its flushing. But he then charges to recover the cost of the flush machine. They seem to have a flush machine for everything these days. If you can find a foot of rubber heater hose and can install a Prestone (or similar) flush tee, then that should work fine, but do try and recover the old antifreeze.

I agree if you do not have abused cooling system them maybe drain the radiator on a yearly basis and refill and you should be fine. But if you pull the radiator cap and see a bunch of ugly colored [censored] floating in the AF, then its time for a flush.

 

[Merkava_4]

I just drain and fill the radiator every 6 months; everything stays fresh that way.

 

[johnd]

I saw a flush machine in an automechanics text book when I was in high school that injected compressed air into pressure feed water. The idea was that the bubbles assisted the flush and acted as a scrubber to further clean out foreign material in the cooling system. I built one myself, years later out of pvc pipe, a hose coupling and an Milton air fitting. We used it on my son's truck and it seems to work. You do have to remove the lower hose and the thermostat to get an effective back-flush.

 

[porcupine73]

I would be cautious with the cooling flushing machines. Subaru for one does not suggest the use of a flushing machine mainly because of the risk of contamination. Like it being used on different vehicle makes with different types of coolant. Also ions from different cooling system materials i.e. copper can then contaminate your system. Even if the flushing system is used only on one vehicle make, the coolant coming out of the vehicles being serviced could be different if it was cahnged elsewhere previously.

 

[Rock_Hudstone]

Originally Posted By: Donald
If you can find a foot of rubber heater hose and can install a Prestone (or similar) flush tee, then that should work fine, but do try and recover the old antifreeze.

I don't bother with the Tee, just disconnect one of the heater or baypass hoses, open the petcock, radiator cap and blast away with the hose, alternating between the two openings.

Recover is good idea, but not as crucial as with motor oil. I drain the bulk of it down sink into the public sewer system as it's pretty biodegradeable.
Whatever coolant is left that comes out with the flushing, (very little usually), gets washed down the street with lots of water, again biodegradable and extremely diluted at that point.

 

[alanu]

Drain and fill every other year and your gonna have excellent condition coolant.

Powerflush machines work well. My flushing machine is basically a transfer pump. As the car idles the coolant transfers to the system only when the thermostat opens. This is beneficial to rusty nasty coolant from abused owners.

The garden hose method is a joke!!! you will not get beneficial flow throughout the system since the cold water keeps the thermostat closed. Obviously the fish swimming in your local rivers are getting a "fix" on antifreeze. Power flushing coolant goes in a bucket and will go to the appropriate recycling companies.

I typically do drain and fills for people rather than power flushes.

 

[Rock_Hudstone]

Originally Posted By: alanu
The garden hose method is a joke!!! you will not get beneficial flow throughout the system since the cold water keeps the thermostat closed. Obviously the fish swimming in your local rivers are getting a "fix" on antifreeze. .

That is why block drain plugs should removed as well. Thus, everything south of the T-stat get flushed regardless of whether it's open or closed.

However, on relatively clean systems I find backflushing alone does the job quite nicely. This involves using the hose to flush opposite the normal coolant flow until the water runs clear. Then close the petcock, fill the system with clean water, run it up to operating temperature with heater on full. Let it cool down, drain, and flush again.

Of course, all of the above is way more work than the average service station would ever bother to do.

As for antifreeze in the rivers, it's nothing compared to the tons of road salt washed into local waterways every winter.

 

[Kestas]

In addition, ethylene glycol decomposes, salt does not.

 

[Donald]

I think draining the old AF into a bucket and then get it recycled is a reasonable thing to do.

 

[steven88]

thanks for all the replies guys!