distilled water and green coolant
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Kestas
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A flushant (flushing cleaner) should only be used for any of two reasons -- either there are hard mineral deposits... then a citric acid flushant should be used, or there are oily deposits... then a detergent flushant should be used. Do either of these situations apply to you?
Much has been written about using water to flush out a system. There are many opinions and everybody has their own method. I flush with tap water, then remove as much of the water as possible and refill with the proper amount of antifreeze and top off with distilled water. Others use methods to avoid or minimize the usage of tap water for flushing.
How many miles on your car and when was the cooling system last serviced?
Much has been written about using water to flush out a system. There are many opinions and everybody has their own method. I flush with tap water, then remove as much of the water as possible and refill with the proper amount of antifreeze and top off with distilled water. Others use methods to avoid or minimize the usage of tap water for flushing.
How many miles on your car and when was the cooling system last serviced?
Kestas
Staff member
It should be obvious if there is any oil in the coolant. If you can't see oil right away, then you probably don't have that problem.
There's nothing like doing it yourself to make sure a job is done right. Change it now. This will be a startng point for future maintenance and you won't have to guess whether the fluid is okay or not.
There's nothing like doing it yourself to make sure a job is done right. Change it now. This will be a startng point for future maintenance and you won't have to guess whether the fluid is okay or not.
From a post by Vilan in another thread:
"A proper flush isn't hard to do. I just did my first one a few weeks ago, no big trouble. Took me about an hour, but most of it is spent waiting for the coolant to either heat up or cool down between flushes.
Basically, after you dump your old coolant out of the radiator, fill it with water (distilled is best, but tap water is OK if you don't have hard water) and turn on your engine for 5-10 minutes to get the flush flowing. Also turn your car heater on maximum to let the flush get into the heater core. Then let it cool off for another 5-10 minutes and dump out the water. If it's clear, you're done. If not, do it again until you've gotten all the old coolant out. I did 3 flushes and it was still a little green from my old coolant, you may need even more. If your rad is really bad you might want to buy some flush products and use that instead of water, your call.
If your car has engine block coolant drain plugs and you've opened those to start with, probably one flush is enough since you won't need to worry about having coolant trapped in the engine. If you don't have engine plugs (or can't find them ) then also remember that your engine will be full of water after your flushes, which will dilute the coolant you add afterwards. Pay attention to how much comes out of the radiator and compare it to the total capacity (should be in the owner's manual) to see how much is in the engine, and adjust how much coolant you add accordingly to get the coolant:water ratio you want."
If you don't use distilled water in each cycle of the flush, then when you're done flushing and fill the radiator with antifreeze and water, all the liquid in the engine block will be tap water, which is not preferred. If you use distilled water for each cycle of the flush, after the last cycle the liquid in the engine block will be distilled water. Distilled water is cheap; use it for each flush cycle.
"A proper flush isn't hard to do. I just did my first one a few weeks ago, no big trouble. Took me about an hour, but most of it is spent waiting for the coolant to either heat up or cool down between flushes.
Basically, after you dump your old coolant out of the radiator, fill it with water (distilled is best, but tap water is OK if you don't have hard water) and turn on your engine for 5-10 minutes to get the flush flowing. Also turn your car heater on maximum to let the flush get into the heater core. Then let it cool off for another 5-10 minutes and dump out the water. If it's clear, you're done. If not, do it again until you've gotten all the old coolant out. I did 3 flushes and it was still a little green from my old coolant, you may need even more. If your rad is really bad you might want to buy some flush products and use that instead of water, your call.
If your car has engine block coolant drain plugs and you've opened those to start with, probably one flush is enough since you won't need to worry about having coolant trapped in the engine. If you don't have engine plugs (or can't find them ) then also remember that your engine will be full of water after your flushes, which will dilute the coolant you add afterwards. Pay attention to how much comes out of the radiator and compare it to the total capacity (should be in the owner's manual) to see how much is in the engine, and adjust how much coolant you add accordingly to get the coolant:water ratio you want."
If you don't use distilled water in each cycle of the flush, then when you're done flushing and fill the radiator with antifreeze and water, all the liquid in the engine block will be tap water, which is not preferred. If you use distilled water for each cycle of the flush, after the last cycle the liquid in the engine block will be distilled water. Distilled water is cheap; use it for each flush cycle.
my car has a 112500 miles on it.i think that carservice guy changed the coolant about less than a year ago.but i think he only changed at the bottom of the radiator and didnt flush it,because it is dark green.i think it should be still clear green because it is only less than a year when they changed at the service place.
im gonna flush it with plain water and put brand new coolant in it,so i can wath the coolant fluid.if its going to keep it color or not.i hope there is no oil in the coolant system.how i could check it?
im gonna flush it with plain water and put brand new coolant in it,so i can wath the coolant fluid.if its going to keep it color or not.i hope there is no oil in the coolant system.how i could check it?
Neat, people are quoting my instructions. I feel giddy with power!
Tonttu, opening the radiator plug will only get rid of the coolant in the radiator. There will still be some trapped inside the engine. You'll need to open the drain plugs on the engine block to empty it out (if the Firebird has block drain plugs, anyway... no idea) or else run some flushes to clean out what's in the engine. Otherwise you'll still have half your old coolant in there.
Tonttu, opening the radiator plug will only get rid of the coolant in the radiator. There will still be some trapped inside the engine. You'll need to open the drain plugs on the engine block to empty it out (if the Firebird has block drain plugs, anyway... no idea) or else run some flushes to clean out what's in the engine. Otherwise you'll still have half your old coolant in there.
yeah,there should be two draining plugs and the radiator plug.i just been thinking thati drain old fluid just from the radiator,and flushed until the water that comes out is clear.would i be ok,doing that or should i take all plugs out?
my plan is to flush it and fill it with distilled water,rather than tap water.
my plan is to flush it and fill it with distilled water,rather than tap water.
I'd open all the plugs. You could do the flushes without opening them, but it should take less time to clean it out if they're open.
Distilled water is a good idea. I used tap water, and so far so good, but distilled is safer. I was particularly dumb to use tap water since I work in a lab with an on-site water deionization system so I can get all the pure water I want for free. But I forgot. Oops.
Distilled water is a good idea. I used tap water, and so far so good, but distilled is safer. I was particularly dumb to use tap water since I work in a lab with an on-site water deionization system so I can get all the pure water I want for free. But I forgot. Oops.
best way to get all the old stuff out is to buy a Flushing kit where you simply install a T-fitting that hooks up to a garden hose into one of your heater hose lines.
If you changed the green coolant 1 year ago
and got half out doing it just with the radiator another one time drain will have replaced 2/3 of the coolant. Doing it again after another year had changed 83% and the change interval is 24 months.
Usually if green coolant and your radiator have trouble the stuff looks a lot worse than just a darker color but still clear.
and got half out doing it just with the radiator another one time drain will have replaced 2/3 of the coolant. Doing it again after another year had changed 83% and the change interval is 24 months.
Usually if green coolant and your radiator have trouble the stuff looks a lot worse than just a darker color but still clear.
I've never been able to completely drain an engine. There is always some liquid left somewhere in the system.
Tap water in certain localities contain minerals that react with chemicals in some antifreeze and produce a precipitate. Other tap water does not have those minerals.
Ken
Tap water in certain localities contain minerals that react with chemicals in some antifreeze and produce a precipitate. Other tap water does not have those minerals.
Ken
quote:
"best way to get all the old stuff out is to buy a Flushing kit where you simply install a T-fitting that hooks up to a garden hose into one of your heater hose lines."
The problem with this method is that when you're done flushing and go to put the antifreeze in your engine block is full of tap water from the garden hose, which has minerals in it that are not good for the cooling system components. Distilled water is recommended.
"best way to get all the old stuff out is to buy a Flushing kit where you simply install a T-fitting that hooks up to a garden hose into one of your heater hose lines."
The problem with this method is that when you're done flushing and go to put the antifreeze in your engine block is full of tap water from the garden hose, which has minerals in it that are not good for the cooling system components. Distilled water is recommended.
Last time I flushed mine I dumped as much antifreez out(to dispose of it properly). Then added some engine flush cleaners and tap water.
Then I drove it a little bit.
After that time I unhooded the heater return line from the engine when it cooled enough and replaced it with a garden hose then started up the car.
The old junk pumped it's self out and fresh water filled the engine.
After I flushed it out a few times I emptied out as much tap water as I could with drain cocks also by un hooking hoses and flushing with 1 gallon of distilled water.
Fill up was done with Prestone green and Distilled water.
Tap water can leave Scale on the inside of the engine, it is hard to get rid of.
Then I drove it a little bit.
After that time I unhooded the heater return line from the engine when it cooled enough and replaced it with a garden hose then started up the car.
The old junk pumped it's self out and fresh water filled the engine.
After I flushed it out a few times I emptied out as much tap water as I could with drain cocks also by un hooking hoses and flushing with 1 gallon of distilled water.
Fill up was done with Prestone green and Distilled water.
Tap water can leave Scale on the inside of the engine, it is hard to get rid of.
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