Flushing my trucks coolant is this the way?

[Chrisblazzer89]

I wanted to flush my trucks coolant and I was wondering if i had the prosses down right.

1. Drain rad via drain plug under it.

2. Drain motor via lower rad hose .

3. Reatach hose fill rad with distiled water and run truck keep adding distiled water till rad full, and run truck for 2mins the repeat step 1 & 2. Then reatach all hoses and fill with 50/50 coolant. done.

Is that the right prosses?

 

[Hogback Fabrication]

There are two drain plugs in the block as well (about centered in the block on each side near where the oil pan meets the block). Otherwise sounds like a good way to flush the coolant.

 

[dyeager535]

Well, IF you can get the drain plug out, theoretically all the coolant should come out of the engine and radiator, since the outlet on the block is higher than the drain. Negating the need to remove the lower hose.

Without getting really in-depth (removing engine drain plugs) that should do it. (as mentioned above, engine drain plugs) You don't HAVE to run a 50/50 mix, look on the bottle, see what percentage is right for your climate (give yourself a good margin of error though) and go with that. The less antifreeze you can run the better, since it is NOT a significant factor in cooling, only against *freezing*. The more water you can run, the more effective the cooling system is. (don't believe what the bottle chart shows, they test boiling point at 15PSI, which is where the boilover protection REALLY comes from, so they don't show the whole truth. )

 

[Chrisblazzer89]

Well it gets cold in mass

 

[BROKEN-ONE]

buy a anti-freeze tester

you can buy a anti freeze tester cheap , i would set the mix at about -20 to -30 . to be safe .

 

[Chrisblazzer89]

thanx

 

[dyeager535]

Cold? Alaska cold or Florida cold? Again, making the coolant work way below what you will ever need is counterproductive. If it never gets any below 10*, even on the coldest days, then go for 0* or maybe even -10*. I haven't looked at an antifreeze bottle in a long while to see what they say percentage-wise compared to temp.

Don't forget that windchill has absolutely no effect on coolant temp either. Hard to believe that the way windchill is hyped by the press as being "cold", but that's for humans, not coolant.

 

[BROKEN-ONE]

wind chill

wind chill i would think has a effect on metal surfaces , i think of it as this think of a metal bowel with water in it , the water with no wind will freeze at a different time , than the same bowel with the wind blowing . the wind blowing cuts the time of freezing in half where i am at . but i could be wrong .

 

[Chrisblazzer89]

Ok it gets -20 during the winter from wat i remember

 

[Jimbo*]

Wind Chill is a measure of the temperature as percieved by animate objects. It does not affect inanimate objects.
In other words, you and your dog feel colder when the wind blows, but it matters not to your truck.
Jimbo

 

[BROKEN-ONE]

Wikipedia

The concept of wind chill is of particular significance in very cold climates such as the Arctic and Antarctic, at high altitude, at high speeds, or in very high winds. It is of great importance to the survival of humans and animals, and can even affect machinery and heating systems

 

[dyeager535]

Temperature of an object can not be less than ambient. It is calculated for/by us because wind removes heat from our bodies just like a fan. Your dead body may get to 20* faster if the wind is blowing, but if the ambient temperature is 20*, your body will never get any colder than that.

An engine creates heat *when running*, so wind COULD affect it at that time, (again, it's radiating heat that wind can remove faster) but it's not going to freeze while running in circumstances our trucks will be in.

In any case, a turned off engine can not get any colder than ambient temp, period. Exact same reason you can't "see" windchill with a thermometer.

 

[BROKEN-ONE]

ok

i understand , thanks

 

[beater_k20]

wind chill i would think has a effect on metal surfaces , i think of it as this think of a metal bowel with water in it , the water with no wind will freeze at a different time , than the same bowel with the wind blowing . the wind blowing cuts the time of freezing in half where i am at . but i could be wrong .

i rarely keep water in my bowels, and i definitely dont want it freezing in there!



should be able to just uncork the petcock on the radiator, drain it off, and refill it with 50/50, you should be safe then. FWIW, dont waste your money on premixed 50/50 antifreeze, buy the straight stuff, and add the water yourself.

 

[darkshadow]

I wanted to flush my trucks coolant and I was wondering if i had the prosses down right.

1. Drain rad via drain plug under it.

2. Drain motor via lower rad hose .

3. Reatach hose fill rad with distiled water and run truck keep adding distiled water till rad full, and run truck for 2mins the repeat step 1 & 2. Then reatach all hoses and fill with 50/50 coolant. done.

Is that the right prosses?

for about 5 bucks you can get a kit, that pieces a 'T' to fit you garden hoes into the heater lines, and you run the moter and the hoes to flush every thing out.

then refill.

I never mix anymore, i have had 60% ( guessing because it was 70 and i did add a little water) frease to slush on a really cold morrning.

so screw it i run strat, never a problem.

 

[diesel4me]

It'll freeze!..

Anti-Freeze will gell up and freeze at 0 degrees or slightly colder,if no water is added!..its not as good as cooling as water is too,so running 100% anti-freeze will encourage overheating too..

I found it hard to believe this myself,until I saw slushy jugs of Prestone left outside on display in -10 degree weather,at a gas station I worked at one winter night!..thats when the owner told me to bring them inside,so they wouldn't freeze,and make customers think it was diluted or defective!..

My friends dad restored his 66 Mustang 2+2 Fastback,and replaced everything in the cooling system trying to solve a stubborn overheating problem,that didn't alway occour every time he drove it...finally discovered a 100% anti-freeze fill was the source of his troubles--he figured more was better,and would lengthen the life of his radiator,etc...soon as he drained half of it out and added water ,it never overheated again...

 

[ryoken]

trying to solve a stubborn overheating problem,that didn't alway occour every time he drove it...finally discovered a 100% anti-freeze fill was the source of his troubles

Yup, we see it ALL the time in the boats... Constantly having temp shutoffs tripping on genny's with too much a.f....

 

[mr.smartass]

They aren't just making this **** up when they tell you to mix it... It's not some kind of scam by car and antifreeze manufactures... plus running to much antifreeze can kill a radiator or heatercore through electrolisys (sp.)

 

[darkshadow]

i have never has any over heating troubles with 100% ,i have a good rad better then i need, and i don't live in a very hot climate, it get hot here hell 110 no problem, but not enuff to efect my truck, plus the wya i look at it, if/when i need to add water my mix is still ok

 

[AuH2O]

i have never has any over heating troubles with 100% ,i have a good rad better then i need, and i don't live in a very hot climate, it get hot here hell 110 no problem, but not enuff to efect my truck, plus the wya i look at it, if/when i need to add water my mix is still ok

Ethylene glycol is at its most effective as an antifreeeze application when mixed with 40% water. If you run 100% glycol, you get inferior antifreeze protection compared to the diluted kind. Add to that a higher risk of overheating, and you get no advantage whatsoever running 100% glycol, regardless of whether or not you've had any problems doing so thus far.

Unless it was colder than -60 on that really cold morning of yours - in which case you'd more or less have to live in Siberia - I don't believe you actually did have a 60% mix in your system. Either that or someone sold you some really bad glycol.