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Time for a little spring maintenance. A few years back, before being educated by this forum, I flushed the coolant system. It never had been done since I bought it in 2008. I mistakenly put in the universal green stuff since I couldn’t find the gold at my NAPA store. I have other things to do but coolant system flush was first on the list.
I was able to get the passenger side block plug out by pulling the starter at first, and an 8mm Allen wrench. After the initial breaking of the plug loose I used this and kept the starter in so could flush both sides of the block and warm the engine.
Flushed 3 times with plain tap water, then added VC9.
Flushed once with tap water, then once with distilled water.
I figured finding ELC coolant shouldn’t be an issue, right? Wrong. It seems everyone; NAPA, Autozone, TracAuto, etc only had the Peak Fleet stuff. I wasn’t really convinced it was any good. Figured maybe the three truck stops around me would have CAT or Rotella…… nope, they had 50/50 Peak. Finally found Rotella ELC at Tractor Supply. 2 gallons local, 2 gallons 30 miles away. Sheesh!!! Final flush will be tomorrow, then on to other needed maintenance items.
Flushed once with tap water, then once with distilled water.
I always flush at least 3 times with distilled before adding coolant. Even after pulling both block drains, there's still a significant amount of tap water in the system.
Originally Posted by Baylinerchuck
I figured finding ELC coolant shouldn’t be an issue, right? Wrong. It seems everyone; NAPA, Autozone, TracAuto, etc only had the Peak Fleet stuff. I wasn’t really convinced it was any good. Figured maybe the three truck stops around me would have CAT or Rotella…… nope, they had 50/50 Peak. Finally found Rotella ELC at Tractor Supply. 2 gallons local, 2 gallons 30 miles away. Sheesh!!! Final flush will be tomorrow, then on to other needed maintenance items.
Good to know Tractor Supply still had it. I was worried they were going to stop selling it after I saw it for half price last month.
I always flush at least 3 times with distilled before adding coolant. Even after pulling both block drains, there's still a significant amount of tap water in the system.
Good to know Tractor Supply still had it. I was worried they were going to stop selling it after I saw it for half price last month.
From what I can calculate, about 9 quarts stay in the system. Wish I could have gotten it for half price. My local stores were selling it for $26.00 per gallon. The 50/50 stuff was $21.00 a gallon. I wasn’t going to pay that much for water.
That's on my list of things to do this summer. I'll only be flushing with distilled though, as my temps are fine. I have the fumoto valves to install after the initial drains.
Chuck: you know that old Muphy's Law thing... Of course nobody will have what you need in the middle of the job in stock! That said, I'm running Peak Final Charge, so if the stores had that in Concentrate in stock around you, I'd have said go for it... It's got meets CAT ELC spec written all over
Sometimes I think we get caught up with stuff around here.
I am sure if all the tap water isn't out you WILL NEVER know and it will not matter. Do your best and don't get so nutted up over it.
Good Luck
Agree 100%. And to be honest, I wanted to make sure I flushed enough to get nearly every last trace of the old green one size fits all crap out of there, the secondarily the VC9. Didn’t want those chemistries combining with the ELC. I’m confident that was accomplished. I’m not sweating the tap water. Flushed that out twice so it should be diluted fairly well. I’m satisfied, but it took 2 days. Much longer than I had anticipated, but I’m confident it’s done right.
That's on my list of things to do this summer. I'll only be flushing with distilled though, as my temps are fine. I have the fumoto valves to install after the initial drains.
-jokester
I was reading some posts on those valves leaking. I didn’t want to take a chance with that. The block plugs never leak. Removing the starter isn’t too bad…..once. After the block plug was broke free I can put the starter back and use a short piece of hex key with a ratchet wrench. If that wouldn’t have worked, I would have only put in the two bottom bolts in the starter for easy removal. After the 5th flush I got pretty good at removing the plug on that side by feel.
Not knocking anyone’s drain valve setup, seems convenient, and pretty popular. but imo you’ll get more out (larger pieces if any), better flush with removing plugs than draining through smaller diameter drains. I’ve also changed out a few leaking fuel/oil drain *****, the orings go hard, and eventually they can leak.
I was able to get it with a ratchet, but had to have the perfect extension length. I have seen a couple guys on YouTube use that exact wrench.
Is there a consensus from the group on putting in that rear bolt when putting this back together. I have seen some guys put it in, other leave it out. Me, I try to put things back together as they were. Any thoughts from the group?
