Coolant Flush
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Fleet Mechanic
Joined: Feb 2005
Posts: 1,797
Likes: 1
From: Northern Colorado
Coolant Flush
I finally got rid of the old GOLD factory stuff and picked up a case of DELO ELC. I was thinking about going with EVANS but could not justify the initial cost of it, especially since DELO claims 300,000 miles (and I doubt if I'll go that long....)
I used 18 gallons of distilled water for the flush and refill but the time involved in flushing was much greater that I had anticipated. It's a real pain getting to that 1/4 npt drain plug behind the starter. Not only that but when you pull the plug out, be prepaired to have some pretty warm water dribble down you arm into your armpit!!!!
What really slowed me down was drain the radiator, pull the left plug, jump around for a few minutes from getting scalded, pull the right plug, jump around some more, wait for it to stop dripping, put the plugs back in, close the radiator petcock, refill with water, warm up the engine untill the heater hoses and radiator hose gets hot and do it all over again two more times!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Probably took me 3 hours to do it all. - Maybe I will go 300,000 miles
I used 18 gallons of distilled water for the flush and refill but the time involved in flushing was much greater that I had anticipated. It's a real pain getting to that 1/4 npt drain plug behind the starter. Not only that but when you pull the plug out, be prepaired to have some pretty warm water dribble down you arm into your armpit!!!!
What really slowed me down was drain the radiator, pull the left plug, jump around for a few minutes from getting scalded, pull the right plug, jump around some more, wait for it to stop dripping, put the plugs back in, close the radiator petcock, refill with water, warm up the engine untill the heater hoses and radiator hose gets hot and do it all over again two more times!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Probably took me 3 hours to do it all. - Maybe I will go 300,000 miles
Smokin
Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 8,849
Likes: 0
Originally Posted by guzzle92
Not only that but when you pull the plug out, be prepaired to have some pretty warm water dribble down you arm into your armpit!!!!
I feel your pain, though. When I did my flush, I started at like 4 in the afternoon or something, and it was way past dark by the time I finally finished and was testing the mixture of the new coolant.
I did mine on Saturday. What a P.I.T.Asterisk. But hey we are good for the next 5-10 yrs.
HAH HAH Take Care> Country
Senior User
Joined: Dec 2004
Posts: 117
Likes: 0
From: Wichita, KS
Originally Posted by NS F250
Yep, the plug behind the starter sucks. What surpised me, was how long it takes to actually warm up all the fluid. I think half the time driving around, my thermostat doesn't even open.
I just flushed my system last week. After multiple flushings and 20 mins idle time I decided to take it out and drive it before the final drain of distilled water came out. About 10 miles of drive time I pulled back into the drive opened the hood with the engine still running and pulled the radiator cap off with no pressure leak. I thought this was strange. The idiot guage showed it was at "normal" temp but I figured it would have started to build some pressure?
I ended up taking the 203* T-stat out and circulating the water for a few minutes like that to make sure I had ALL the green coolant out.
Post Fiend
Joined: Feb 2007
Posts: 14,541
Likes: 2
From: Dallas-Ft. Worth
Since the system is opened to flush, why not just pull the thermostat when doing the flush?? That way, the old coolant comes out right away, unless you're actually running a flush chemical that requires operating temps. Prior to the last fill you can put it back in. Just a thought...
