Basic Coolant Flush Question
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Guest
Basic Coolant Flush Question
I have a 1990 GT (3.1L) and I'm trying to save cash by flushing the cooling system myself. After taking a peek at a Haynes guide it prompted me to look for a drain at the bottom of the radiator. I can't seem to find it. Do I use the lower hose connection to drain instead? Also what the hell does the vent plug do and is there any bleeding of air involved with the process?
Joe
Joe
Basic Coolant Flush Question
What I do is buy some prestone flush (Yellow container) mix it in with the old. I drive it for a week like so, and drop the lower rad hose, run fresh water through the whole system a few times & put in 50/50. Done.
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Guest
Basic Coolant Flush Question
on my 94 the drain plug is a bit hard to find at first-it is on the inside bottom of the radiator and hid pretty well by the way the shroud wraps around it.
 You may have to bleed the valve ,not always but a lot of times you do.You should bleed it though anyway -because if air gets trapped -it will cause the car to overheat.This can happen-and did to me once,since then I bleed as a matter of course.It's more of a problem though if you take the thermostat out for any reason-such as a back flush
 The only  thing I do in addition to what GTU does is that after I flush fresh water through mine -I follow up by adding several rounds of distilled water ,draining between each addition to make the distilled level higher.And then I add antifreeze to the 50/50 mix or until all 5 balls float in tester.
 I do this as distilled water doesn't have as much hard water properties.-but it's just my personal preferance under the thought that the added small cost and time could pay off down the road.
 You may have to bleed the valve ,not always but a lot of times you do.You should bleed it though anyway -because if air gets trapped -it will cause the car to overheat.This can happen-and did to me once,since then I bleed as a matter of course.It's more of a problem though if you take the thermostat out for any reason-such as a back flush
 The only  thing I do in addition to what GTU does is that after I flush fresh water through mine -I follow up by adding several rounds of distilled water ,draining between each addition to make the distilled level higher.And then I add antifreeze to the 50/50 mix or until all 5 balls float in tester.
 I do this as distilled water doesn't have as much hard water properties.-but it's just my personal preferance under the thought that the added small cost and time could pay off down the road.