2000 Cavalier 2.2

[etc.]

This weekend, I plan to flush and change my GF's coolant out of her 2000 Cavalier.

I've always put a garden hose in the radiator hose and let it cycle till I get clean water coming out. But everything I have read, says to use distilled water.

How many gallons of distilled water do I need in order to flush the entire system and to refill the system?

Any particular things I need to know about changing coolant on a Cavalier?

Any particular coolant or brand to get? Dex-Cool?

Would 50-50 be acceptable, for a car driven in Michigan summers and winter?

Thanks
CJ

 

[Ray H]

One of the genuine licensed DEX-COOL® brands (or a dexclone) and de-ionized or distilled water. Period. That's the combination that the car came with (and apparently worked fine on for six years?) The 2.2L OHV I4 isn't a leaker. Here on out, change out at 3-4 year intervals, though. I'm all for extended life coolants, but a bit of common sense returns dividends, too.

 

[CBDFrontier06]

You don't need to buy a hundred gallons of distilled water to perform a flush....the garden hose will work for this. The minerals and sediment danger in tap water is only a danger when it's run as the actual fill for the engine, where the suspended minerals fall out of suspension and attach to the inside of your radiator and block. Do your flush as planned.

A 50/50 mix of whatever coolant GM requires will be ideal. I'm not completely up-to-date on funky GM requirements for coolant, as I've only owned cars that ran happily on the green stuff. Apparently what any other car can run fine on means death to a GM vehicle, so if you're not sure about product, please ask a professional.