DIY Coolant change

[wn1998]

I am going to attempt to change my coolant from the regular green to G-05. I am going to do the "drain and fill with distilled water until it runs clear"

I have a question. Do I just have to drain the "radiator" and keep adding the water than bring the car up to operating temp and let the thermostat open up and then let it cool and repeat?

Do I need to try to pull the coolant sensor on the block to drain the block too? Also will the overflow tank coolant need to be sucked out with a suction gun or should that be drawn into the radiator?

 

[uconn1150]

"I have a question. Do I just have to drain the "radiator" and keep adding the water than bring the car up to operating temp and let the thermostat open up and then let it cool and repeat?"

YES. Also, try draining by disconnecting the lower rad hose INSTEAD of the PLASTIC petcock--they always seem to break.


"Do I need to try to pull the coolant sensor on the block to drain the block too?"

NO. By doing the above, the block will get "flushed" out as well...takes 3-4 cycles usually

" Also will the overflow tank coolant need to be sucked out with a suction gun or should that be drawn into the radiator? "

Yeah, suck that crap out and replace with 50/50.

THAT IS ALL

 

[Bill Plock]

Dittos to Uconn1150’s comments..

One other thing to consider…. Measure how much coolant is drained. If it is less than half the capacity of the system you will have to add one more step to get the proper 50/50 mix of antifreeze & water. On my 03 Duramax Diesel I get half the coolant out when draining so all I have to do on the last flush with distilled water is drain and refill with 100% Dexcool. On my 01 Malibu (which I have since sold) it would drain less than half the capacity so I had to add another step at the end. The following procedure is what I used on the Malibu (GM 3.1L), which has a capacity of 13.1 quarts. Just substitute your capacity in the equation.

Flush Cooling system and replace coolant as follows:
1. Bring Engine to operating temp and drain 4.5 qts coolant from radiator petcock
2. Re-fill with distilled water and warm up engine, Drain and refill three times total or until coolant runs nearly clear (very light pink)
3. After third drain, refill with 4.5 qts 100% DEXCOOL
4. Warm up engine, drain 3 Quarts coolant and refill with 100% DEXCOOL
5. This process yields a 50/50 mix of distilled water and DEXCOOL
Based on cooling system capacity of 13.1 qts
4.5/13.1=.34 or 34% Dexcool after flush and refill with 100% Dexcool
.34(13.1-X)+X=6.55Qts (desire 50% DEXCOOL)
Solve for x = amount of DEXCOOL to be drained and refilled to yield 50/50 MIX
X=3.11 Quarts

I plan on doing the flush on my 04 Impala (3.4L) soon and I expect to find the same situation as with the Malibu’s 3.1L (same basic block as 3.4L).

Hope this helps…

 

[michaelc80]

I just did exactly that on my 2000 Wrangler yesterday. It took about 4 cycles of fill/run/drain until it was clear. I also took the overflow tank off and hosed it out completely. I then premixed some G0-5 and filled it up. Ran it to town and back, then topped it off.

 

[Pluto5]

I would think it would be simpler to remove the thermostat and back flush once rather than draining and refilling several times.

 

[Bill Plock]

quote:

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Originally posted by Pluto5:
I would think it would be simpler to remove the thermostat and back flush once rather than draining and refilling several times.

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This is a good option if the thermostat is easily accessible… However this is not the case on some newer engines.

 

[Steve_RI]

You could always use the Prestone Flush kit to supplement your procedure.