Last time i flushed my silverado, i think i may have left about half a gallon or a gallon of the hose water in the heater core. It was cleanm but have always wondered if it was a no no.
Hose water bad for flushing cooling system?
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It depends. If you have hard water from a well yes. If the water is city water its probably not a big deal.
It also depends upon the percentage. Look on the Amsoil website and you will see total capacity for your vehicle. A gallon may be 1/3.
These days with long life coolant, most people can get by with just draining the radiator and refilling every year or two.
It also depends upon the percentage. Look on the Amsoil website and you will see total capacity for your vehicle. A gallon may be 1/3.
These days with long life coolant, most people can get by with just draining the radiator and refilling every year or two.
I would change it more often so you don't need to flush anything, just empty and refill with new coolant.
If you want to run the car with just water in it to clean things up better then dump the dirty water out it is best to use distilled water.
Distilled water is cheap and sold in gallon jugs at the pharmacy.
But as Donald said, just keep it maintained and you don't have to struggle to get it clean.
I just dump it out every three years and pour new premix in, then run the car and massage the upper and lower rad hoses until they both feel really hot when the thermostat opens. Use a spill free funnel when doing the "burping" it makes it really easy. Lisle sells them.
Sometimes you have to rev the engine up to around 3,000 rpm for a minute or two to get the thermostat to open especially on a small car. I tried on my Fit to just idle it until the thermostat opened and it was able to keep itself cool enough that the thermostat wouldn't open.
Much cheaper than having the dealer do it.
If you want to run the car with just water in it to clean things up better then dump the dirty water out it is best to use distilled water.
Distilled water is cheap and sold in gallon jugs at the pharmacy.
But as Donald said, just keep it maintained and you don't have to struggle to get it clean.
I just dump it out every three years and pour new premix in, then run the car and massage the upper and lower rad hoses until they both feel really hot when the thermostat opens. Use a spill free funnel when doing the "burping" it makes it really easy. Lisle sells them.
Sometimes you have to rev the engine up to around 3,000 rpm for a minute or two to get the thermostat to open especially on a small car. I tried on my Fit to just idle it until the thermostat opened and it was able to keep itself cool enough that the thermostat wouldn't open.
Much cheaper than having the dealer do it.
Originally Posted By: Donald
If the water is city water its probably not a big deal.
Every city is required to have lab results posted on the municipal water. I looked up mine, and the water is very soft indeed, so no problem with using for flushing. It's hard to use distilled water for coolant flush, at least with the kit I use.
If the water is city water its probably not a big deal.
Every city is required to have lab results posted on the municipal water. I looked up mine, and the water is very soft indeed, so no problem with using for flushing. It's hard to use distilled water for coolant flush, at least with the kit I use.
I had been doing tap water flushing with garden hose for my 350k miles 1994 LS400 many times, the original water pump and radiator finally went out last week.
Almost 20 years and 350k miles with city water isn't bad.
Almost 20 years and 350k miles with city water isn't bad.
As stated it depends on your city water. Ours is full of calcium. Btw your heater only holds a few ounces, there's no way that it could hold a gallon.
Deionized water is quite cheap at the grocery store if you have any concerns about your local water. As others have said, unless your water is very hard, I wouldn't worry about it.
Of the factory fill coolants that are good for 5 years, the instruction for subsequent fills is 3 years based on unknown water quality.
JHZR2
Staff member
Wouldn't have an issue using it to flush. How big of an effort Id make to get every last drop out depends upon what kind of water you have...
I usually prefer somewhat shorter drain and fills even easier than flushing.
Of course I have "super blue" now that costs 30$/Gallon
and is supposed to last 10 years.
I'm thinking drain and fill at year 5 then maybe 2-2.5yr to keep it fresh.
the only reason I would use hose water is if you are using a flushing tee. Otherwise distilled water at 65cent/gal would get the nod. Of course where I live the city water is between hard and very hard.
Of course I have "super blue" now that costs 30$/Gallon
and is supposed to last 10 years.
I'm thinking drain and fill at year 5 then maybe 2-2.5yr to keep it fresh.
the only reason I would use hose water is if you are using a flushing tee. Otherwise distilled water at 65cent/gal would get the nod. Of course where I live the city water is between hard and very hard.
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They may even sell a de-ionizer cartridge. My Mom had one years ago to make de-ionized water for the iron.
If you use tap water in the iron (and someome actually uses the iron) you or the wife will know if you water is hard or not.
If you use tap water in the iron (and someome actually uses the iron) you or the wife will know if you water is hard or not.
I've heard concerns that straight distilled or DI water might not be a great idea. I've heard of this black gunk forming due to the acidity on aluminum parts. It's acidic (carbonic acid) due to dissolved CO2. I figured if I ever wanted to flush with distilled water, I'd add a little bit of coolant to neutralize the acidity.
I live in an area with Sierra snowmelt as our primary water supply, and the hardness is ridiculously low. I've used distilled water to mix coolant, but had no qualms about flushing the system with our tap water. The last time I had someone replace a radiator, I didn't worry about if he used tap water, since we have good quality water.
I've also lived in a city where most residences get well water from city wells. Foulest stuff I've ever smelled probably due to sulfur content. Anyone who washed a car made sure to dry off quickly before it crusted. There was literally calcium/magnesium caked everywhere including faucets and a hard ring around toilet bowls. I would never even think of letting that stuff near my cooling system.
However, you might want to simply add what you think is needed to balance the remaining water, then fill with 50/50 mix. That's if you use an uncut coolant rather than a premix. There's lots of coolant out there that only comes in premix these days.
I live in an area with Sierra snowmelt as our primary water supply, and the hardness is ridiculously low. I've used distilled water to mix coolant, but had no qualms about flushing the system with our tap water. The last time I had someone replace a radiator, I didn't worry about if he used tap water, since we have good quality water.
I've also lived in a city where most residences get well water from city wells. Foulest stuff I've ever smelled probably due to sulfur content. Anyone who washed a car made sure to dry off quickly before it crusted. There was literally calcium/magnesium caked everywhere including faucets and a hard ring around toilet bowls. I would never even think of letting that stuff near my cooling system.
However, you might want to simply add what you think is needed to balance the remaining water, then fill with 50/50 mix. That's if you use an uncut coolant rather than a premix. There's lots of coolant out there that only comes in premix these days.
Hello,
I've done 6 thorough cooling system drain/flush/refills recently in the family. I see all the vehicles regularly.
The systems' reservoirs where I used distilled water for final rinses and coolant mixture look sparkly to this day.
Where either municipal and known hard well water were used the reservoirs don't seem as clear.
Go for the distilled water. It'll leave you feeling better. Kira
I've done 6 thorough cooling system drain/flush/refills recently in the family. I see all the vehicles regularly.
The systems' reservoirs where I used distilled water for final rinses and coolant mixture look sparkly to this day.
Where either municipal and known hard well water were used the reservoirs don't seem as clear.
Go for the distilled water. It'll leave you feeling better. Kira
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