Proper coolant flush

[Jonas]

Hey gang! I'm going to change the coolant in my 09 (Matrix) Vibe. I saw a tutorial in which you drain the coolant and refill with distiled water, run that, drain again, and refill with 50/50. My question is, wouldn't the final solution (not there yet be diluted since there would still be water in the block? Should I measure what comes out and adjust accordingly with concentrate? Also, would you recommend any flush products or sealers? The coolant in the reservoir is pink but the coolant in the radiator is tan/peanut butter color (dirty/expired I guess) Any advice would be appreciated as always!

 

[rob1715]

I have an 03 Matrix and did the flush. You're on track. Remove thermostat, drain and refill with distilled water then run it a few miles to mix it up, Drain and add distilled water and Prestone radiator flush, drain and repeat with DW couple more times, until it runs clear. Add a new thermostat. Yes you're going to have water in the block so you can do a 60/40 mix or get a coolant/antifreeze tester. They cost about $3 at WM. Check the radiator cap and replace if needed.

 

[Jonas]

Thanks! My only concern is the pink long life coolant only comes in 50/50. Could I use something else like Peak long life universal or should I stick with the pink HOAT coolant? It never gets below 20 degrees where I live so would a higher % of water be ok?

 

[rob1715]

HOAT for Toyota. I hate 50/50 premix for that reason. Use it, then run your car on the highway for 10 - 15 minutes to mix it up, let the car cool and test with the tester. Might need to drain some and add to get the right proportion.

 

[Jonas]

Also, there is a plastic shield under the radiator and petcock. Do I have to remove it or does anyone know a trick to get around it? It's attached by those plastic clips that snap in and I don't want to break them and/or not be able to replace the shield.

 

[JohnnyG]

Yes, it will. However, how much it is diluted depends on how much water is retained in the block. Fortunately coolants have a range of concentrations in which they are effective. It was always my understanding that Dexcool was most sensetive to concentration, and (the) GM engineer stated that it should be kept at 50% concentration. Then I saw my neighbors Corvette, which calls for up to 60%, so use your judgement.
Since those days, I've checked two relatively new Mercedes vehicles and found BOTH at 50% concentration.
I have attached a picture of the tool that is used for this just in case you want to get serious. Might even be available as a borrow from a local shop or store.

 

[Kestas]

The 50/50 premix is okay for people who do a simple drain and refill, or for top-off.

If you are doing a flush you'll need to know the system capacity and buy undiluted antifreeze.

 

[slacktide_bitog]

Zerex Asian red at Walmart is the best price on coolant for your Matrix. The Lisle coolant funnel is awesome

If you can find it, there is Recochem OEM brand pink available in concentrate. Pep Boys used to carry it. You can get it on Amazon, albeit at a higher price than the stores charge. Recochem is the only company who makes the pink in concentrate at any price.

You don't even have to bother with the water flush. Just drain the radiator and refill using 50/50 and the Lisle funnel.

 

[Jonas]

I noticed the coolant in the overflow tank looks clean and bright pink through the plastic like it should be, but up close it looks a little orange/pink. Another but, the coolant in the radiator itself is brownish orange, cloudy and looks pretty bad. Also the Vibe manual states orange Dex Cool while the Matrix manual states pink Super Long Life. Being that this is a Vibe and I know very little about its service history, I'm thinking a flush may be the way to go. Anymore ideas are appreciated as always!

 

[Chris142]

Yes a large portion of water stays in the block.

 

[Sierra048]

I just finished up my flush on our Frontier. My escapades are noted in a thread I started two days ago. Our Frontier came with an Asian Blue coolant. I flushed it out completely and went with the newer Prestone All Vehicles All Models coolant. It's easily available in concentrate at Walmart and only $10.87 for the gallon. Good Luck.

 

[slacktide_bitog]

I noticed the coolant in the overflow tank looks clean and bright pink through the plastic like it should be, but up close it looks a little orange/pink. Another but, the coolant in the radiator itself is brownish orange, cloudy and looks pretty bad. Also the Vibe manual states orange Dex Cool while the Matrix manual states pink Super Long Life. Being that this is a Vibe and I know very little about its service history, I'm thinking a flush may be the way to go. Anymore ideas are appreciated as always!

I heard that NUMMI Toyota workers filled it with Toyota coolant at the factory, but then the GM dealers use Deathcool (as it says to do in the manual).

In that case, the flush might not be a bad idea

 

[Supersonic]

Changing from green to pink, didn't a plan when I started, as I remember it;

2003 Vibe, thermostat out, lower radiator hose off,
I took the upper heater core hose off then flushed both the block and radiator with the garden hose,
blew out the heater core hose and radiator using lung power,
insert funnel into that heater core hose, fill with 50/50 mix-with-any until all the water was flushed from the block,
did the same kinda rinse with the radiator end,
assembled, then filled with the Valvoline Toyota premix stuff.

Trick here was to replace the sitting water with the generic 50/50 as best I could, that way I could add the Pink coolant without worrying about the concentration, like you would if doing a distilled water method. I hope that makes sense, it was easy and I didn't have to waste too much generic 50/50 clearing out the tap water. Yes, there still probably was some residual water, but so little it shouldn't matter.

 

[Supersonic]

To expand on that 2003 Vibe flush, I think with the thermostat out, when filling at the heater core hose, the water/coolant exits out the block at the thermostat placement, and that's where I'd watch to see it clear, whether I was pouring liquid or blowing into the heater core hose. The motor was cold during the whole procedure.

Always use garden hose at a slow rate, adjusting flow a little if necessary, but full blast may be too much and most heater cores aren't fun to change. Be careful pulling off the hose too, worst case have a spare hose and cut off the old one.

Seems to me, after flushing with the garden hose, blew out the residual water, then I filled it twice with the mix-with-any coolant, Lung pressure blowing it out after each fill, so ultimately I'd have very little mix-with-any left in either the block or the radiator.

Hope this helps if any tries it this way, probably should have made a tutorial video because it doesn't seem like I can explain in words, but it was quick and easy. As much as I would like to buy another old Corolla to do a tutorial...

 

[Jake_J]

I wouldn't mess with a coolant flush on an 09 Vibe, the FSM procedure is a simple radiator drain and fill for a regular coolant change. It's an all aluminium engine with a modern P-OAT coolant, when you drain it the coolant will be pristine. If this was some 80's all iron truck V8 that was sitting with the same IAT coolant for over a decade (that turned to shade of rust) then some flushing would be needed.

 

[Jonas]

I wouldn't mess with a coolant flush on an 09 Vibe, the FSM procedure is a simple radiator drain and fill for a regular coolant change. It's an all aluminium engine with a modern P-OAT coolant, when you drain it the coolant will be pristine. If this was some 80's all iron truck V8 that was sitting with the same IAT coolant for over a decade (that turned to shade of rust) then some flushing would be needed.

That's just it, I don't know what kind of coolant is in there now and the coolant in the radiator looks bad (brownish orange)

 

[JHZR2]

Thanks! My only concern is the pink long life coolant only comes in 50/50. Could I use something else like Peak long life universal or should I stick with the pink HOAT coolant? It never gets below 20 degrees where I live so would a higher % of water be ok?

The good news in the era of multi color coolant, is that most systems dont have any iron in them anymore, and the systems usually stay clean and clear, if you dont do something improper (like mixing in silicated antifreeze), dont run too long over, and dont have a breach (head gasket oil to coolant), it should stay relatively clean and clear.

With that being the case, the approach to drain the radiator (or remove the lower hose), and then refill is appropriate. Ideally the vehicle gets operated to open the thermostat, and blend the new coolant with the old, and then is drained another time or two. Doing so with 50/50 keeps the ratios correct, and gets you somewhere between 25-66% replacement. After the five year mark, as I recall, the replacement period drops to something shorter because of that reason.

That's just it, I don't know what kind of coolant is in there now and the coolant in the radiator looks bad (brownish orange)

Brownish orange is strange to me because I believe thats an aluminum head/block engine, and an aluminum radiator in there.... So the issue could be additive fallout or an improper mix.

Id drain the radiator, and then fill and drain it with water once or twice, just to get any loose junk out. Id then do drain and refills from the radiator or lower hose and monitor it. Id do a few extra like this over the next few months, and watch if the coolant clears up. If something goes bad, removal and flushing of the radiator may be necessary, or else if something is worse, the service would include opening block drains and the thermostat, and then the system would be able to be evacuated before putting it all back together...

 

[Jake_J]

You could get a brownish orange color by mixing the factory SLLC pink coolant with traditional green IAT, that's most likely what happened. Mixing any red, orange, or pink coolant with a green one will generally get you something with a brownish color, that's just how mixing of colors works and it doesn't mean it's bad. The universal coolants have a golden or yellow-green florescent color that blends into the various coolant colors much more seamlessly. You can got to trycolors.com to mix up a brownish blend.

I'd just drain the radiator, fill with water run to operating temperature to let the thermostat open, drain and fill again (and keep repeating) until you get only clear water coming out, then refill with mostly coolant and check with an old school coolant tester to see if your concentration is in the ballpark. From the numbers I've founds the coolant capacity of an 09 Vibe is 5.8/6qt for the 1.8/2.4L engines, so if you measure the coolant that comes out of the radiator the first time you'l have a good idea of the amount remaining in the block and heater core.

 

[doublebase]

I know I’m going against the grain here but I’d just drain and fill...and if you don’t feel like that is good enough? Just drive for a week/month/whatever...and just do it again. Honestly it’d be a lot easier than trying to flush and adjust coolant/water levels. Worrying about the “type” of water, type of coolant. Just drain and fill twice.

I‘ve worked in the automotive industry for...oh god, 33 years! Has it really been that long? My lord! And in all those years I’ve only done a full flush maybe 10 times. 8 of them with a coolant flush machine we just bought (and needed to justify spending $5,000 grand on). After a month we stopped using it. The other two flushes were BAD, really bad. Radiator filled with rust. I know the OP said his fluid was peanut butter colored, but is it really that bad? If it really is? Ok, try to flush it. But It’s a messy job and 90% of the time unnecessary.

 

[madeej11]

Also, there is a plastic shield under the radiator and petcock. Do I have to remove it or does anyone know a trick to get around it? It's attached by those plastic clips that snap in and I don't want to break them and/or not be able to replace the shield.

There's a hole in the plastic shield right under the petcock. Just attach a hose onto the petcock and place your receptacle under the plastic shield. Open valve and presto!