Planning a few radiator drain/flush in the coming month.
Vehicles have coolant that looks fine in some, discolored in others and all are of unknown age, possibly decade or longer. They need to be done, at least as preventative.
Just working out a game plan with some questions.
[I am amending my plan to not use hose water, the more I read the more it appears to only use distilled water due to the sediments that will remain in with any tap water.]
Add a Prestone coolant flush to help dissolve and loosen particles to remove them. Product claims to remove rust, scaling, contaminants, etc. Leave it in for a few days of driving.
I plan to drain the radiator either with a Mityvac, or failing that with the valve below.
Then plan to add water to idle the car.The question is whether free tap water or whether I need to use distilled water is important, knowing that this will be flushed out momentarily. My tap water does leave white sedimentation.
Next step, with just water, idle the car with the heater on for 5-10 minutes.
Drain this. Maybe repeat.
Refill with 50/50 coolant of appropriate type, antifreeze + distilled water.
Run the car to burp the air out of the system.
Check levels and refill.
Dispose of old coolant/water at the local auto shop or county recycling.
Am I missing anything, and do you have advice on free hose water vs. distilled bottled water at a buck per gallon?
Vehicles have coolant that looks fine in some, discolored in others and all are of unknown age, possibly decade or longer. They need to be done, at least as preventative.
Just working out a game plan with some questions.
[I am amending my plan to not use hose water, the more I read the more it appears to only use distilled water due to the sediments that will remain in with any tap water.]
Add a Prestone coolant flush to help dissolve and loosen particles to remove them. Product claims to remove rust, scaling, contaminants, etc. Leave it in for a few days of driving.
I plan to drain the radiator either with a Mityvac, or failing that with the valve below.
Then plan to add water to idle the car.
Next step, with just water, idle the car with the heater on for 5-10 minutes.
Drain this. Maybe repeat.
Refill with 50/50 coolant of appropriate type, antifreeze + distilled water.
Run the car to burp the air out of the system.
Check levels and refill.
Dispose of old coolant/water at the local auto shop or county recycling.
Am I missing anything, and do you have advice on free hose water vs. distilled bottled water at a buck per gallon?
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