2006 Sentra, planning a coolant flush

Status
Not open for further replies.
Joined
Mar 1, 2012
Messages
836
Location
HUdson Valley, NY
Hello folks,

I am planning coolant flush of my 2006 Sentra system, for the first time in its life, 11 years/103,000 miles. I have few questions in that regard.

I plan to follow the procedure listed in this video. In this video, he uses, radiator flush and cleaner along with distilled water to flush the system. Once flushed he uses Peak 50/50 premixed coolant and Peak anti-rust & sealer additive.

My questions are,
1. Does this method sound reasonably good to flush the coolant?
2. When you flush the system with water, do you get ALL water out of the system? Because if it does not remove all water then using 50/50 pre-diluted coolant is not a good idea.
3. On this board, I noticed that many people recommend ZEREX™ Asian Vehicle Antifreeze/Coolant (blue/red?) for Toyotas, Hondas and Nissans. Is there any specific reason why this is recommended, because I checked Peak and Zyrex coolant SDS and looked very similar, made of ehtylene glycol, diethylene glycol and benzoate. So I am curious what advantage Zyrex offers over Peak.

Thanks in advance
 
After a cooling system flush, water still remains in the lower unit of the engine block. Therefore you may want to strongly consider full strength coolant. Prior to adding the "full strength" anti freeze/coolant, you may also want to strongly consider your final fush using a couple of gallons "distilled water". Cheap at most stores.

In regards to the recommend coolant to use, YES use either ZEREX ASIAN or PEAK Global Life Time (gold jug...not the blue jug) as both the Zerex Asian & Peak GLT are a different chemistry than the Peak Long Life(blue jug) or even the other brands, including Prestone(yellow jug) which is just an All Makes/All Models, a.k.a. Any Color anti freeze/coolant.

Others will chime in with better explanations & recommendations.
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted By: MoneyJohn
.... Once flushed he uses Peak 50/50 premixed coolant and Peak anti-rust & sealer additive.

My questions are,
1. Does this method sound reasonably good to flush the coolant?
2. When you flush the system with water, do you get ALL water out of the system? Because if it does not remove all water then using 50/50 pre-diluted coolant is not a good idea.....


Excellent point. Unless you plan on doing multiple d&f's with the new premix AF, you'll not achieve a 50% concentration after simple radiator distilled D&F's.

So my suggestion, try to find a Napa that sells or can get full strength Peak Global Lifetime. Lacking that, I just noticed Pep Boys currently has their OEM Brand Concentrate Asian PHOAT on sale for $17.60/gal in your choice tint. Got a PB nearby that would great choice too.

Walmart also sells Valvoline Asian Vehicle, same as Zerex Asian Formula. But it too is a premix.

Also IMO and experience doubtful Peak antirust and sealer additive is needed.

Rest of plan sounds ok to me.
 
The ChrisFix method is what I use. Only difference, like the fellas above said, is to use full strength AF in the end to make the mix pretty close to 50-50.

Peak Global can be hard to source so get the Rechochem from Pep Boys. No need to add any super flush chemicals.
 
Originally Posted By: Char Baby
In regards to the recommend coolant to use, YES use either ZEREX ASIAN or PEAK Global Life Time (gold jug...not the blue jug) as both the Zerex Asian & Peak GLT are a different chemistry than the Peak Long Life(blue jug) or even the other brands, including Prestone(yellow jug) which is just an All Makes/All Models, a.k.a. Any Color anti freeze/coolant.

For Zerex Asian, which color coolant should I choose, blue or red? The reason I ask, I just realized that there is an elusive engine block drain plug that conflicts with FSM, so I don't plan to touch it. In that case, I am pretty sure, some water will be left in the engine block and I am considering to just run regular antifreeze through the system and replace that after one week. I don't know how much coolant is stored in the engine block so don't want to mess around with the concentration i.e. whether it should be 40/60 or something else.

Does that sound a better idea than going through ChrisFix's set up?
 
^^^Realize directed to another poster but let me give it a shot. ZAF Blue or Red is the same thing just a different tint. Blue intended to match Honda/Acura, Red intended to match Toyota SLL or close. So either can be used. Valvoline Asian sold at WM only comes in red.

And after doing distilled d&f's some water is going to be left in the engine block. And you really should know the concentration, getting it close to ~50%. An inexpensive 5 ball AF tester like the Chaslyn sold at WM or O'Reilly will get the job done nicely. I've used one before and tested it on new premix AF, pretty accurate. Less than $1 at WM, less than $2 at O'R.

Finding the drain blocks can be a pain. As long as you don't mind some AF waste, your plan sounds ok. But use the Chaslyn to test for close to ~50% concentration. On Chaslyn between 4 and 5 balls floating.

$(KGrHqN,!q8FIPWBjobOBSMV7j5pi!~~60_12.JPG
 
Originally Posted By: Sayjac

And after doing distilled d&f's some water is going to be left in the engine block. And you really should know the concentration, getting it close to ~50%. An inexpensive 5 ball AF tester like the Chaslyn sold at WM or O'Reilly will get the job done nicely. I've used one before and tested it on new premix AF, pretty accurate. Less than $1 at WM, less than $2 at O'R.

Awesome. Thank You. This will make my life so easy. I had no idea such thing exists. I will definitely go this route.

Originally Posted By: Sayjac
^^^Realize directed to another poster but let me give it a shot. ZAF Blue or Red is the same thing just a different tint. Blue intended to match Honda/Acura, Red intended to match Toyota SLL or close. So either can be used. Valvoline Asian sold at WM only comes in red.

This is exactly what I thought because so many folks are just obsessed with the color of the coolant. I checked SDS of both of these coolants to see if they are any different. While the contents are same and the concentration varies slightly, according to the hazard symbols at the end of the SDS, blue seems to be more hazardous than the red. I could not figure out why.
I will go with your suggestion of Peak Global instead of messing around with blue and red Zerex Asian.
 
Last edited:
I would flush w just distilled water until clear. There should be no need to use chemical flush / cleaners. Get non diluted coolant of your choice (Asian ones preferred), Then figure out the total capacity of the cooling system. Pour in half the capacity of the system w concentrated coolant, then fill the rest w distilled water. Should get you to 50/50. Even at 60/40, you should be good and I wouldn't worry about it.
 
Last edited:
Hello folks,

An update and I need help here.

My car's coolant capacity is 1 3/4 gallons but when I drained the radiator and reservoir, all I could get out is a gallon. 3/4 gallon is still in the system. I wasn't too sure if I can leave the car idle so that whatever coolant is in the system drains out. So can I idle the car to get all coolant out, all 1 3/4 gallon?

When I put the distilled water in the radiator and the reservoir, I could fill up a less than what I could remove. And although I burped the system enough, still seems to be some air stuck inside. The heating gauge went to the normal operating temperature within 2 minutes, usually, it takes at least 5-8 minutes.

I plan to repeat the procedure with distilled water. And this time I want to do it correctly. So the main question is,
Can leave the car idle to get all coolant/water out of the heating core (or any other area where it is stuck), after the radiator drain?
I am using ChrisFix' method, for those who are aware of it.

Thanks in advance.
 
Sayjac's method is the way to go. In the end, you want to know that your engine is protected to a certain temperature. If the mix is somewhat less than 50/50, that's ok, but, I wouldn't personally go below a 45% coolant/water ratio.

If you want to know the math behind flushing with distilled water and filling with 50/50, here it is. With an existing 50-50 mix, you need to measure how much you drain from the system when you open the petcock. I've got a 2005 Honda Accord, and the owners manual says it's coolant capacity is 1.88 gallons, and when you drain it, you'll get 1.32 gallons out. At that rate, the first time you flush the system with distilled water, you reduce the 50/50 ratio to 15% coolant and 85% water. The second time you drain and refill the system with distilled water, your concentration is reduced to 4.4% coolant and 95.6% water. This is as far as you need to go, but if you want to continue your drain and fills, you essentially have zero coolant left in the system on the third and subsequent flushes with distilled water.

Now, when you drain the distilled water and fill with 50/50 mix, you will remove 1.32 gallons of water and refill with 1.32 gallons of 50% coolant. Run the engine to mix it up. In a system with a 1.88 gallon capacity, 50% coolant equals 1.88/2=0.94 gallons of coolant. Your coolant concentration after one flush and fill is 1.32 gallons x 50% coolant = 0.66 gallons of coolant. 0.66/1.88 = 35% coolant. That's a problem. It's not a high enough concentration. At 35%, the freezing point of the coolant/water mix is about -6 degrees F. I live in Atlanta, and that's not good enough for me. YMMV. If you drain another 1.32 gallons from the system, the remaining coolant concentration is 0.56 gallons at 35% concentration, and when you fill it with 1.32 gallons of 50/50 mix, you get ((0.56 gal x 0.35)+(1.32 gal x 0.50))/1.88 gallons = 45.6% ratio. That will protect you to around -27 degrees F (Freezing point of water/coolant mixture). Good enough for me.

You will use 1.32 gallons x 2 fills = 2.64 gallons of 50/50 coolant mix. Use your own cooling system capacity and drain amount to calculate your personal coolant concentration after a drain and fill with distilled water, and refilling with 50/50 coolant.



Cooling System calcs.jpeg
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top