[RESOLVED] Questions About Radiator Flush

[snowborder714]

1. Has anybody had any experience with this Prestone flush kit? Is it good to use? Also, which hose would I attach this kit up to?

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2. Also, this site mentions using vinegar to flush out the radiator. Has anybody tried that before?
http://www.mkiv.com/techarticles/coolant_flush/index.html

Optional 2nd Flush (Vinegar Douche)
This step is optional, but some MKIV members report good success with it.
Remove the garden hose from the flushing tee, and cap the tee off.
Close the radiator drain ####.
Add a gallon of normal kitchen vinegar to the radiator, and fill the system up with water from the garden hose. Leave the radiator cap off.
Start the engine and allow the system to circulate this flush mix, topping up from the open radiator if the level drops.
Leave the heater on, and the cardboard in place from the previous steps to help the engine warm up faster - but do not allow it to run long enough to overheat with the open radiator cap.
Turn the engine off, after it has warmed up, and let the system cool down before you work on it.
Open the radiator drain and allow the vinegar solution to drain into your storm drains.
Fit the garden hose to the flushing adaptor and repeat the clear water flush you did earlier.

3. Would Prestone Super Flush be better than vinegar or a good step in addition to the vinegar?

4. I have searched the forums and some people recommend 1 bottle of Redline water wetter and some recommend 2. Which of these would be better?

I should mention that I just bought my car about six months ago, the chassis has 115,000 miles, and the engine has 10,000 miles in case that matters. I have no idea what maintenance previous owners have done to the car, except for the engine rebuild.

Thanks for the help!

 

[95blackGsTurbo]

Flush kits are ok but you really need a machine to do it properly. We have one at work that puts a lot of pressure on the cooling system and forces the water through with a special solvent to clean everything out. I would not use vinegar to flush the system. If you wanna use that kit though hook it up to the radiator upper hose to is cycles all the way through the system.

 

[snowborder714]

Do a lot of shops have those machines to clean out the cooling system?

 

[Defiant]

You flush a toilet after it's been shit in. Has anyone shit in your cooling system? If your coolant shows any hint of green color, it shouldn't need much more than a couple of refills, emptying, and refilling. Do you have any overheating symptoms?

 

[snowborder714]

No symptoms that I know of but I have no way of telling any temperatures (other than gauge in dash which is staying right around the middle). And I took off the radiator cap yesterday and the fluid was green in color.

If I were to do a flush though, where would I put the tee into? I've read it goes into a heater hose but there are 2 of them coming from firewall. Is it one of them or some other hose? And would it be bad to flush the system or might it be pointless? I would just like to make sure it's really clean!

Also, anyone have any info on 1 bottle of Water Wetter vs. 2?

 

[98EclipseTurbo]

I perform the procedure by using a prestone flash ,distilled water from shop rite and a gallow of pure coolant. The reason why i did not use the old method is becaouse I used the disttiled water which is recommended for anti corrosion. I might do the thing right or might as well not at all if using the tap water. My calculations showed that by drainging 3 times by and refilling with disstilled water only and finally by distilled water you will achive the 50/50 solution draining most of the coolant.

 

[snowborder714]

Did you use the flush kit? If so, which line did you tee into?

Also, what do you consider the "old method"? And do you recommend using distilled water over water from a hose?

 

[Defiant]

Put the tee into whichever heater hose is easier to get a garden hose to. For most places in the country, definitely use distilled water from the grocery store for your final fill-up. For the summer, use a jug of 50/50 pre-mix Prestone, and finish with a jug of distilled water. That will give you about 30% antifreeze, ideal for warm weather- nothing (other than liquid sodium) carries heat away as well as water, but you want the additives for the water pump's health and to fight electrolytic corrosion. One container of Wetter.
If you get extreme cold where you live, go up to 50% antifreeze- you can do this by draining a bit less than a quart of the 30% mixture and topping up with straight Prestone.
Go ahead and replace your cap if it's more than two years old, and it's a good idea to go ahead and replace the thermostat- factory made, factory rating. DSM cooling systems will purge themselves after a half-dozen heating/cooling cycles, burping is not needed.

 

[snowborder714]

Thank you defiant for all the help!