How to flush radiator coolant??

[mazdaspeed777]

Has anyone changed there coolant them selves on a protege5? I myself was thinking you just had to drain the coolant via the drain tab on the bottom of radiator and just refill, but I was told you have to revearse flush the system(what ever that means??). So if someone could go into detail on this for me it would be much appreciated. Thanks, Dan

 

[808MP5]

Subbin fo da ansa

 

[CTt3P5]

Did mine back in October with the help of Reitrof.

1) Drain coolant
2) Plug it back up and then fill with water
3) Let engine run so it gets to normal running temp.
4) Drain again
5) Repeat 2-4 until you notice that no more coolant is coming out
6) Fill with new coolant

 

[bucksatan]

I'd like to add that you should take the used coolant and water to a proper disposal place, not just dump it down the drain or storm sewer. Many auto parts stores accept old coolant, and you local town/city/county should have an approved drop off for things like used coolant (as well as almost all automotive chemicals).

 

[CTt3P5]

I'd like to add that you should take the used coolant and water to a proper disposal place, not just dump it down the drain or storm sewer. Many auto parts stores accept old coolant, and you local town/city/county should have an approved drop off for things like used coolant (as well as almost all automotive chemicals).

Good point! I took my used coolant and water to a local Jiffy Lube.

 

[mazdaspeed777]

Great guys! Thanks! That sounds easy. I also heard that you should turn on your heater full blast while your warming the car up to normal oporating temp to allow coolent system to open up all the way. I will make sure to drop used coolant off somewhere safe, we have a waste management place here that takes all those kind of fluids. I tried auto parts stores before and they did not except used coolant, did not try a place like Jiffy Lube though.

 

[RockerPro5]

Long life Coolant?

Do you guys just use the regular stock green coolant, or has anyone used the Prestone yellow long life coolant? (it claims to be compatible with both red and green, and its also 5 years like the red)

 

[Rusty]

I use the green stuff. I drained and refilled mine with a light mixture, then drove it for a couple of days. Then I drained and refilled it again with 50%. 5 years seems too long, but if it says so, go for it.

 

[mazdaspeed777]

The Royal Purple coolant additive is a good addition to add to the coolant when changing radiator fluid. I will be trying it when I change mine.

 

[FastPro22]

What other brands of coolant do you guys recommend? Is Peak any good?

 

[curls]

Remember that adding water as the in-between step will dilute the coolant that remains after initially dumping it. The system holds about 6.5L but only about 4L will come out when you pull the drain plug. The rest is trapped in some of the hoses, the heater core, and the block. By adding water, you're diluting that remaining coolant. Then adding new coolant to that diluted stuff will effectively dilute the new stuff.

I worked it out mathematically, and if you follow that procedure, you'd have to remove 750mL from the radiator afterwards (turkey baster method) and add 750mL of pure non-premixed coolant back in, to get back to the 50/50 mix that is desired.

An easier solution would be to pull the lower hose from the block and ensure you get every drop of the 6.5L out, and then refill with 6.5L of premixed coolant.

 

[pasadena_commut]

Did mine back in October with the help of Reitrof.

2) Plug it back up and then fill with water

The tap water here is really, really, hard. Seems like it might be a bit safer to use distilled water for this step. Otherwise scale is going to form on the motor and other (hot) internal surfaces when the water is drained out. Ok, maybe not a lot of scale, but dried water drops here do leave a very distinct mineral deposit. That stuff might dissolve again in the hot coolant - or not. Normally hot water does not remove these sorts of spots, usually some sort of acid is required to get those minerals back into solution.

 

[CTt3P5]

^^^Diluted water could be substituted for the final mix if that person so desired.

For the actual flushing we just filled the radiator with a garden hose. After the flush was complete I used a pre-mixed coolant to fill the system.

 

[RatLabGuy]

Don't the blocks on these cars have a drain plug? I haven't looked yet b/c, well, the time hasn't come yet... but every other engine I've seen has a drain plug just so you can get ALL the coolant out.
If you get it out of both the radiator and block, there's hardly anything left. not enoug hto worry about diluting your new mixture.

BTW, re: "5 year fluid". As with all fluids, you should change them when they are dirty.
The amount of time/distance that takes will vary from car to car and situation to situation.

 

[CTpro5]

 

[mazdaspeed777]

Thanks for the info CTpro5