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help with coolant flush

2K views 16 replies 4 participants last post by  2004CSOTP 
#1 ·
so iv noticed light smoke coming out from the top left corner of my radiator while i was under the hood the other day. i was also just alittle low on coolant. iv been procrastinating on doing a coolant flush since i want to do it myself and have it all understood. itll will also be my first time doing this job.
just to make sure, correct me if im wrong or missing anything please.

2003 2.4

1. flush radiator buy using petcock
2. fill with distilled water (do i put it into the resorvor or straight into the radiator?)(and how many gallons of water)(should i use coolant flush?)
3. let run for about 10minuts with heater on ( i dont have ac, do i still run the heater?)
4. drain water
5. fill with 2.7gallons of premix 50/50 coolant Zerex G0-5
6. keep radiator cap off to allow air to escape and turn on jeep and let run for 5-10 minutes then put the cap back on.
7. drink a cool beer!
 
#3 ·
1) you could also remove the lower radiator hose to speed up the process, just gets messy sometimes.

2) distilled water or equivalent. straight into the radiator - don't forget to burp the system in the process of filling it. coolant flush is ok, but may require that you drive it for a couple days or several miles before draining it back out. pull the t-stat out for best results.

3) heater on hottest (all the way to red) and highest blower setting no matter if you do or don't have a/c, with engine running. i understand that those in higher elevation regions do not care to have a/c, but heater may be preferred to still be functional.

4) yup; refer to #1 also

5) capacity; whatever's necessary. i use 50/50 Prestone, but equivalent is fine. 2 jugs of it is sufficient, but will probably take only 1.5 if minimal overflow occurs.

6) if it overflows, mind your eyes and mouth to avoid consumption of coolant. keep a water hose or bucket of water at the ready to rinse overflow...stuff's harmful in some ways

7) "ice cold" is recommended while variety and amount is subject to preference ;-)
 
#13 ·
something that temporarily works to stop a water leak or blown head gasket, and then jacks everything else up in your coolant system. i had this strong feeling the PO used that to cover up a blown head gasket or crack in the head at the time when i bought it, only to find that a year later the head had a crack in it causing the engine to overheat. when i tore everything down, the radiator, t-stat, and waterpump had to be replaced because of all the stuff that stop leak left behind. surprised the heater core was still intact.
 
#15 ·
i'd change the t-stat while you got the system drained if you haven't gotten around to it yet.

for the gasket part of the job, some would say not to use RTV sealant or anything but the gasket that would generally come with the part, so long as the bolts are properly torqued.

i myself used t-stat/water pump RTV along with the gasket. the reason was because i didn't the first time i did the t-stat and it leaked on me. my guess was maybe the surfaces were warped...

the second time, and i should've learned from the t-stat, was when i did the water pump w/o RTV...i just haven't had any luck with just the gaskets by themselves. :banghead:

good luck!
 
#16 ·
i drained all the fluid out of the system and its actually kinda clean.
do i still have to go on a do the run with water or do i just skip that part refill with the new coolant?
also the guy at autozone told me that its ok to use straight up 75% coolant and just add 25% water to the mix? is that ok?
 
#17 ·
I'm not sure how mechanically inclined you are or what tools you have. Pressure testing the cooling system is a great way of finding leaks and many parts stores lend tools like this. It's nothing exotic. It looks like a bicycle pump with a radiator cap on the end and a gauge. Pump it up to about 15 pounds and look for leaks.

Look out for advice from big chain parts store sales clerks. Sometimes you run into someone who knows what they are doing, but more often you run into someone who knows nothing. Unless there's something special about the coolant they're selling you, I'd stick with 50/50. If you choose to just refill the system, premix fully concentrated coolant with equal parts water first and then add it to the cooling system. If you choose to do a flush, which in my opinion is the better idea, remove the thermostat, flush the system until it runs clear, replace the thermostat with a new one, add 1/2 of the cooling system capacity of full-strength antifreeze and then top off with water.
 
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