Introduction: How to Flush a Vehicles Coolant

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Hi, my name is Koby Corkins. I’ve always liked to do things on my own to help increase my knowledge in every industry. I’m going to bring satisfaction to a whole new level with helping you understand the benefits of being a vehicle DIY enthusiast. Show you some key suggestions to help build a Do It Yourself approach to everything. Facts have shown that doing tasks yourself leads to better confidence and can reduce expenses.

Step 1: Cold Engine Coolant

First we will start with the coolant, but we need to make sure the vehicle has been sitting for a while, the engine needs to be cold. Reasoning for this is to prevent any of the hot coolant from shooting everywhere, this could be caused by built up pressure.

Step 2: Locating Radiator Plug/Hose

Next step is to crawl under the vehicle and find the radiator plug, usually located on the passenger side at the bottom of the radiator. If the vehicle doesn’t have one, the lower coolant hose will work. Now we want to loosen the plug to allow the coolant to drain. This might take some time. To speed things up, just open the cap on the coolant reservoir located under the hood of the vehicle.

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Step 3: Flushing Coolant System

After allowing enough time to fully drain, we will want to re-install the plug or hose. Now we will flush the system to make sure all the crud is out of the radiator and lines. Start by pouring the distilled water into the coolant reservoir with a funnel, along with the coolant flush cleaner. Pour to the vehicles spec of coolant amount. Start the vehicle and see if the vehicle needs more distilled water to reach the required limit.

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Step 4: Cleaning the System

If everything is correct so far, we want to drive the vehicle until the engine runs up to temperature, around 180-190 degrees. Run the heater on full blast. This will allow for the distilled water and flush cleaner to clean it all out.

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Step 5: Draining Cleaner

Now we want to wait for the engine to cool back down so we can drain the system again. Once it is cool we want to remove the plug from the radiator and allow for all the liquids to come out. If the liquid is dark and discolored, repeat the steps again. If the water is clear and clean we can move on. Make sure any liquid that is taken out of the vehicle, to recycle it.

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Step 6: Adding New Coolant

The final steps involve putting the radiator plug back on and refilling the system with antifreeze. Remember to buy the recommended amount of antifreeze listed in the vehicles manual. We want to open the radiator cap and pour in the 50/50 antifreeze mixture. Pour the rest into the reservoir. If there is extra, we want to start the vehicle and pour the rest in, once it sinks more. Make sure the coolant stops bubbling and close the reservoir cap. Drive around until operating temps of 180-210 degrees with the heater blasting once again.

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Step 7: Adding More Coolant

After a couple hours or days, it is the safe thing to check the level of fluid and make sure there is no bubbles in the coolant reservoir tank. Add more fluid if needed, only to the recommended line.

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Step 8: Finished!

We have the successfully flushed the coolant! All videos used were put together in step 9.

Step 9: (All Videos That Were Used)

Videos may not work on this website. I linked the YouTube video below.

https://youtu.be/cWJ6HpV4jqI

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