Friday, August 05, 2005
Flush The Cooling System On Your Car, or Truck
Your cooling system should be flushed every other year. No, I'm not crazy, but with all the new chemicals they use today, it will literally eat up the rubber hoses and deteriorate the heater core, and the radiator core.
Have a drain pan under the drain plug, or the lower radiator hose, to catch the old fluid. EPA doesn't want you to let it run out onto the ground--it will contaminate Earth!
Make sure the engine is cold! Hot antifreeze burns dramatically and it will burn you, too!
If you can get to the drain plug, (sometimes it's hard to get to) you can put a piece of 3/8 inch hose onto it. Put the other end into the drain pan and open the drain plug. This will let the fluid empty into the drain pan--that way all the fluid will go into the drain pan and not spread out and drip all over the place. Remove the radiator cap.
If you want, and it's much faster, you can remove the lower radiator hose from the radiator. Use caution, though, you don't want to break the neck on the radiator--that's a no-no.
It is better to have the drain plug opened, though, when you start to flush.
A word of caution! Antifreeze/summer coolant is very toxic. Don't get it on the body paint, or on your skin. Wash it off with water! Another thing, it will kill your pets if they drink it, so keep them, and children, away from it, remember, I warned you.
Read the full car cooling system article by Tommy Sessions.
Have a drain pan under the drain plug, or the lower radiator hose, to catch the old fluid. EPA doesn't want you to let it run out onto the ground--it will contaminate Earth!
Make sure the engine is cold! Hot antifreeze burns dramatically and it will burn you, too!
If you can get to the drain plug, (sometimes it's hard to get to) you can put a piece of 3/8 inch hose onto it. Put the other end into the drain pan and open the drain plug. This will let the fluid empty into the drain pan--that way all the fluid will go into the drain pan and not spread out and drip all over the place. Remove the radiator cap.
If you want, and it's much faster, you can remove the lower radiator hose from the radiator. Use caution, though, you don't want to break the neck on the radiator--that's a no-no.
It is better to have the drain plug opened, though, when you start to flush.
A word of caution! Antifreeze/summer coolant is very toxic. Don't get it on the body paint, or on your skin. Wash it off with water! Another thing, it will kill your pets if they drink it, so keep them, and children, away from it, remember, I warned you.
Read the full car cooling system article by Tommy Sessions.
