| |
|
Click an image to enlarge. |
Your cooling system is one of the most
important systems of your car, therefore, you should check your coolant/anti-freeze
every 30,000 miles. If it's dirty or discolored or has any particles
in it you should flush your cooling system. If it seems fine but is
getting a little old, you can just drain the radiator and refill it
with fresh water/anti-freeze, but most likely you'll want to flush
the system.
When you buy coolant, it needs to be mixed 50:50 with water. I used
a couple water jugs, each half full, then split a gallon of coolant
between them. |
|
 |
|
| If your engine has been running, make
sure it has cooled off, otherwise you could burn yourself on escaping
steam or fluids. Remove the radiator cap. You may want to use a glove
or rag if the car is still hot. |
|
 |
|
| Next, if you look down through your engine
bay, you'll see a hole in the splash guard. Just above the hole is
the drain bolt for the radiator. Place a container underneath to catch
the draining coolant and slowly loosen the bolt by hand. |
|
 |
|
| Let the coolant drain through the hole. |
|
 |
|
| You'll drain about a gallon of coolant. |
|
 |
|
| While waiting for the coolant to drain,
remove the top of the coolant reservoir. |
|
 |
|
| Then remove the reservoir by pulling it
upward. Empty out the fluid and clean the reservoir, then replace
it. |
|
 |
|
| You should check the condition of all
your radiator hoses as well. Everything seemed fine although the clamp
on the bottom hose was pretty rusted. I cleaned it up a little but
otherwise left it alone. |
|
 |
|
The Haynes manual I had said to remove
the thermostat and flush the system using a hose, however, I found
it extremely difficult to get the thermostat off so I used a simpler
method.
Close the radiator drain plug and fill the radiator up with water.
Start the car and let it warm up. Turn the heater all the way up to
flush the heater core. Run it until the top radiator hose is hot,
which means the thermostat was activated and the water is flowing
through the upper hose into the radiator.
Drain the system again. You'll find that the water still comes out
pretty green from anti-freeze that was still in the system. When it's
cooled a little, fill the radiator again with your 50:50 anti-freeze
mix and run the car again and you're done. Also top off the reservoir
to the max line. |
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
