Radiator Flush (2 Viewers)

[Riley]

Safado – Simon got the silicon hose from a shop that works on large tractor trucks. They basically tossed him a 2 foot piece of scrap for nothing (I think). It was very hard to find here in the great white north. I got the clamps from Mcmaster-Carr (review the PHH thread, it’s beat to death there).

Rookie2 – I can handle a new radiator but I’m praying a new HG is many years away.

Tonight I might add to the PHH thread with my and Simon’s observations.

 

[Rookie2]

[quote author=Riley link=board=2;threadid=9195;start=msg163925#msg163925 date=1085527293]
They basically tossed him a 2 foot piece of scrap for nothing (I think).

[/quote]

So.. that means you all've got enough left over of me and Safado?


Rookie2

 

[semlin]

sure, I'll trade you guys my leftover 16" section for a power steering pump rebuild kit. Based on the price at Napa you'd be getting a bargain!

Actually, PM me if you want it and I'll ship it gratis COD. You have to get your own clamps. They really complete the look.

 

[Riley]

McMaster probably has the hose as well. It will be spendy from them but you don't need much. I bet they are having a run on the small constant tension clamps thanks to this site.

 

[Safado]

Thanks for the offer, but I'll probably just buy myself some and replace all of the little hose sections like the PHH....just not so pesky.

 

[Safado]

So I decided to flush the heater core in what appears to me to be an easier method. I just opened the heater valve by using the COLD----HOT slider to the HOT position and then had to turn the key to the on position to activate the motor. In the 91 and 92 80 series you just need to move the lever. I then used a cheapo hose attachment and fit it in the heater hose as shown below. As I turned the handle and let the water flow, the fluid first came out of the block. It cleared up quickly and then started coming out clearly from the radiator. I increased the pressure a bit more and noticed that not only was the clean water coming out of the Rad and block, but was also coming out the disconnected side of the heater valve.

So I think I flushed it pretty well, but one question remains....how do you get the tap water out of the heater core?

Thanks

 

[RavenTai]

I filled with distilled water, run until thermostat opens, drain, repeat

eventually the remaining water will be mostly distilled water

 

[Rich]

[quote author=Safado link=board=2;threadid=9195;start=msg164844#msg164844 date=1085630005]
...
So I think I flushed it pretty well, but one question remains....how do you get the tap water out of the heater core?
...
[/quote]

Disconnect both the inlet and outlet hose to the heater cores. Connect a long drain tube to the inlet (heater core inlet connects to heater control valve). Blow compressed air through heater core outlet. The drain tube just keeps the engine compartment dry. Omit at your pleasure.

Regarding flushing, you can flush either direction through heater cores. Back flushing from outlet to inlet would be more effective in removing particles too large to flow through the heater core (if any).

 

[Mikesta]

For those of you looking for more information on this proceedure should also take a look at e9999's writeup. It has a bunch of pics that will help get this job done.

https://forum.ih8mud.com/index.php?board=2;action=display;threadid=15351

Thanks e9999 and others who have taken the time to write up these details. The FSM is pretty vague in this regard.

This link does not go far. Just back to the forums. anyone beside me think this thread is too long for q/a?

 

[nocones]

Here's an updated link to e9999's writeup that works.

https://forum.ih8mud.com/80-series-tech/14891-cleaned-my-cooling-system-full-scoop.html

 

[Fly Rod]

I filled with distilled water, run until thermostat opens, drain, repeat

eventually the remaining water will be mostly distilled water

RT,

I am with you. I replaced Rad hoses 1-3, thermostat and the PHH today. My toy red coolant has 30k on it and it came out looking new. I drained the block and refilled the system with distilled. Ran the truck with the heaters on while I ate dinner. The Scanguage was reading 177 and holding at idle.

I will drain the radiator and block in the am after it all cools. I will follow with one more refill of distilled, cycle and drain. After that I will fill with 50-50 toy red and distilled. The resulting mix will be slightly less than 50-50 due to the distilled sitting in the heater core. I am OK with that for now. I will put pure toy red in the overflow bottle and figure it will average out over time.

 

[Riley]

Hi guys - I'm thinking of doing my second flush again after a few years. I'm good to go except I don't have a replacement gasket for the thermosat. In order to get a good flush, I was going to pull the thermosat and cycle water through. any ideas?

Can I pull thermosat with replacing gasket? it's a few days until I can get one from a dealer.

Or do I really need to flush with the thermosat pulled?

 

[IdahoDoug]

Here's what I've been doing the last couple days as I get ready for summer temps. Pulled the thermostat and left the housing hanging. Pulled the rad bottom hose and removed the rad cap. Remove block drain. Heater position on dash set to hot so heaters are open. Truck pointed downhill.

Remove the 1/2 inch (approx) hose that comes along the block above the exh mans at its forward end ( connects to a metal line that turns downward to the thermostat location. Put your garden hose sprayer against the rubber hose and let 'er rip. You're now back flushing the heaters and it will come blasting out the thermostat housing, block drain and the rad lower hose. Do it for a few minutes. Button up the block (the thermostat gasket is likely fine, so drive this way until the new one arrives) and lower hose and fill with water via the same method at a lower spray rate until the radiator has filled. Fill the overflow bottle and check it after running a few errands to be sure the engine doesn't suck it dry.

When the new gasket comes in, open up the three locations again and let it drain with one "only on MUD addition". Lean into the engine bay, and..er...blow as hard as you can through that 1/2 inch hose and you'll hear more water get blasted out of the heaters so you can minimize the tap water on refilling. If you have an air source this might avoid the neighbors talking about the 'relationship' you seem to have with your Cruiser.

Anyhow, hope I overanswered the question. Don't try driving the Cruiser without the gasket AND thermo in place as the housing may leak - the thermo/gasket thickness is needed. I'll be filling mine with fresh Red Monday or so.

DougM

 

[Darwood]

I just flushed the coolant on my 97 FZJ80 and my 99 Tacoma. I bought the 80 in January and as such don't know much about the coolant history. It has an aftermarket radiator and I also found green coolant mixed with red coolant.

Now I've owned the Tacoma since new and in 80k miles have never changed the stock red coolant. All I've ever done is add distilled water :whoops:

After checking the coolant after draining I found no evidence of sludge in the drained coolant of either vehicle. I did however find the start of sludge in the top of the FZJ80's radiator. The top of the radiator in the Tacoma looked like new. I'm pretty confident now that there is nothing inherently bad about the Toyota red in general. I was quite surprised by how well the Tacoma looked. I'm a little concerned about the FZJ80 now.

So this is weird. I replaced my radiator, thermostat, and hoses with a new OEM little over 3 years ago. I filled it with Toyota red and distilled water. I neglected the cooling system since then and only added coolant/distilled water to the overflow tank as necessary.

Last night I went to flush my radiator and what greeted me was the same white deposits on the fins as I had in the previous radiator. White almost calcium like deposits with a hint of milky sludge. The fluid I drained out seemed clear even though I could somewhat scrape the milky sludge off the fins a little. Some of it was hard encrusting the radiator and other bits of it were sludgy. This all reminds me exactly of what I found in the previous radiator.

I also noticed this past summer that the cooling system isn't work as well as it did 3 years ago, however I attributed this more to the aging non-modified fan clutch.

So yeah I'm stumped. Where do these sludge/deposits come from?

The truck runs fine except for a lot of seemingly rich running smoke during cold start-ups which it's been doing for quite a while.

 

[thorosiousD]

Another way is to do multiple flushes if you have the time. Drain the fluid out of the bottom hose, refill the system with around 2.5 gallons of distilled water including the plastic bottle. Take a 10 minute drive, use the heater, come back and let it idle for a few minutes so it doesn't start boiling and then drain it. Do the whole process a total of three times. When you're done, make a 50/50 mix of Toyota red and distilled water or buy it that way and refill the system.
I've been doing it this way every two years or so for the past 16 years and the system seems to be fairly clean. I've not had a problem yet other than replacing the radiator two times.
The floor heater bypass and the PHH operations were done before they became an issue. The truck now has 386,498 miles on it but it still runs great. I think it can make it to 500,000 the way things are going.