some questions regarding flushing radiator (1 Viewer)

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I flushed my radiator today (internally, not down the toilet). Perhaps someone would care to assist with some follow-up questions. First time ever on this procedure.

1) How long is it supposed to take for all the old coolant to leave the system? Basically, I just kept running water through, refilling and letting it drain until the water looked more or less clear--initially with the engine off, then with it running (fingers out of the way, it gets hot). The whole process took about 30 minutes.

2) The initial impulse to do this came from the desire to replace the old hoses. Upon finishing I noticed a trickle of a leak coming from the recently tightened hose clamp which them seemed to dissapear again after driving for 30 mins or so. I will try to tighten it some. Is it a good idea to thoroughly clean all the deposits off the fittings before installing new hose?

3) Is there an easier way to get to the hose coming off the water pump? I ended up removing the alternator to get to it.
 
ps40-2 said:
1) How long is it supposed to take for all the old coolant to leave the system? Basically, I just kept running water through, refilling and letting it drain until the water looked more or less clear--initially with the engine off, then with it running (fingers out of the way, it gets hot). The whole process took about 30 minutes.
Did you have the heater valve open? Did you use a chemical flush kit, or just the hose? Were you filling the rad? Or running water through the block?

ps40-2 said:
2) The initial impulse to do this came from the desire to replace the old hoses. Upon finishing I noticed a trickle of a leak coming from the recently tightened hose clamp which them seemed to dissapear again after driving for 30 mins or so. I will try to tighten it some. Is it a good idea to thoroughly clean all the deposits off the fittings before installing new hose?
Replace the hose. Tightening the clamp may make the leak worse. Replace em with band style hoseclamps. And yes, always thoroughly clean anything prior to reassembly. Otherwise you're just asking to have to tear it back down to chase a leak.

ps40-2 said:
3) Is there an easier way to get to the hose coming off the water pump? I ended up removing the alternator to get to it.
You found what is probably the easiest way to do this.
 
THanks for the reply.

hj60 said:
Did you have the heater valve open? Did you use a chemical flush kit, or just the hose? Were you filling the rad? Or running water through the block?

I forgot to open the heater valve. I realized this after I had already added the new coolant. I filled through the radiator, not using a chemical flush kit.

Implications?

Can you recommend the best way to clean fittings?

bh
 
ps40-2 said:
Can you recommend the best way to clean fittings?

bh

The green scotch-brite pads work great. Easy to wrap around the fittings, even in tight places, suprisingly effective. Buy a 3-pack, switch to a new one when the cleaning action seems to diminish.
 
Not to hijack, but I've got a question about burping. do you really have to crank on the bumper (i.E. jump up and down) to get all the bubbles out? How does the cruiser act when you don't have them all out. I replaced all the coolant and put in a new t-stat. Things are better than they were, but not perfect yet. I really don't want to move on to a new water pump. The radiator is only about a year old, replaced with the new engine. When I bought the cruiser I finally realized there was basically no coolant in it at all. Remedied that, but still have the needle creeping up higher than I would like.

thanks in advance for any help.
 
Just went through this nightmare last week of changing the water pump on my 62. As it was suggested by ming89fj62 to me:

Burping the coolant system is easy. W/ the engine cold open the radiator cap, position the truck so that the radiator is higher than the back end (front end on ramps or even a curb should do), start the enging and get the coolant up to temp so that the thermostat opens, rev the engine and watch for the coolant level to drop in the top of the radiator - you'll probably get a "burp" as the air works it way out of the radiator. Put the cap back on - make sure you have coolant in the resevior and you're done.

I followed his suggestions and not a problem since. The temp gauge hits the first mark and not higher and I'm in PHX, AZ.
 

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