Guys and gals...

I know for a fact that my radiator and cooling system hasn't been flushed in five years. I haven't had any overheating problems at all, and the fluid is nice and bright green with very little to no contamination. I'm pretty sure my radiator is in good shape. The water pump was replaced at about that time, so it should be good, too. I'm not so sure, however, about the other components in the system. The hoses aren't cracked, but they sure as hell ain't new (getting soft), and the plastic overflow bottle has a little bit of "stuff" on the inside above the water line. I have "idiota" gauges, so I don't know about the thermostat, either. Right now, I have enough distilled water to do the job and two gallons of straight Prestone. I also have a small bottle of the Prestone rad flush, a little tester, and I was thinking of grabbing a new rad cap.

Can someone give me all the advice and the necessary should-haves on what should be done here?

Thanks,
Rob

 

Just came in from doing mine. I like Peak and tap water personally. I dont buy into the distilled water thing (Peak doesnt even call for it) because distilled water is super corrosive and if you flush your system as often as you should tap water isnt an issue. Ive heard from mechanics that it really doesnt matter either.

I just did mine with a pan, hose and spill-free funnel. I drained the coolant from the radiator drain with a hose to my catch pan. Then I pulled the engine block plug. I flushed the radiator with my garden hose and took the pressure bottle off to clean it. Put everything back together and close it all up.

Then I put the spill-free funnel in place of the radiator cap, half filled it and put the heat on max and started her up. Kept adding fluid until she stopped burping. Took about 20 minutes total because I had just replaced my heater core and it was all air too. The spill-free funnel is a MUST for doing radiators. I think I paid about $25 for mine. AWESOME tool and makes you do your radiator more often because its so easy. I do mine every spring so Ive got new fluid for the summer season.

 

Bigvig, I hate to be a stickler for details, but distilled water isn't corrosive because there is NOTHING but H2O in it.

 

What's the fluid capacity, btw?

 

I'm no professional mechanic but I just flushed my system after replacing the water pump and it was easy enough. I filled the system with tap water and a bottle of Bars' radiator flush, took it for a 30 or 40 minute drive with the heat on, let it cool off and drained it. The water came out rush colored so I figure it must have done some kind of good. I then filled the system with pure distilled water and ran the engine for about 10 minutes, let it cool and drained it again. Came out pretty clear so I figured it was good to go. I filled the system with a 50/50 mix of distilled water and coolant. The Jeep runs at a solid 210 now. You can get more involved doing a flush but for a routine job I figure the way I did it should be good enough.

 

Is this something I should do when I replace my rad next week? Ive changed starters before, but this will be the first time that I do a radiator. Just on the curious side.

 

Depends. Chemistry was my minor and I remember distilled water being very corrosive in a few labs we did, and Ive heard from a few mechanics that distilled water isnt any better for your system than tap as long as youre performing routine maintenance. If you want the best, use deionized water because it contains fewer salts than even the best of distilled water, which still isnt 100% pure h2o even in the best of distilling and filtering processes. But honestly, we're talking about cooling systems in cars, I dont think it makes a difference as long as youre performing routine maintenance.

I know cooling systems dont really want all the minerals and ions of tap water, but the Peak coolant I use doesnt call for distilledwater, only "water", and it says it over and over. And if youre flushing your system regularly, I cant imagine itll do that much damage. Ive always used tap and never had anything fail because of it, but I also flush my system and periodically replace parts too. I also dont need/want/expect my radiator, water pump, etc., to last long enough for the minerals in water to actually cause damage. If you were running straight water, OK, maybe, but we're doing at least (supposed to be) a 50% mix with Ethylene glycol so Im not really worried either way. I dont think anyone else should be either, unless you expect your coolant parts to run 500K without any maintenance or breakdowns.

My '99 has the original radiator, hoses & water pump in her. 138K later Im going to change them out this summer just as preventative maintenance, because a $100 dollar radiator and a $50 dollar water pump is cheaper than breaking down anywhere.

 

Isn't distilled water as pure as u can get? It's distilled (condensation), like drinking alcohol is distilled, the water (as a vapor) goes to the top, condenses when cooled, leaving impurities (salts, whatever) in the bottom.

 

Store bought, distilled water pure h2o, no. Pretty clean, yes.

 

Bet it's cleaner than store bought drinking water and way cleaner than tap water.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Distilled_water

 

Lol whatever I'm on well water here. Ain't no chance in HELL I'm puttin it in my radiator. Distilled water is only $0.83/gallon

 

We're talkin' high finance now, 2 gals. ($1.66) of distilled water vs tap water.

Must be the "new" chemistry vs "old" chemistry that says deionized water has fewer salts than distilled water. LOL

 

Lol we use "deionized" water in chem labs at school. What a joke. It's just that I've got REALLY hard water here.

 

Ah, just for shats and gaggles: Define Pure?

Ron

 

Less than .1% contamination