Cooling system flush made easy

[scion0]

Originally Posted by pastorgumby

Now get a picture step-by-step and this would be a perfect thread!

+1

[Monkeyman]

Originally Posted by ponch

If you lived in a place where it didn't freeze, you won't need ethylene glycol...

Yes, you would. You gonna put plain water in your radiator down there in Arizona? You need the same 50/50 mix in hot climates as you do in cold ones. The boiling point of plain water is 212*F. I guarantee your motor gets hotter than that even in moderate temps. The boiling point of ethylene glycol is 387*F. If you had water only, you'd boil all the water out on a good hot day or in traffic.

[leadbelly]

Originally Posted by onesherpa

I tried your method today without success. After draining the system, I raised the overflow tank above the fuel tank. I filled the overflow tank only to find that it did not fill the cooling system. I ended up lifting the fuel tank and filling it by the radiator cap.

Originally Posted by poppy

Hey blowndodge, any idea why this didn't work for onesherpa? I'm curious since I'm changing my antifreeze next weekend....

Didn't work for me either. There is no place for the coolant to go once it reaches the level of the water pump bleed screw. The system is sealed and the air above this point has no where to go, effectively causing an air lock.
Much quicker to just remove the tank and fill through rad cap instead of pissing around.

[jmb]

The cooling system is a sealed system, your filler cap is spring loaded to a set pressure to release when the system overheats. If you can back feed water through your overflow line your filler cap must be defective it has a rubber gasket that should prevent this from happening.

[basstoy]

Originally Posted by jmb

The cooling system is a sealed system, your filler cap is spring loaded to a set pressure to release when the system overheats. If you can back feed water through your overflow line your filler cap must be defective it has a rubber gasket that should prevent this from happening.

then how does the overflow tank level go up and down ?? if it is sealed, the way you say, then the overflow tank would be useless? no??

[basstoy]

can you post a pic where the water pump drain bolt is please?

[mick56]

Originally Posted by basstoy

can you post a pic where the water pump drain bolt is please?

I dont see one on mine either.

[poppy]

Here is the picture from a 1500 manual.....water pump drain/bleed bolt is "A"

[mick56]

Sneaky little bugger.You would expect it to be a nipple.

[Navigator]

You are my new hero and I also copied your truncated radiator fluid change procedure for my Nomad tech folder.

Now if I can just figure out an easy way to flush the radiator on my VStrom. Of course with that one requires that the side panels, fuel tank and air box must be removed to change the rear cylinder spark plug.

As I get older I'm starting to come around to agreeing with Tim's maintenance schedule.

[thebierguy]

I tried this easy version and could not get water to flow from the reservoir to the radiator. I was using the top left bolt on the water pump, which I had read to be the bleeder bolt, and the bottom left was the drain bolt, I might be wrong though. I just ended up resorting to removing the tank because in reality, it's not that hard from what I found. Just a fuel line and 2 electrical connections on my 08 Nomad.

[mick56]

It would make sense for the top bolt to be the bleeder.You dont bleed a radiator from the bottom.

[Kyleman87]

Don’t try this easy method of coolant flush with a full tank of fuel...
Ask me how I know...

Seriously, I wish I had read the comments before draining this nomad. the procedure doesn’t work exactly the way it is supposed to and I wasn’t mentally prepared for pulling the tank today.