Engine/Transmission (1994 - 1998) changing coolant any suggestions

[DieselTorque]

i'm soon going to change my coolant & back flush the system,and where would the radiator drain plug be located at, i looked for it yesterday and gave up after about 1/2 hour of searching. should i use prestone's radiator flush or just warm it up a change the coolant out, i've also heard not to use tap water, i already bought 3 gallons of straight coolant, should i get the 50/50 premixed one instead?



thanx fellas



dt

 

[crabman]

DT,

The radiator drain plug is located on the d/s inside engine compartment next to the outlet that goes to the air intake horn. (right side of outlet) Lay on your back and look up.

I would just drain and refill with distilled water, take it for a drive to warn it up and drain again. Refill w/coolant and d/w again, 50-50.

JMHO.

crabman

 

[Mundgyver]

If you want to do a good radiator flush at the same time, it is cheap and works good. Drain your fluid and fill with fresh water and then put in two dispenser caps of electrosol powdered dishwashing soap that would be used for a dishwasher. Drive it for about 40 miles and then drain it out and refill with fresh water and rinse with fresh water 2 more times. Then put in your new fluid. I got this tip from a Certified Cummins mechanic who told me that it cost 50 cents to do this and it works very will. I did this to my truck when I switched from the factory fluid to the FleetGuard 600,000 mile pre mixed stuff. I like the results and it was cheap.



It works

 

[DieselTorque]

Mundgyver, i'm going to try get the fleetgaurd 50/50 instead of straight prestone, great suggestion about the eletrosol :-laf



dt

 

[MMeier]

DT, remember these beasts hold upwards of 27 qts. of coolant! So when you flush everything out remember there is still a fair amount of water in the engine itself so your 3 gallons of coolant will barely be adequate for a 50/50 mix. I always refill the overflow with straight Prestone and then try to get the rest of my 4 gallons into the engine and radiator. And remember to use only distilled water for flushing and making your 50/50 mix. That water down your way will plug a radiator up in no time !!

 

[Alan Reagan]

And since it sounds like you haven't done this before, the drain will turn and then pull straight back. It is an o-ring seal and the o-ring must pass the drain hole before you get flow. It can be a little aggrevating the first time you do it.



Also, after you refill, and especially after you drive, recheck the level. You have to "burp" these engines after they are drained to get all of the air out.

 

[Mundgyver]

The way I rinsed mine out after the treatment with the electrosol was to pull the heater hose from the head and use a garden hose to back flush. I had my thermostat removed so the water could flow right out. I also had the nose of the truck pointed down hill on my drive way. This way I was able to drain down the entir system. I put in a new 190 thermostat and then refilled the block from the heater hose block connection with the radiator cap left off. When I could no long fill the heater conncetion at the back of the block I let the truck roll down on level ground and filled the radiator. Hooked everything back up and took is for a short drive and came back and topped off. Start to finish took me about 2 hours. The electrosol does a really nich job of flushing the system.

 

[DieselTorque]

thanks for the great info guys,



i'm going to try to do a complete flush, i'm going to get 8 gallons of 50/50 fleetguard coolant, (flush it out w/ electrosol)change thermostat & its oring seal and since i finally found the radiator drain plug i'm going to change its oring as well to eliminate all possible leakage paths. wish me luck.



mmeier, yeah the water down here is waayy too full of minerals to use in a auto cooling systems.



dt

 

[NDetoy]

Just finished replacing little hose behind the turbo. Warmed engine up. Poured coolant into coolant resevour it finally emptied but the top of the resevour is still full. Can't put any more coolant in. Do I just keep driving untill the top of the reservour is empty?

 

[JMcCoy]

If your fluid does not look bad, Just drain and fill. I change mine every year or two regardless of mileage. It is much cheaper to use regular coolant and mix it with distilled water. If you do flush the system with a hose, use compressed air to blow the system out. Don't forget to replace the lower radiator hose. It gets expensive when you have to replace it and dump your new fluid on the ground. I can neve find a clean pan to dump it in and reuse. Good luck