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Remove Coolant From Overflow Reservoir
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Using a pump or siphon, remove all the old coolant from the overflow reservoir.
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[Optional] Raise and Support the Car
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If you don't know where the radiator draincock is or have a hard time
reaching it with the car on the ground, you'll need to raise the front
end. You can do this by using a floor jack on the central jacking point
in the middle of the front crossmember. After raising the car with
the jack, support it properly with jack stands before getting under the car.
NEVER, NEVER get under a car that is supported only with a floor jack.
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Drain the Coolant From Your Radiator
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Locate the draincock on the lower driver's side corner of the radiator and turn it
counter-clockwise to loosen it. With the drain pan or bucket below the clear hose
near the draincock, loosen the draincock until coolant flows out of the hose.
After draining at least a quart, close the draincock and lower the car back down.
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Remove the Radiator Cap
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Ok, so it's technically not on your radiator, but they still call it that anyway...
turn it counter-clockwise to remove it. Never remove this cap while the
cooling system is hot - you'll make a huge mess and probably burn yourself.
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Add Cooling System Flush
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Add the contents of the bottle to the hole where the radiator cap goes.
Top the system off with water (distilled if you like) until it's
full.
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Assemble the "Tee" Fitting
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Your flush kit should come with a "tee" fitting. Rather than cutting the
stock heater hose and splicing the tee in, I chose to use a small length of
tubing to connect to the nipple on the firewall and then connect the stock heater
hose to the other side of the tee. The pictures shows tubing on boths sides
of the tee for illustration only.
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Locate Your Heater Hoses
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These hoses attach to barbed nipples on the firewall behind the throttle body.
The one on the left is the outlet hose and the one on the right is the inlet
hose. You'll want to use the RIGHT (inlet) hose rather than the outlet hose
as I did below. I couldn't find any documentation saying which hose was
which, so I guessed. And I guessed wrong. It won't hurt anything, but
it also won't really flush your heater core if you use the outlet hose.
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Title
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Pull off the Heater *INLET* hose and attach your tee fitting.
Note that you want to use the RIGHT (driver's side) hose rather than the outlet hose
as I did in the picture. Connect a garden hose to the trunk of the tee
fitting and then connect the garden hose to your faucet.
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Insert Tubing Into Radiator Neck
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The tubing should be snug and water/coolant should not leak out.
Put the other end of your tubing in a large bucket to catch
the fluid that will come out.
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Flush Your Cooling System
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Start the car and let it idle. Turn the heater on as hot as it will go
and turn the fan on. Then turn on the faucet that's connected to your
garden hose. At this point, green fluid should begin to travel up the
clear tubing and into your bucket.
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Wait Until The Fluid Is Clear
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Once all you have coming out of the tubing is clear water, your can turn off the hose
and shut down the engine. Make sure you catch all the fluid that came
out of your car as coolant is toxic and should be disposed of properly.
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Remove the Tubing and Garden Hose
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You're almost done at this point - disconnect the garden hose from
the heater hose tee fitting and put the supplied cap on the
tee fitting. Remove the tubing from the radiator fill neck
and replace your radiator cap, but don't tighten it yet.
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[Optional] Raise and Support the Car
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|
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If you don't know where the radiator draincock is or have a hard time
reaching it with the car on the ground, you'll need to raise the front
end. You can do this by using a floor jack on the central jacking point
in the middle of the front crossmember. After raising the car with
the jack, support it properly with jack stands before getting under the car.
NEVER, NEVER get under a car that is supported only with a floor jack.
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Drain the Water From Your Radiator
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Locate the draincock on the lower driver's side corner of the radiator and turn it
counter-clockwise to loosen it. With the drain pan or bucket below the clear hose
near the draincock, loosen the draincock until water flows out of the hose.
After fully draining the radiator, close the draincock and lower the car back down.
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Add Coolant
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Pour 1 gallon of coolant into the radiator fill neck - filling it up will
take right about a gallon, maybe a little more or a a little less. This will get you
right about a 50/50 mix of coolant and water in the system. You can also
add some Redline Water Wetter at this point if you like.
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Replace Radiator Cap and Start Car
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Fully tighten the radiator cap and then start the car. While it idles,
look for any coolant leaks or any other issues. After a minute or two,
the coolant and water in the cooling system will be thoroughly mixed
and the car can be driven normally.
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Dispose of Used Coolant
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Take all the fluid you caught in your bucket(s) as it came out
of the car to a hazardous materials disposal site. Do not
flush it down the toilet, sink, or any other residential or commercial
plumbing unless, for some strange reason, that's legal where you live.
Also, please resist the urge to use that fluid to fill your neighbor's
cat's water dish. Yeah, you know - the one that leaves dirty paw-prints
all over your freshly-washed car? Yeah, that one... don't do it.
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