Tried to Flush coolant
#1
07-07-2015, 05:49 AM
Tried to Flush coolant
So today i tried to flush my coolant, My blazer has 120k ish miles and it looks like the coolant hasnt been flushed ever, The old coolant was pretty much black and inside the radiator cap looked like this
Anyways I used prestone coolant flush and let it run for about 2 days, Then today tried to actually flush it and i went through 7 gallons of distilled water and it still was coming out pretty dark (not as dark) but i changed the radiator cap and thermostat and I was wondering how hard would it be to make clear water go through the system.. At this rate it seemed like it would take a **** ton of gallons, Also I would fill it with water, let it run for a few minutes and drain and i did it a pretty decent amount of times.. Any ideas on how to clean it real good?
Anyways I used prestone coolant flush and let it run for about 2 days, Then today tried to actually flush it and i went through 7 gallons of distilled water and it still was coming out pretty dark (not as dark) but i changed the radiator cap and thermostat and I was wondering how hard would it be to make clear water go through the system.. At this rate it seemed like it would take a **** ton of gallons, Also I would fill it with water, let it run for a few minutes and drain and i did it a pretty decent amount of times.. Any ideas on how to clean it real good?
#2
07-07-2015, 03:59 PM
That is icky looking for sure! I'm interested in hearing what others think, but I would just put a new radiator in there. However, the scary thought is the rest of the cooling system probably looks just as bad!! Before I swapped out radiators, I would run the cleaner stuff through a few more times and just get one of those back flushing kits. Drive it for few days, hook the hose up, flush and repeat. Get as much gunk out as you can and put the new radiator in. Then start diluting the tap water with the distilled water and eventually add coolant to get your 50/50 mix. Then cross your fingers the heater core doesn't spring a leak... Just my thoughts, like I said, I'm interested in what others would do to...
#3
07-08-2015, 04:26 AM
Mine looked a little worse. Darker colored crud and I couldn't tell that was a spring. Heater core was completely blocked. I drained everything except removing the engine block drain plugs. I was afraid they would break. Connected the hose to the heater core and flushed it. I removed the T-stat and the lower radiator hose and flushed everything with the hose thru the engine and the radiator. Installed a flush kit, left the T-stat out so it would flow unrestricted, and filled with water.
The capacity of the system was at the max for just 1 bottle of prestone super flush so I poured 2 in. It said to add it to the dirty coolant but I used it with the new water. I drove for an hour and couldn't get it up to operating temp so I removed the grille and covered the radiator with plastic sheeting. I carefully drove staying close to home and when the temp hit 200 I shut it down. This brought the system to a boil. I could hear it and see it in the overflow tank. I boiled it every day for almost a week, but not exceeding the 10 (I believe) hour limit on the instructions.
I drained everything and flushed with water, drove it until hot. Next day same thing. 3 times to make sure everything was out of the system. The overflow tank looked perfect and the inside of the radiator looked brand new. I refilled it with distilled water and the yellow prestone that mixes with new and old. No more death-kill (dex-cool) for this guy. Some like it. I DON'T. New stat and removed the plastic, no more problems. That was last summer and everything still looks new.
I know what a pain this is, but I read too many threads here from people who sort of cleaned their system. Only to have it turn back to brown crud in 2 months. The trick is to bring that stuff to a boil without overheating the engine. That's when I saw it coming clean. I've waited to post this to make sure it worked. No offence to dex-cool fans. I'm happy for the people who've had good luck with it.
The capacity of the system was at the max for just 1 bottle of prestone super flush so I poured 2 in. It said to add it to the dirty coolant but I used it with the new water. I drove for an hour and couldn't get it up to operating temp so I removed the grille and covered the radiator with plastic sheeting. I carefully drove staying close to home and when the temp hit 200 I shut it down. This brought the system to a boil. I could hear it and see it in the overflow tank. I boiled it every day for almost a week, but not exceeding the 10 (I believe) hour limit on the instructions.
I drained everything and flushed with water, drove it until hot. Next day same thing. 3 times to make sure everything was out of the system. The overflow tank looked perfect and the inside of the radiator looked brand new. I refilled it with distilled water and the yellow prestone that mixes with new and old. No more death-kill (dex-cool) for this guy. Some like it. I DON'T. New stat and removed the plastic, no more problems. That was last summer and everything still looks new.
I know what a pain this is, but I read too many threads here from people who sort of cleaned their system. Only to have it turn back to brown crud in 2 months. The trick is to bring that stuff to a boil without overheating the engine. That's when I saw it coming clean. I've waited to post this to make sure it worked. No offence to dex-cool fans. I'm happy for the people who've had good luck with it.
#4
07-08-2015, 09:22 AM
I've got mixed emotions on flushing. from personal experience my neighbor is a GM service manager. he warned me once not to do a "super flush" as this could loosen up stuff stuck in the heater core. I didn't listen as my coolant was looking pretty murky. within 48 hours anti freeze was all over the floor. heater core $50, removal of dash by mechanic $300.
I'd bet the ranch that the block has some crud in it that might just keep breaking down forever as the more you flush the more stuff will loosen up.
we have 3 blazers in the family and dex cool is pretty nasty when it breaks down. you can get into some huge $ here but change the radiator, water pump, hoses, flush out the overflow tank (not hard) can help considerably but you're still dealing with the block. I just get the chills knowing that some of the stuff breaking down is inside the core. good luck.
I'd bet the ranch that the block has some crud in it that might just keep breaking down forever as the more you flush the more stuff will loosen up.
we have 3 blazers in the family and dex cool is pretty nasty when it breaks down. you can get into some huge $ here but change the radiator, water pump, hoses, flush out the overflow tank (not hard) can help considerably but you're still dealing with the block. I just get the chills knowing that some of the stuff breaking down is inside the core. good luck.
#5
07-09-2015, 03:31 PM
Mine looked a little worse. Darker colored crud and I couldn't tell that was a spring. Heater core was completely blocked. I drained everything except removing the engine block drain plugs. I was afraid they would break. Connected the hose to the heater core and flushed it. I removed the T-stat and the lower radiator hose and flushed everything with the hose thru the engine and the radiator. Installed a flush kit, left the T-stat out so it would flow unrestricted, and filled with water.
The capacity of the system was at the max for just 1 bottle of prestone super flush so I poured 2 in. It said to add it to the dirty coolant but I used it with the new water. I drove for an hour and couldn't get it up to operating temp so I removed the grille and covered the radiator with plastic sheeting. I carefully drove staying close to home and when the temp hit 200 I shut it down. This brought the system to a boil. I could hear it and see it in the overflow tank. I boiled it every day for almost a week, but not exceeding the 10 (I believe) hour limit on the instructions.
I drained everything and flushed with water, drove it until hot. Next day same thing. 3 times to make sure everything was out of the system. The overflow tank looked perfect and the inside of the radiator looked brand new. I refilled it with distilled water and the yellow prestone that mixes with new and old. No more death-kill (dex-cool) for this guy. Some like it. I DON'T. New stat and removed the plastic, no more problems. That was last summer and everything still looks new.
I know what a pain this is, but I read too many threads here from people who sort of cleaned their system. Only to have it turn back to brown crud in 2 months. The trick is to bring that stuff to a boil without overheating the engine. That's when I saw it coming clean. I've waited to post this to make sure it worked. No offence to dex-cool fans. I'm happy for the people who've had good luck with it.
The capacity of the system was at the max for just 1 bottle of prestone super flush so I poured 2 in. It said to add it to the dirty coolant but I used it with the new water. I drove for an hour and couldn't get it up to operating temp so I removed the grille and covered the radiator with plastic sheeting. I carefully drove staying close to home and when the temp hit 200 I shut it down. This brought the system to a boil. I could hear it and see it in the overflow tank. I boiled it every day for almost a week, but not exceeding the 10 (I believe) hour limit on the instructions.
I drained everything and flushed with water, drove it until hot. Next day same thing. 3 times to make sure everything was out of the system. The overflow tank looked perfect and the inside of the radiator looked brand new. I refilled it with distilled water and the yellow prestone that mixes with new and old. No more death-kill (dex-cool) for this guy. Some like it. I DON'T. New stat and removed the plastic, no more problems. That was last summer and everything still looks new.
I know what a pain this is, but I read too many threads here from people who sort of cleaned their system. Only to have it turn back to brown crud in 2 months. The trick is to bring that stuff to a boil without overheating the engine. That's when I saw it coming clean. I've waited to post this to make sure it worked. No offence to dex-cool fans. I'm happy for the people who've had good luck with it.
#6
07-09-2015, 03:36 PM
I've got mixed emotions on flushing. from personal experience my neighbor is a GM service manager. he warned me once not to do a "super flush" as this could loosen up stuff stuck in the heater core. I didn't listen as my coolant was looking pretty murky. within 48 hours anti freeze was all over the floor. heater core $50, removal of dash by mechanic $300.
I'd bet the ranch that the block has some crud in it that might just keep breaking down forever as the more you flush the more stuff will loosen up.
we have 3 blazers in the family and dex cool is pretty nasty when it breaks down. you can get into some huge $ here but change the radiator, water pump, hoses, flush out the overflow tank (not hard) can help considerably but you're still dealing with the block. I just get the chills knowing that some of the stuff breaking down is inside the core. good luck.
I'd bet the ranch that the block has some crud in it that might just keep breaking down forever as the more you flush the more stuff will loosen up.
we have 3 blazers in the family and dex cool is pretty nasty when it breaks down. you can get into some huge $ here but change the radiator, water pump, hoses, flush out the overflow tank (not hard) can help considerably but you're still dealing with the block. I just get the chills knowing that some of the stuff breaking down is inside the core. good luck.
#7
07-10-2015, 05:47 AM
The water and flush looked nasty when I drained it. So I removed the T-stat and lower radiator hoses and flushed everything out. I ran water through until it came out clean. After I refilled it with water, that water stayed clean. I just kept flushing and refilling because I wanted to make sure all of the "super flush" was out of the system. I knew I had a strong mix of it in there.
Also, make sure the system is cooled down before running cold hose water through it.
My coolant is still clear, not even cloudy, and not so much as a spec in the bottom of the overflow tank. If there is anything in the bottom of the water jacket in the engine, it's staying there.
Also, make sure the system is cooled down before running cold hose water through it.
My coolant is still clear, not even cloudy, and not so much as a spec in the bottom of the overflow tank. If there is anything in the bottom of the water jacket in the engine, it's staying there.
#8
07-11-2015, 05:38 PM
Oh the fun. Dexcool causes it. Not because of the coolant,but the maintenance. If ran longer then its made for it causes this to happen. All i can say is replace the rad,core and flush it until its clean. might take 3000000 trys. Good luck.
#9
07-13-2015, 10:28 PM
Update: So it looks like im going to have to replace the radiator, It looks like theres a crack on the top right side of the radiator, Im thinking its from flushing the old coolant but last week randomly coolant exploded all over the engine bay when i was accelerating and i had no coolant, Today i was driving it again, Everything seemed fine but then i started to over heat. I was about 10 miles away from my house so i pulled over and let my car cool down. It didnt turn on when i tried so i checked the radiator and it was empty.. So i Filled it up and when i got home i noticed a crack on the top,
Im 99% sure that that crack is causing me to lose coolant and i did an oil change and my oil was just super black with no water
Im 99% sure that that crack is causing me to lose coolant and i did an oil change and my oil was just super black with no water
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