radiator/cooling system cleaning/purging??
Thread Starter
Burning Brakes
Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 864
Likes: 2
From: Jax FL
radiator/cooling system cleaning/purging??
I need to clean flush the radaitor/cooling system on my 04 coupe.
Could one or some of you give a "very" challenged wanna be mechanic guidance on the best way to get the sytem properley flushed??
also I live in Florida, would using the Redline wetter cooling stuff be benificial? / along with distilled water and what anti-freeze should I use?
the engine is 402 stroker w486rwhp
Thanks for the help.
Could one or some of you give a "very" challenged wanna be mechanic guidance on the best way to get the sytem properley flushed??
also I live in Florida, would using the Redline wetter cooling stuff be benificial? / along with distilled water and what anti-freeze should I use?
the engine is 402 stroker w486rwhp
Thanks for the help.
Racer
Joined: Sep 2005
Posts: 335
Likes: 34
From: Lincoln Nebraska
Here's what I used:
http://www.iammoon.com/c5tech/coolant_drain.htm
Couple things I might add.... I did mine a few months ago... 2002 with 15,000 miles. The fluid I drained looked like new.... clear and clean. Still, after so many years, it was time. Since it was clean, I did not do a flush... saw no benefit.
To maximize the amount of fluid that drains...make sure you warm the engine up (at least to the 190's) and drain right away, before the thermostats close and prevent the fluid in the block from draining.
I mixed my own dexcool, and drained and filled twice.
http://www.iammoon.com/c5tech/coolant_drain.htm
Couple things I might add.... I did mine a few months ago... 2002 with 15,000 miles. The fluid I drained looked like new.... clear and clean. Still, after so many years, it was time. Since it was clean, I did not do a flush... saw no benefit.
To maximize the amount of fluid that drains...make sure you warm the engine up (at least to the 190's) and drain right away, before the thermostats close and prevent the fluid in the block from draining.
I mixed my own dexcool, and drained and filled twice.
Drifting
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 1,722
Likes: 138
From: Florida
St. Jude Donor '09
You can achieve the same effect by lowering your coolant water/glycol mixture percentage to a 70/30 or even a 80/20 glycol mixture. Depending on which glycol based coolant you use, these low levels may not be enough for the corrosion inhibitor package to provide adequate protection, consult the coolant's manufacturer for their minimum recommended mixture.
I'm from FL, now stationed in SD, I've run both EG & PG mixtures in the 70/30 range on all my vehicles without ill effect for years.
The real answer to increased cooling is a bigger radiator, there is no panacea when it comes to heat transfer. I would not classify "water wetter" as snake oil, the corrosion inhibitor package appears to be good, but their claims in my opinion are exaggerated.
Safety Car
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 4,549
Likes: 30
From: Shenandoah Valley Virginia
There is another major factor that you have to consider in your radiator /cooling maintenance routine. The C-5 Vettes are bottom breathers and suck up an incredible amount of junk into the AC condensor and radiator. It is absolutely necessary to clean all this garbage out to maintain proper airflow and keep your car cool. I just swapped out to a Dewitts radiator for track use and blew the junk out of the condensor with an air hose. I got two very large handfulls of sand, gravel, leaves, etc out of it. You will need to remove shroud and get a long air nozzle, but definitely worth the time.
Instructor
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 163
Likes: 1
From: Anchorage Alaska
Thanks! While I had my wife's 04 ZO6 on jackstands I pulled a Hershey candy bar wrapper off the AC condenser. I'll let you know if anything else of interest blows out.
Last edited by Jacki&GeneZ16; Aug 1, 2010 at 09:58 PM. Reason: smilel face did not work as expected
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