When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
Any recommendations on where to get my coolant flushed (dealer etc)? What fluid is required and should it be a complete flush - 7k miles but 7 year old fluid, so I know I need to do it very soon. Life happens and therefore unexpected delays. Thanks for the comments and helpful suggestions. By the way oil has been changed yearly.
IF you are able to do it yourself in your garage, it's not terribly difficult, just messy. You just need a lift or QuickJacks, a 5-gallon bucket and a bunch of empty plastic milk jugs.
If not, then I agree on finding an independent garage you can trust. The recommended coolant is 60% water and 40% DexCool.
I saw a post here I think where he did not even jack up the car. You just need a big but shallow collection container. The drain plug can be reached from the top of the car.
This is my next DIY project.
Does opening the petcock allow all the coolant to drain, or is there something else that needs to be done?
No but close to 7 qt will drain including the expansion tank due to the arrangement of the coolant hoses. Unlike the C6 that would not allow the tank to self drain.
Any recommendations on where to get my coolant flushed (dealer etc)? What fluid is required and should it be a complete flush - 7k miles but 7 year old fluid, so I know I need to do it very soon. Life happens and therefore unexpected delays. Thanks for the comments and helpful suggestions. By the way oil has been changed yearly.
With only 7k, the coolant might still look clean and not discolored. GM recommendation would then just be a drain and refill. My LT4 coolant still looked good at 7 years and 35k miles. See prior post. Very simple DIY by opening radiator drain **** with expansion tank fill cap open. Refill qty will be close to 7 qt. JMHO
I believe coolant is recommended every 5 years regardless of mileage.
My dealer charged me around $150 for the job which seemed like a good price, this was a year ago.
If they hooked up the machine and did a fluid exchange, sure. If they opened the petcock valve and filled it when it stopped dripping, nothing spectacular.
OK but if you want to do more than empty the radiator, why not use a fluid exchange machine?
You can achieve the same thing by draining, closing the petcock, refilling with clean drinking water, running the engine for a while after the thermostat is open and then draining again. Repeat the process until the drained coolant runs clear and close the petcock. This usually takes 2 or 3 refills. Once you close the petcock there are several quarts of water still in the engine, heater, etc. Since the cooling system takes a 40% Dex/60% water mix, this makes it easy to get the mixture correct. Just add the proper volume of Dexcool to the cooling system and top off with water. Run the engine to burp out air bubbles, then top it off with water again. My 2015 Z06 takes 4.7 quarts of Dex to get to 40% of 11.8 quarts of coolant capacity. The cost of doing the coolant change using Dex purchased at NAPA was a little over $40. Plus an extra trip back to the store to get rid of the drained fluid. The job can be accomplished with a jack and two jack stands and something to catch the liquid.
Hi, I’m about to “refresh” the coolant - i.e., drain the old coolant through the radiator petcock and refill with fresh ACDelco Dex-Cool premix (50/50). Just to double-check: will 2 gallons of fresh fluid be enough? It should be, but I want to be sure since getting ACDelco premix isn’t as easy here in Europe as just visiting an AutoZone around the corner.
I also did a simple pH test, and the current coolant isn’t acidic yet, which is why I’m only doing this partial refresh.
Also, I plan to do this with the car on the ground, as lifting my C7 - even with a low-profile jack - is a bit of a pain in my garage. So I won’t be removing any splash shields from underneath. Just to be prepared and avoid making a mess on the garage floor or in the engine bay - where does the coolant actually flow once the petcock valve is opened?
Coolant flush
