Can someone please give me detailed instructions on how to PROPERLY flush and change the radiator fluid? Please don't flame too bad. If you have links to pictures, it would be much appreciated. BTW = GS-R

 

First uncap the radiator cap, then locate the radiator drain plug on the bottom of the radiator, loosen that and take it off. Coolant will then exit the radiator drain plug area, have something to catch it. Next you have a couple of options:

Plug back the radiator drain plug, filled it up with water, cap the radiator cap back on and run in till the engine warms up. Drain the water, put back on and tighten the drain plug, and refill with 50/50 mix of coolant/distill water.

Second option is a little messier but works better IMO. After you drain the coolant out, take a water hose and run the water, put it in the radiator cap opening, have a friend turn on the engine and let it run. Run it untill you see nothing but water coming out of drain plug opening. Then retighten the drain plug and fill with 50/50 mix of coolant and water.

Third, this is the step that most shops follow. They just drain out the old coolant and refill with new coolant, nothing else. Quick and simple.


Modified by mickey513 at 7:01 AM 4/17/2003

 

can this be done without jacking up the car? i am on eibach sportlines right now.

 

How often should this be done?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by FD3S &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">can this be done without jacking up the car? i am on eibach sportlines right now.</TD></TR></TABLE>

yep, just reach under the car and you'll feel a wingnut...

 

[QUOTE=mickey513]First uncap the radiator cap, then locate the radiator drain plug on the bottom of the radiator, loosen that and take it off. Coolant will then exit the radiator drain plug area, have something to catch it. Next you have a couple of options:

QUOTE]

i've found it easier to unplug the wingnut first so that the coolant leaks out slowly and then adjust the bucket underneath...then removing the radiator cap. removing the radiator cap first will make the coolant from underneath flush out as you unplug, but whatever method floats you're boat, just giving suggestions

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by FD3S &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">can this be done without jacking up the car? i am on eibach sportlines right now.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Probably not, unless you have some sort of catch container that is wide and very short. My big round oil drain pan/container combo won't even fit underneath my bumper.

And the method for COMPLETELY flushing the radiator listed above isn't really correct. First, set the climate control temp slider to HOT. Drain the coolant from the radiator thru the drain plug, then disconnect the lower radiator hose from the radiator to let coolant drain out of there. Put the radiator hose back on.

Next locate the coolant drain bolt on the engine block. On B and D series engines it's behind the exhaust manifold/header, slighly towards the tranny end of the block. It's a BIG bolt, 19mm I believe, hard to miss. Remove that. Have a large container ready, because it will come GUSHING out. After it finishes draining, replace the bolt.

Now comes the tricky part. Remove the lower radiator hose and coolant temp sensor from the thermostat housing and then remove the housing w/ the thermostat. One of the housing bolts is pretty difficult to get to, so have some wrenches or a swivel socket joint handy (I can't remember what I used). Put the housing back in w/o the thermostat and reconnect the lower hose.

Now remove the upper radiator hose from the radiator and point it towards your drain bucket. Stick the garden hose into the top of the radiator where the upper hose connects and run the water. The remaining coolant in the block will be flushed out through the upper radiator hose. Keep the water running until the fluid coming out of the upper hose is clear.

Now remove the block drain bolt again to drain any remaining water in the block. Reinstall the thermostat and coolant temp sensor and all hoses etc. Fill the radiator w/ a 50/50 mixture of coolant and water (Honda pre-mixed, or Prestone and distilled water, do NOT use Xerex or Peak as it contains silicates which can damage the radiator). You will have to pour it in SLOWLY as it tends to bubble up and spurt out of the filler hole while you pour it in.

Once the coolant reaches the base of the filler neck, run the engine until it fully warms up and the radiator fan comes on. The upper radiator hose will also become hot. After this the coolant level in the radiator should have dropped since the thermostat opens and allows coolant into the block and the heater core. Shut off the engine, and continue to fill the radiator until it get to the base of the filler neck.

Locate the bleed bolt where the upper radiator hose attaches to the cylinder head (OBD I vehicles only). Loosen this bolt and let the coolant flow out until it flows out steady w/o bubbles. Squeeze the upper radiator hose to help get any remaining air out of the system. Continue squeezing the upper hose until no more bubbles come up at the base of the filler neck, and continue to add coolant as necessary to keep the level at the base of the filler neck.

Remove and wash out the coolant overflow tank, fill it to the proper level, and you're done!

Wow I didn't know it would be this long, but that's how it's done. If I've left out or messed up any steps, please chime in.


Modified by PatrickGSR94 at 7:40 PM 11/3/2008

 

Great post, Im savin that in my notepad

 

Also, use a new block drain plug gasket.

--
Bruno

 

all i did was drain and re-fill mine

i guess next time ill have to remember to do all that

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by SilverB18C1 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">all i did was drain and re-fill mine

i guess next time ill have to remember to do all that </TD></TR></TABLE>

that's what you get for not waiting for me j/k

 

nice write up pat. Thanks

 

Whatever way suits you dude, but all that work is totally unnecssary. When you run the water house through the engine on, it flushes out the dirt and crap out of the engine and radiator. And I have yet to see "bubbles" in the cooling system of a Integra.

 

Well you're supposed to drain the coolant and start the flushing procedure with the engine cold (so the hot coolant under pressure doesn't spray all over and possibly burn you). So if you drain the cold coolant from the cold engine and then try to run water through the cooling system with the engine running, it's not going to circulate through the block or heater core because the thermostat is closed. I don't think you want to run the engine without any coolant at all, and if you wait till it warms up before draining the coolant, then you're back to where I just started typing at the beginning of this post about possibly burning yourself. The best and safest way to COMPLETELY flush the system is to do what I described above and drain the coolant, remove the thermostat, and then run water through the system, while the engine is off.

 

How much coolant flows out of the block? I was thinking of putting a funnel with a hose in front of the hole in the block to catch all the coolant and prevent a mess. Does that sound like it would work?

 

yea the helms says to drain it from the block i remember that...

honestly when you just do the drain plu theres still a lot left in the radiator. id take the radiator completely out and make sure evrything is out to really flush it. unless you do the water method.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by CPR &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">How much coolant flows out of the block? I was thinking of putting a funnel with a hose in front of the hole in the block to catch all the coolant and prevent a mess. Does that sound like it would work?</TD></TR></TABLE>

You would probably have to remove the header to get a funnel in front of the drain hole. It's kinda hard to reach.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by PatrickGSR94 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

You would probably have to remove the header to get a funnel in front of the drain hole. It's kinda hard to reach.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Thanks Patrick. How much coolant comes out of the block? Are we talking quarts here?

 

I would say at least half of the total coolant capacity, maybe 3 quarts or so. I don't really know, but what I do know is that it comes GUSHING out when you remove the plug. I didn't remove the plug the last time I flushed mine, and so it came gushing out of the thermostat housing when I removed that.