JibOnALib

I had an idea for a DIY radiator flush so if anybody had any input it would help. I got the idea because if it hasn't already it should be getting pretty cold this time of year and new coolant could help.

Supplies:

-4 gallons of coolant (50/50, or 60/40 depending on how cold it could get)
-5 gallon buck
-5 foot section of radiator hose (you can buy it by the foot at an autoparts store) or rig up a garden hose, but make sure there's no leaks
-a pretty big drain pain or another section of hose and bucket
-pliers, or flat head to get the hose clamps off

Here's the idea:
1)Warm up your car, so you don't have to wait for the thermostat to kick in
2)Fill a 5 gallon bucket with about 3-4 gallons of antifreeze/coolant.
3)Disconnect your upper radiator hose from your radiator
4)Take about a 5 foot section of hose and place 1 end in the bottom of the bucket and clamp it to the other end to your radiator
5)Clamp on another Section of radiator hose to your block and have the other end going into an empty 5 gallon bucket, or have a pretty beefy drain pain that holds a large amount
6)run your engine at idle or just above with your heater on the lowest setting untill you have have gone through almost all of your new coolant. Make sure your car doesn't over heat during this.
7)re-install upper radiator hose to the block and radiator.

I was thinking this would work for a radiator flush. It is the same concept that they use at shops to flush out your radiator. Any input would be appreciated.

Frozen E

I did one better. I put a bottle of prestone radiator flush into my radiator and ran the car up to operating temp just like the instructions said. Let the car cool a bit and unhooked the top hose from the radiator, hooked a piece of extra garden hose into that and went to a bucket.

I then unhooked the bottom hose, hoseclamped a garden hose into it, fired the car up and ran the motor for a while with the garden hose on. Once I started getting nothing but clear water into my drain bucket I just let it go for a little while longer with the water just draining onto the ground. I opened and closed my heater a few times too just to make sure I got all the crap out of there. Worked like a charm. Also took the radiator completely off, straightened out some fins, backflushed the fins to get bugs, dirt, and other crap out of the fins.

Filled it back up with a new 50/50 mix of Prestone, burped all the bubbles out and it's good as new.

johnmay19

I would stick with the premade flushes. Doing your method won't get alot of contaminats out.

flood

Also you might want to use the honda coolant, its Silicate Free. Its designed for aluminum engines.

JeffS

You're short a bucket aren't you? What about the coolant that's going to be flowing out of the engine?

I'm not sure how well the water pump would be able to pull the coolant from the the bucket - especially through that large of a hose - and considering there would already be air in the line. You'd have to block off the overflow tube so you didn't get suction there. A better bet would be to block the radiator inlet and use the overflow tube to suck in additional coolant.

In the end I wouldn't do it anyway. As soon as you finished you'd still have air in the hoses and would need to rebleed everything anyway.