Coolant Flush Procedure

Stu Bailey

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@RSchanz I replaced the coolant and flushed the whole system. I had to replace my water pump so I figured I would just service the whole system while I was at it. Put new hoses on as well
 

dan-o

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yep, 4 gallons of distilled water and then 4 gallons of Fleet Charge. I checked it today after reading about 'burping' the system and low and behold, I added another gallon of distilled water to fill the radiator back up.
Two things.
1. I live in central Texas so I really don't have to much freezing weather. The teens is about as cold as it gets. And that's rare.
2. Now my heater is working better....Gee having a full system works wonders. (Eye roll).

And yes, I did check for leaks. That extra gallon maybe because of my assumption that 4 gallons was left in the block when it could have been three.
 

RSchanz

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So far I've only done one flush of tap water which will be followed by another tap then a distilled water flush at which point I will then replace the RAD. I ran out of time to keep flushing the system on the same day.

After I drained the block after the first flush the water had an oily looking sheen (that colorful classic oil look). I did some quick research on this but figured I would post here and see if anyone had thoughts on this. Should I be concerned?
 

Slicknik

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Yes it’s concerning need to do a leak down test and see what going on, need to pressurize the coolant system and check for bubbles. If you have the liquid from the first drain send a sample to blackstone for a analysis. Blown head gasket is a possibility
 

Farmer Rock

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Yes it’s concerning need to do a leak down test and see what going on, need to pressurize the coolant system and check for bubbles. If you have the liquid from the first drain send a sample to blackstone for a analysis. Blown head gasket is a possibility
I agree with this^^^^.It could also be the O-rings or gaskets in the oil cooler.


Rock
 

RSchanz

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I
I agree with this^^^^.It could also be the O-rings or gaskets in the oil cooler.


Rock

I looked at the oil cooler the outside looks good anyways.

The color of the coolant doesn’t look oily just that oily sheen.

the photo is from the radiator drain. Block drain looks less dirty. I was running green coolant and this is after the 3rd flush

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RSchanz

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Did it still have that oily sheen after the third flush?

It’s hard to tell since it’s night. The other flushes I did before work and the sun was sort of up. I’m not going to lie it’s very possible that it’s just oil left in the drain pan since it’s been used for changing oil in the past.

since I first posted I did more research on the oil cooler and found that it could possibly be this but other ppl were mentioning that it was noticeable oil in the overflow.
 

IDIBRONCO

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It’s hard to tell since it’s night. The other flushes I did before work and the sun was sort of up. I’m not going to lie it’s very possible that it’s just oil left in the drain pan since it’s been used for changing oil in the past.

since I first posted I did more research on the oil cooler and found that it could possibly be this but other ppl were mentioning that it was noticeable oil in the overflow.
I'd wait until the sun is up and then check inside the bucket. If there's no sheen, then it probably was from your drain pan.
 

RSchanz

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Sheen is there:

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Part of me still thinks it’s just the drain pan because I didn’t notice it in the buckets that I used for the radiator drain ****. Thinking I’ll send an oil sample to blackstone. This might be more reliable than the coolant sample which I could send as well. I would imagine if there were oil in the coolant then there should be coolant in the oil right? Unless it has to do with pressure that’s maybe in the oil cooler where it’s only pushing oil out and not pulling coolant in.
 

Stu Bailey

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Run a pressure test on the coolant system. I tested mine the other day after having frightened thoughts about leaks like you have and it’s worth the time and money for the peace of mind. I tested it and had a leak from the upper rad hose. Tightened that down and then ran it a second time and held 13psi for ten minutes and called it good! Now I feel confident there are no leaks. That peace of mind, worth a lot!
 

RSchanz

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Where did you get the tool from Stu? I’m sure I can look up how to do the test online.

still think I’ll send an oil sample to blackstone because... why not?
 

IDIBRONCO

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Where did you get the tool from Stu? I’m sure I can look up how to do the test online.

still think I’ll send an oil sample to blackstone because... why not?
I know that there are many places to get the tools online. The test is easy. You fill up your cooling system, pressurize the cooling system and then watch the pressure gauge. If it holds pressure, then there's no cooling system leaks. One advantage of this over Blackstone is that you can reuse the tools and you can get much faster results.
A lot of auto parts store chains will have one of these kits that you can use on a tool rental program. That way, you can figure out how it's done and then you can decide whether or not you want to buy your own tester kit.
 

Stu Bailey

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@RSchanz I am lucky enough to have access to a lot of tools on base. But as Bronco stated you can rent them a lot of times. One day maybe we will all strike at rich and own all that stuff ourselves!
 

RSchanz

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A lot of auto parts store chains will have one of these kits that you can use on a tool rental program. That way, you can figure out how it's done and then you can decide whether or not you want to buy your own tester kit.

If there is almost always some degree of pressure under the cap when I remove it would that lean towards the fact that the system doesn't have any leaks?

I feel like I may have read that someone got a pressure testing kit at Harbor Freight so I looked and its like $75. Which is oddly more expensive than home depot.

I'll keep everyone posted after I install the new Champion radiator/hoses then I'll run a pressure test.
 
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