Coolant Flush & Mystery Solved
December 18th, 2015, 6:17 PM
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Coolant Flush & Mystery Solved
Today, being the kinda guy that likes self-punishment, I decided to do the coolant flush and change I've been putting off. Yeah, it was cold on the fingers, but at least the rain let up for a while.
Jacked the front of the beast up, looking for a quick and dirty way to drain the coolant, either by removing the lower rad hose, or by finding a drain **** on the bottom tank of the rad. Well, the hose is super difficult to remove, either from the top or the bottom, and even with a good light, I couldn't find the rad drain.
The previous owner had installed one of the slush fittings on the heater hose, so I yanked that, took out the thermostat, and removed the rad cap. Hooked up the garden hose to the fitting, and basically let the hose flush the whole system for about 15 minutes, with the engine running and the heater on full hot. By the way, it took me a few minutes to realize that on my 5.7 vortec, the front thermostat housing is held by a stud, which has another nut on top to hold an electrical lead. Be sure to remove the lead (14mm socket), then the stud (13mm socket), or you will go crazy trying to remove the 'stat.
Replaced the plug on the flush fitting, and the system took two gallons of concentrated coolant, plus a bit of water to bring it right up to the top. I also flushed out the overflow tank just to get all the old coolant out. It bubbled a bit, then I fired it up, and no issues. No airlocks, and so after a test drive, I'm a happy camper on this issue.
Oh yeah, the mystery? I finally found the zerk fitting on the idler arm, neatly hidden behind the lower rad hose.
Next up, a flush of the brake fluid. I have a Mity Vac, and I'm going to see if that might be a good way to do this. Have to find a way to cycle the ABS pump to do a good job. Any hints on that?
Jacked the front of the beast up, looking for a quick and dirty way to drain the coolant, either by removing the lower rad hose, or by finding a drain **** on the bottom tank of the rad. Well, the hose is super difficult to remove, either from the top or the bottom, and even with a good light, I couldn't find the rad drain.
The previous owner had installed one of the slush fittings on the heater hose, so I yanked that, took out the thermostat, and removed the rad cap. Hooked up the garden hose to the fitting, and basically let the hose flush the whole system for about 15 minutes, with the engine running and the heater on full hot. By the way, it took me a few minutes to realize that on my 5.7 vortec, the front thermostat housing is held by a stud, which has another nut on top to hold an electrical lead. Be sure to remove the lead (14mm socket), then the stud (13mm socket), or you will go crazy trying to remove the 'stat.
Replaced the plug on the flush fitting, and the system took two gallons of concentrated coolant, plus a bit of water to bring it right up to the top. I also flushed out the overflow tank just to get all the old coolant out. It bubbled a bit, then I fired it up, and no issues. No airlocks, and so after a test drive, I'm a happy camper on this issue.
Oh yeah, the mystery? I finally found the zerk fitting on the idler arm, neatly hidden behind the lower rad hose.
Next up, a flush of the brake fluid. I have a Mity Vac, and I'm going to see if that might be a good way to do this. Have to find a way to cycle the ABS pump to do a good job. Any hints on that?
