Flush & Fill (or "Coolant 101")

[Stitz Love]

...or... Antifreeze for Dummies...

It should be a simple task, and the last time I did a four wheeled vehicle awas 10 yrs. ago. (it was a Mitsubishi truck.)
So I have a Chevy now, and I'm following along in my Manly Manual (Haynes) and it tells me to remove "engine block drain plugs." Do they mean what I have been calling 'Freeze plugs?" (If so, do I really want to mess with those?)
I use to just remove the lower rad. hose and run water thru the block... is that just the 'Primative Pete' way to do it?
OR is the Haynes covering 10 years of truck and these may not be on my '94 350...?

Thanks!

[gmctrucks]

Do it the way you do it maybe even stick the water hose in the upper hose that way you can flush the whole system even turn on your heater so it can get flushed it as well then just place the lower hose back add a bottle of anti-freeze and distilled water and you ready.

[leolkfrm]

there are 2 drain plugs just above the oil pan on each side if the block, 9/16 socket. if you do put a screwdriver into the hole cause sometimes they are block by dirt

[watindes]

I put a garden hose in the radiator and let the truck run for about 20 minutes so it all cycles through the engine, than add coolant until the hydromitor says its ok, that way I know the system is clean.

[z07]

Be sure not to mix dexcool with green stuff.

Pull t-stat when flushing with the hose for better flow.

Follow advice above this post and you're golden.

[badtothebowtie]

most are hex bolt heads but some may be alan head or torx

[Stitz Love]

...and things come up which add a little more time than you'd planned for?

As I have stated, this truck sat in one place for about 7 years... I can not begin to to count the mud dobber and wasp nests I have found all over the vehicle... (and the evidence of mice long gone from this world) ...
But here is a little essay on an enterprising Mud Dobber... Imagine the time and work saved by only having to build chamber ends!! (photo a. & b.) ...and efficient idea as long as the last egg laid is the first larvae out, respectively. But what if the larvae go the wrong way? Maybe it was a LAZY idea. (photo c.)
And look what sitting for years can do to your coolant... If you look very hard and use a little imagination, you can almost see green. (photo d.)

[Stitz Love]

Oh yeah, after the second or third round of water filling, circulating & draining I was called away (Lil made dinner plans... as it turned out, for Moday and Tuesday also...)
So I may get to pick up where I left off... maybe Wednesday eve? Anyway, Thank You for the tips on the drain plugs and the hose water running idea. I also read on another forum some guys talking about using their shop-vac to blow the system clean out, via blower attachment to the thermostat hole (without the thermostat in the way) before closing up the drain(s) and bottom hose and filling with the cool-mix. Has anyone here ever heard of or tried that? Does it really work? Does it blow through the heater core, too? Or do you hook that up seperately to shop-vac/blow it out? (IE: how does the forced air get through the heater control?)

[z07]

"Has anyone here ever heard of or tried that?"

I do use the shop vac on blow method. But that is when I'm doing a change not a propper flush. But the shop vac on blow can get the last tap water out before filling with either premix or coolant & distilled water.

[leolkfrm]

wow mud dobber heaven. I would do the coolant change now and consider another change in a couple of months. maybe 1 gal instead of 2 now, then a good 50/50 blend the second time