Ok guys I want to go ahead and empty all the antifreeze out of my engine/radiator and refill it with a fresh batch of antifreeze. Now how do I go about doing this? And how much antifreeze am I going to need I already bought a bottle. I need to know if I need anymore. now a flush is sometihng I don't want to do do to I've heard that some of the gunk inside the radiator keeps the radiator from leaking, on older cars. So I'd really appreciate if anyone could help me with this. Thanks guys.

 

its been a while since i did this on my car so someone correct me if i say something wrong...

have the heater in the fully on posistion while you are doing all this so u dont leave out the heater core of the process.

run the car for a few minutes to stir up the dirt and gunk.

take off the lower radiator hose to drain the radiator. then disconnect the heater hose on the driver side. take the coolant drain bolt out to drain the engine. the bolt is on the lower side of the engine on the driver side.

i just used water to flush mine out. i put a funnel in the radiator hose on the driver side (the one u disconnected) that runs into the engine. then kept dumping water into both that funnel and the top of the radiator until the water draining out was clear.

it would probably be a good idea to use block sealer, just get a couple bottles and follow the directions. (i cant remember if your supposed to flush the system again after the block sealer treatment or not)

when your all done connect every thing back up and make sure the drain bolt is in. the standard coolant mixture is half distilled water and half antifreeze (some people run different mixtures depending on the outside temp). take the cap of the radiator and fill it up to the top with the mixture. when u get to the top, leave the cap off and turn the car on. let it idle until it warms up and keep adding coolant to the radiator as it goes down (running with the cap off also helps get air bubbles out). once the car is warmed up and the rad is full put the cap back on and you are good to go. check it after a little while just to make sure.

i think the coolant capacity of the system with the heater is 9.5 liters (2.5 gallons)

 

It's pretty easy. I just happened to do this last night.

Step 1. Remove the drain plug from the engine and let it drain into a container. The plug is on the drivers side of the engine below the oil filler, at the bottom. Its a 14mm bolt that doesn't appear to have any purpose. Remove the radiator cap for good flow.

Step 2. Remove the lower radiator hose. Because of the tray mounted below the radiator, the coolant is going to go all over and be hard to catch in a container. But since you've already drained most of the coolant out via the engine drain, there won't be that much.

Step 3. Put the engine drain and radiator hose back on. Fill the engine with distilled water, Redline Water Wetter and antifreeze.

Depending on your climate, you should resist the temptation to put a 50/50 mix in the car. Less antifreeze equals better cooling. Water Wetter has all the corrosion protection and lubricant needed in the cooling system. Personally I never put more then 25% antifreeze in my cars. It should be noted that I live in Southern California, your temperatures may vary.

Step 4. Run the car until its up to temperature. Let it cool down, then check the level in the radiator. You'll probably need to top it up.

 

I forgot about the heater core, good write up The_7.