so I take my car to the radiator shop to get it flushed...
 

and they tell me that my car needs the thermostat to be removed to fully flush the system. is this true? should i take it to another radiator shop?

thanks!

Why??? I've never heard of that one. Bring it to someone else.

Then charge you an hour for extra labor and probably 30 bucks for parts...that's a rip off. Be carefull. I heard that using generic stats is not good. OG MAZDA thermostat are the best...Go somewhere else!..

Isnt flushing the coolant a very EZ task for a do it yourselfer??..i mean isnt it draining and flushing it with a garden hose??..then replace with fresh coolant.

arrggghhhh, don't run tap water through your cooling system!!!!

Only use distilled water to flush and fill.

And no you do not have to remove the thermostat.

some cars do need thermostat to be taken out.I dont know about 3rd gen,but some will build up pressure due to thermostat being closed,and if they use some kind of pressure machine for flushing,this can cause the radiator hose to blow off.
Once the thermostat is taken out,the pressure will not build up and will let the water pass and flush out the old water/coolant.
So therefor its not bullshit what the guy told you.
I do this on lots of cars,so i know.

flushing requires 'stat removal?
 

Hmmm, there is nothing in the shop manual about having to take the thermostat out........and in the 30 years I have worked on cars, I have NEVER had to take a thermostat out to do a flush-n-fill.......not saying that some modern cars might not need to, just that....it seems foreign to me. The technique is to let the car fully warm up so that the 'stat is open and flowing coolant thru the radiator. Then shut the car off, wait just long enough, let it cool enough to allow you to open the cap(s), then open the petcocks. Catch as much of the coolant as you can, kitty kats LOVE the taste of glycol, but sadly it slowly destroys their kidneys and livers and they die a slow death.....anyway, once all the old is out, I suggest taking that 2 or 5 gallon jug of distilled water, pour in until the discharge runs clear. Then close off the petcocks, fill the system with distilled water, leave the caps off, start the car and run for a minute or so. Then drain this mainily water mix out, then refill with the proper concentration of coolant, start the car, watch for anything unusual.
On the FD you have to do the burping thing, which means checking and filling and squeezing the large radiator hoses, checking and filling....it can take a little longer.
This is a very simple task, but a time consuming one. However, IF you start pulling all the shit you need to to get the thermostat out.....figure on another two hours easy...maybe more.

Why don't you DIY? It's easy and best of all - FREE! You do not need to "power flush" or pressurize anything and doing it this way will get ALL the old cooant out....... Drain and refill! Just make sure you use distilled H2O and drain it completely through the bottom of the radiator and the 14 mm bolt above the oil pan rail on the bottom of the engine. Use a LARGE Phillips head on the plastic screw in the bottom of the radiator and put a new O ring on when you are done, and a new crush washer (copper is fine) on the 14 mm bolt. In between fills with distilled, run it around for 15 minutes with the heater on to warm it up and circulate the water, then repeat until it runs clear. Don't forget to discard the old coolant in the overflow bottle and replace with cooant/water mixture - it's easily accessed by bending the plastic fender liner back on the right front wheel. Then toss in some coolant until you are about 20 to 30% coolant to water, (fine for SoCal) - 50/50 is actually less efficient. You'll need to top it off with distilled several times over the course of week to get all the air out. That's the way to get the inside passages as clean as a whistle! :rolleyes:
Taking the thermostat out is ridiculous.......and is a pain in the ass!
(although it's a VERY good idea to put on a new one along with a new pressure cap, only a Mazda OEM) You might as well bite the bullet and replace all your hoses if they are more than 3 years old while you are at it, and that will get pricey - but so are new engines! By doing this now, you (and your Rex) won't break a sweat when it's back to hot weather.
DO IT RIGHT!!;)

you can flush your system yourself like all of you have previously stated....but it DOES NOT....I repeat....DOES NOT get all the old water and antifreeze out. Sure it drains all of it out of the radiator, but it doesn't get any of it that is in the block or the hoses. Anyone who has ever worked on the engines of there car knows this. You also have to drain the block. The radiator shops that remove the thermostat actually know what they are doing. They pressurize everything and circulate ALL of the old fluid out. How much this actually helps is anybody's guess. I personally do it myself and drain the blcok...Only 3 people touch anything on my car.....but then again.....the other night I had a dream that someone was washing my car......I woke up sweating and screaming!!!! Later.

Memphis

Just a FYI, on a stock FD you don't need to take anything other than the Thermostat housing off to get the thermostat out. I know the factory manual states otherwise, but I've done it many times without taking anything else off other than the 3 bolts and one connector on the t-stat housing. It is easy, simple, quick, maybe for a rookie it might take 30 min to R+R a thermostat, burping the system might take a day.

Jeff
93 VR R1
93 VR Base
87 TII <---Grassroots Motorsports $2002 Challenge car

You need to read a little more carefully.....in my post I talk about pulling the 14 mm bolt on the bottom of the block as well, this is the only way to get the system completely cleaned out, and those fucking monkeys at the radiator shops will only ruin something - I guarantee it! Radiator shops do not use distilled water, and putting tap water inside your engine is a great catalyst (trace elements and minerals) to enhance corrosion. Please don't give advice to this guy if you don't know what you're talkin' about! Our O rings are delicate enough without some high school dropout pressurizing the system just to do a quickie flush job and charge you $30.:knob:

I work at a radiator shop. No car i have yet done (working for about 1 year) has required the thermo. to be taken off just to flush the system.
Dude its an easy job........do it yourself.