ok, so summers coming fast and its time to change n flush the coolant in my cars. one is a 99 malibu (2.4tc) the other is a 04 cav (eco). any tips/tricks/things to look out for on these engines, or is it pretty much a straight forward deal like any other car?
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The 04 shouldn't need it. I've got 80K on my 03 and the coolant is still good. Test it before your replace it. Otherwise its straight forward like any other car. Pull the drain plugs open the radiator drink a beer, put the plugs back in fill it up, drink a beer, fill it up after whats in there has gone down, rinse and repeat.
-Chris
cool deal, thats what i was hoping. my 04 has 93k miles on it...will prob be around 95 when i finally get to the coolant. i was just figuring, why not do both cars...besides...i want to try this coolant additive Cosworth has out...supposed to be really great, and works better with lower coolant/water levels. as for as the malibu goes...im not sure its ever been changed...used to be the gf's moms car...and she neglected it pretty bad.
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If you just drain the radiator whats the point?
There is still coolant in the engines passagesways, the heater core, all the hoses, over 70% of the system isnt getting changed
- 2004 Cavalier - 124k, owned since new
I'm currently doing my radiator but I'm doing a complete flush and clean as well. Drained radiator, filled with water, ran, drained again, filled with cleaner/flusher and water, need to drive it for 3-6 hours (finish tomorrow), then drain, fill with water, run again, drain, fill with water again and drain, fill with coolant. A bit anal but it'll be worth it IMO.
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James Larsen wrote:I'm currently doing my radiator but I'm doing a complete flush and clean as well. Drained radiator, filled with water, ran, drained again, filled with cleaner/flusher and water, need to drive it for 3-6 hours (finish tomorrow), then drain, fill with water, run again, drain, fill with water again and drain, fill with coolant. A bit anal but it'll be worth it IMO.
the first 1/2 of that is what im planning to do. dont plan on the drive n repeat part.
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Yeah, it's taking awhile since the cleaner says to use for 3-6 hours of driving. I should finish it up today though since I only have about 1hr left of the driving part then drain, fill, run, cool, drain, fill, run, cool, drain, then fill with coolant. Fun times.
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Per Gm spec's the pinkish-orange (Dexcool) coolant is supposed to be changed every 5years or 100,000 miles which every comes first. And when changing make sure not to mix regular green coolant with it, the 2 dont like each other and have a bad chemical reaction, and you windup with a sludged cooling system, Prestone does have one that will mix with it, but make sure it says that on the front of the jug.
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^^That's what I'm using for the refill. I'm also using the Prestone Coolant System Cleaner so everything should go smooth. I'm only about 6k miles and 3 years over the change interval but the coolant looked fine when we drained it.
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just for reference, if one does the complete flush can you use g-05 instead of dexcool? i heard g-05 might be easier on some of the gaskets and it's just as effective as dexcool provided that you don't mix the two.
John, you can, but make sure you have flushed out all the Dexcool.
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Put a flush tee into the system, and run water thru the engine while you run the car. That's a sure-fire way to get it all changed
The best way to assure you've got all the old coolant or Coolant System Cleaner out of the system is to drain the engine block before adding the new antifreeze.
Does nayone know where the block drain is for the 04(eco)?
