Flushing Your Vehicle's Cooling System

Getting your vehicle ready for winter is a very serious business. If not done at all, you could be out a great deal of money. The main interest of winterizing in this article is your cooling system. The proper mix of antifreeze is all that stands between you and a cracked engine block or a split radiator.

If it has been some time since you did any maintenance on your cooling system, the mild autumn days are a perfect time to do it. Things you want to consider are flushing the cooling system and installing a new thermostat. And then filling the system with a fifty fifty mix of antifreeze and water.

To start things off go down to the auto parts store and get a container of engine flush. This product is offered by several manufacturers and you will want one that is designed to remove scale and rust from the cooling system. Next with the engine at it's normal operating temperature you should open the drain valve on the radiator. Once the coolant is flowing out nicely give the engine a small sustained rpm of perhaps fifteen hundred revolutions. This will force coolant out of the engine and into the radiator where it can drain away. You don't want to do this for more than minute or two as you are removing the coolant and therefore removing cooling protection from the engine. Close the drain and refill the radiator with water. Get the engine hot once more and repeat the drain sequence again. And refill with water.

Read and carefully follow the instructions on the container of cooling flush. Most will tell you to pour this substance into the cooling system and then drive normally for a period of time. As you check on the progress of the flush, and especially if your engine is of high mileage, you may notice a scum collecting at the mouth of the radiator. This is the scale and rust being dissolved from the cooling system and coming into suspension in the coolant itself. In my case, it took several days to reach this point.

When you are ready, once again drain the system and refill with water. Repeat. And again. I found it needful to drain and refill about four times before the scale and rust dissolved in the coolant finally was cleared out and the draining water was running clear.

Before you replace the water in your cooling system with an antifreeze water mixture, you may want to replace your aging thermostat too. These nifty little devices do wear out over time and a fully functioning thermostat is beneficial as it allows your engine to reach full operating temperature thereby increasing fuel efficiency and also allowing the engine to provide full heat to the heater core.

With the cooling system flushed out it is now time to do a final drain and then refill with a fifty fifty mix of antifreeze and water. A fifty fifty mix is ideal in that a higher or lower concentration of antifreeze will not allow the coolant to reach maximum cold or heat protection.

A proper mix of fifty percent water and fifty percent antifreeze will protect your cooling system from freezing down to minus 34 degrees. And if it's that cold outside....you don't want to go out anyway.