Coolant Flush And T-stat Change

[jasonh_86]

I'm going to be doing a coolant flush tomorrow and possibly changing my thermostat to a 180* t-stat while I'm at it. Is there anything I should look for or watch out for while I am doing this? Is there any need for a new gasket for the t-stat housing?

This is the Coolant Flush article I will be following. I'm going to print out a copy before I do the anything and I'll be following it down to a "T". I'm using the Prestone Coolant as listed in the article, if that helps any. Is this all the info I need?

Any info is appreciated.. I'm trusting you guys, so let me know! :SNSign:

 

[Mike97gt]

Just make sure you bleed the cooling system when you are done. The guy who made that article did not do that, and if you read the bottom of it you see he had to add coolant a few days later.

That is because he did not bleed it all the way after and left some air pockets. Air pockets can cause serious engine damage​

 

[hotmustang331]

Hey Jason! Well I just did this a few weeks ago...VERY easy.

The hard part is getting the bottom hose off lol, its a little tough. Remove it first, then take the T stat housing off. Remove the O ring carefully, and then the T stat. then remove the rest of the upper rad hose.

Run water down the radiator, and the over flow cap (where you normally put it in), then down through the block (make sure the engine is cold! Dont want to do this with a hot engine).
Put the bottom hose back on (loose, just to hold water). Fill up the block and the radiator to full. Then Put the upper hose back on and slightly tighten the housing back down with no T stat. Crank the car (i just had to put the key to ON ) and turn on the heater. Just run it for a minute or so and then kill it.

Drain again..put the new 180 T stat in and reuse the original O ring (mine looked fine..40K). Hook everything back up, and pour the hole preston bottle in....then fill with water until almost full. Start her up, turn the heat on again....and let it egt hot. Watch your radiator, it may want to over flow. Just put the cap on loosly or let it spill out (I put the cap on). After a while, the coolant will drop....and dont worry like me when the heater blows cold air after the engine heats up. Its air pockets according to SVT tech...didnt even think about that LOL. Carefully pop the cap and then fill with water....and add a bottle of water wetter .
I dont know if thats the "correct" way, but it worked for me lol....and the coolant lv hasnt dropped in a month . And I like teh orange colour that the WW gave...helped a little on keeping things cool.

 

[jasonh_86]

Good thing I made this thread!! How do u bleed the coolant system?

I'm a first timer with the whole coolant flush thing

 

[mity2]

Change coolant is my to do list this year.

I think article covered all essentials

 

[jasonh_86]

Hey Jason! Well I just did this a few weeks ago...VERY easy.

The hard part is getting the bottom hose off lol, its a little tough. Remove it first, then take the T stat housing off. Remove the O ring carefully, and then the T stat. then remove the rest of the upper rad hose.

Run water down the radiator, and the over flow cap (where you normally put it in), then down through the block (make sure the engine is cold! Dont want to do this with a hot engine).
Put the bottom hose back on (loose, just to hold water). Fill up the block and the radiator to full. Then Put the upper hose back on and slightly tighten the housing back down with no T stat. Crank the car (i just had to put the key to ON ) and turn on the heater. Just run it for a minute or so and then kill it.

Drain again..put the new 180 T stat in and reuse the original O ring (mine looked fine..40K). Hook everything back up, and pour the hole preston bottle in....then fill with water until almost full. Start her up, turn the heat on again....and let it egt hot. Watch your radiator, it may want to over flow. Just put the cap on loosly or let it spill out (I put the cap on). After a while, the coolant will drop....and dont worry like me when the heater blows cold air after the engine heats up. Its air pockets according to SVT tech...didnt even think about that LOL. Carefully pop the cap and then fill with water....and add a bottle of water wetter .
I dont know if thats the "correct" way, but it worked for me lol....and the coolant lv hasnt dropped in a month . And I like teh orange colour that the WW gave...helped a little on keeping things cool.

Wow.. i'm confused!

Are we speaking the same language?

 

[jasonh_86]

But how do u bleed the coolant system?.. I'm a n000000b with this stuff

 

[Mike97gt]

But how do u bleed the coolant system?.. I'm a n000000b with this stuff

Ok at work I use a snap on tool that uses compressed air to pull a vacumm, then i use this tool to fill it.

but at home just fill the coolant tank. then put the heat on full blast blowing from the vents.

after you do that rev the engine slightly up to 1500 rpm's or so and feel for heat when you start to get heat check the coolant level. if it has droped add some coolant. you may have the tank start to overflow as some of the traped air forces it's way out. don't panic just keep doing this untill you have strong heat at idle. then put the cap on and go for a ride.

one last thing if you take the cap off the engine while hot make sure you use a rag around the cap and do it very slow to release the presure . you don't want to get hit with superheated coolant.​

 

[jasonh_86]

Ok at work I use a snap on tool that uses compressed air to pull a vacumm, then i use this tool to fill it.

but at home just fill the coolant tank. then put the heat on full blast blowing from the vents.

after you do that rev the engine slightly up to 1500 rpm's or so and feel for heat when you start to get heat check the coolant level. if it has droped add some coolant. you may have the tank start to overflow as some of the traped air forces it's way out. don't panic just keep doing this untill you have strong heat at idle. then put the cap on and go for a ride.

one last thing if you take the cap off the engine while hot make sure you use a rag around the cap and do it very slow to release the presure . you don't want to get hit with superheated coolant.​

So it more or less "Bleeds" itself if you leave the cap off, hold the revs at 1500 and have the heat on full blast?.. And it's done "bleeding" when the heat is blowing strongly at idle?


So, just follow that article.. and then do the heat/1500rpm thing w/the cap off when i'm done?.. Are there any extra hoses to take off?.. and can somebody give me a write-up or something for putting the new t-stat on?

 

[hotmustang331]

Wow.. i'm confused!

Are we speaking the same language?

Im sorry, im a SERIOUS gear head . Maybe thats why im the only one who can understand Billfisher

Basically just follow the bullitt archive writeup, and turn on the heater when your starting it up....pretty easy. I just get too technical I guess .

^EDIT you wont need it...this whole thing is VERY simple and very self explanitory.

 

[jasonh_86]

Im sorry, im a SERIOUS gear head . Maybe thats why im the only one who can understand Billfisher

Basically just follow the bullitt archive writeup, and turn on the heater when your starting it up....pretty easy. I just get too technical I guess .

^EDIT you wont need it...this whole thing is VERY simple and very self explanitory.

Thanks man.. I appreciate the help. I just don't comprehend things AS well when i'm reading as opposed to when i'm looking at pics or vids or the real thing. If I wasn't such a n00b, i'm sure it would've made perfect sense to me

 

[hotmustang331]

^ A 1341 post noob? J/K!

 

[jasonh_86]

^ A 1341 post noob? J/K!

That's me!!


J/K.. I'm just a n00b with this whole coolant flush thing. After I read your post, I was like "oh ****!" I thought I was gonna miss something and turn this little event into a nightmare

 

[jasonh_86]

I bought 2 1-gallon bottles of the Prestone Coolant. Am I going to need more than a full container?.. I figured i'd need a full one and then 3/4 of the second one to acheive the 50/50 ratio.

Is that right?

 

[hotmustang331]

He he he, I live in TX . 70/30 ish is good down here, + the less antifreeze you have....the better your cooling system works. As in water transfers heat better than antifreeze.

And here is a little writeup on the T stat replace ment.

Ok, first you must basically remove the black bracket that holds the altinator in place. It blocks you from getting a socket on one of the 2 bolts that hold the T stat housing down.

Ok then remove those 2 bolts on the T stat housing, and lift it up. Just lay it to the side.

Ok now the T stat sits straight down in the intake crossover, with an O ring setting right on top of it. Carefully pull the O ring out then you can pick the T stat straight up and out.

Set your new T stat down into the hole, the same way the old one came out. then set the O ring back on top of the T stat (just like it came out). Then simply bolt the housing back down and the black bracket back down and your good to go

 

[topless98gt]

Be careful not to drop the t-stat bushings into the crevas of your engine. I did this and had to use a long screw driver to fish it out. Turned a 15 minute job into 30 minutes.

 

[jasonh_86]

nice write-up Hotmustang


topless98gt - I hope that doesn't happen to me!.. I'm clumsy

 

[Stang|ess]

stupid question, but what do you do with the coolant? just let it go down a storm drain to meet some fishes, and hopefully the neighbors cats?

 

[jasonh_86]

+1.. that's also something I wondered

 

[Stang|ess]

hahaha we're n00bs! Me more so than you