Radiator flush

I am about to change the left heater hose, the one that runs to the front. There is a lot of crud in the system, I don’t think it has ever had a good flush. Does anyone have a suggestion of good additive that I could run in the system to help clean it out before I replace the hose and antifreeze?

 

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Remove all the old coolant. Drain the old coolant from the coolant system and the heater boxes.
Blow it out with air, if needed. Then vacuum fill your coolant system. Using "AirLift" to create the vacuum in the coolant system. Check Amazon "airlift coolant refill tool"

 

Thanks

 

You can use Prestone flush

 

I was looking at the Preston’s flush. I can’t see why it would hurt the system. The fun part will be catching 6 gal of old antifreeze

 

Check your local ordinance.. you may be able to dump it down your toilet

 

Good idea

 

I take my old coolant and put in a large plastic box. I then use the airlift from Amazon to pull a vacuum. Then, I will start refilling the coolant system. I live in California and can take the used coolant in plastic bottles to our sewer plant. No fee.

 

So they run it through the sewer treatment plant? I live in Tennessee our rules are not as strict, so perhaps I can flush it, it would end up sewer treatment plant. I will check. I have a bunch of oil to take to the recycling area. I will ask them.

 

In California at one time it was a $50,000 fine. Then they had a new policy. They would not tell us to dump it in the toilet but did say if we had a spill we could dump mop bucket in toilet.

 

Who would know if you did or didn't?

Get the fully concentrated and dilute it yourself with one dollar a gallon distilled water from the grocery store.

When you get 50/50 you are paying the same amount for half the antifreeze

 

Often, like now, the concentrate is not available.

 

It's because of shrink-flation not measured in the gov inflation numbers. It's like we used to buy 1/2 gallon cartons of ice cream and now those are much smaller for the same price.

 

I'm also in Cali and in my city my wife calls a city number and someone comes buy to pick it up my used oil and used oil filters I set out on the curb and they leave me empty containers for next time. They even have as part of the program city provided 2.5G waste containers and free funnels and free oil catch for under your car! So check with your city. Many have unpublished programs to handle all these household wastes.

 

Wow that is nice! In my city at the wast/trash collection sight they will take everything except old gas and antifreeze.

 

Nothing nice about it. It comes at a taxpayer price that is breaking the state.

 

Yea this is true!

 

I'm not sure this is true. For example much of the CRV money on beverage containers goes unclamined and the state gets that. Then there are the $3/tire disposal fee, $10 container fee on a single use freon A/C containers and a bunch of other fees we do not see to offset program costs to keep things clean. When you go to NAPA and see all that oil and anti-freeze on the shelf there is corresponding waste of the same amount that needs to go somewhere. Multiple that by hundreds of stores nearby and that's just daunting in a time when most men can't change their own oil! I'm no environmentalist but we are so much better than when we dumped used oil right into the dirt.

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Even without the fees (that all go into the general fund BTW ) we would have stopped that very long ago. The costs of producing oil and antifreeze pretty much assures we recycle or repurpose it. Its just smart economics. Antifreeze is very easily and cheaply recycled for reuse. Oil too at not a lot greater expense even if we choose to return it to use as a motor oil. The vast majority goes from commercial producers to recyclers. Its a very profitable business and requires zero government money to thrive. The fees are a tax, pure and simple. As a commercial waste producer in California I am responsible in perpetuity for the waste I generated even though I have manifests from recyclers for every pound I ever produced.
One of many reasons I will never set foot in that state again.

 

I wondered about that. This last time around I found some but it took some effort.

 

In the old days it was common to dump it around the house foundation - NO issue with termites! Nowadays any parts store I am familiar with accepts oil/antifreeze/batteries, etc for recycle.

 

I remember when I was a kid we lived in rule Mississippi for a couple years. Some had built wooden ramps off the hill side across from the country store. You drove your car/truck on the ramps and walked down the hill under the ramps and took the oil filter off, through it on the ground, then remove the oil plug out and let her drain. The wood ramps were suspect at best. In the 80’s when I worked for an Italian car shop we sold all the oil to a recycling company.

 

Like I said, economics solved the problem but we still have expensive government intervention.