Well I just replaced the lower radiator hose which what I assume was original factory since it was lined with re-inforcement wire that was rusted and had the wire clamps that were stapled to the hose. I'll assume the water pump is original also since the car 43k on the odometer. The liquid that came out was very corroded so I was planning to use the prestone flush & fill kit and run the super flush liquid to get out some of the crud in there. I was told by a local mechanic over the phone that doing so could cause damage to the head gaskets and they wouldn't recommend using it. I plan to get a serpentine setup w/reverse water pump eventually so should I just flush with clean water for now to be safe?
Hmmm. Why would prestone make a coolant passage cleaner that kills your engine? I used it and it worked just fine.
I just wanna be sure I'm not creating more problems in my old system until I can have the motor "gone thru" if you know what I mean...lol btw, how much antifreeze for a 50/50 mix in a stock 302? I was going to use 2 gallons.
Flush it out well with clean water,change both the upper and lower hoses and heater hoses,put in a new thermostat,and you should be good to go for a few years!
I wud think somewhere arnd 2-2.5 gals to fill the system. I wud start w/ 1 gal of gud freeze and a gal of water and go from there. Also, I use a freeze float tester that tells what mixture I have, as far as freeze - boil parameters/limits. I have drained my sys a few times and that's the amount of liquid in my measured pail. Im of the same opinion as Scooper; I can't see where using Prestone or some other reputable flush wud kill an engine. But, one must do what makes them comfortable.
This is what I do with all my "new to me" cars. Put garden hose trough the top for twenty minutes. Then do the same on the radiator. Fill it up with antifreeze. Burp the system, top it off(if needed) and go!
Make sure you collect the coolant rather than letting run out onto the ground in California. Big fines if you get caught.
Yeah, it's in a 5 gallon bucket. Well I removed the hoses and found a surprise. the internal corrosion looks pretty bad to me. My inexperience limits me on what I should do but my instincts say replace everything...but at a minimum hoses, stat, and water pump and now the expansion valve since it's plugged. Will all internals have this major corrosion? Will the heater core need to be replaced? How far should I go with trying to clean this up?
Boy, that heater valve looks bad! Try running water through the heater hoses without the valve in place, it might be OK.
if all that looks that bad, the radiator is shot also. if you replace the rad. without cleaning the block, it will just clog back up when you restart the engine... heater core will need replacing also... ...looks like a motor ran without or not enough antifreeze... ...Frank...
before I bought the car it hadn't been registered since 2001. in hindsight this is the 1st issue I should have addressed I didn't realize it was that bad. what's the best way to clean the block? will the intake and heads need to be removed? the engine has low miles but assuming the worst should it removed and tore down to prevent further issue...I guess I've been procrastinating this since I'm not sure how far to go since there are so many decisions and directions once you tear into this...budget is a factor of course but I want to enjoy this car for years to come (street use, no racing). I'm looking for honest feedback from anyone as if it were your car what would you do? Thanks.
best way...tear it down. next best... the prestone flush & fill kit ... (at least twice) ..."honest feedback" ...
I'll try it. I think I'll do as Frank says and try to back flush a couple of times to see what happens. I saw in a you tube video a guy used CLR for a stubbon job. Any thoughts on running CLR as a flush chemical? I guess the worst is I find a system weakness then go from there. fun fun fun. BTW, where can I get a new valve and heater core?
