SIMPLE COOLING QUESTION!

Hey guys!!! Everything Ok??

Well.. the thing here is the following... I´m in proccess to replace my (still factory original ) water pump and as i´m on the cooling system i´m adding a thermostat, replacing the radiator hoses (the lower one is still original too... i´m amazed!!) and also, i´ve cleaned the hole water circuit with some 10 mitute circulation product before i took everything off...

As i´m on that i wanted to replace ALL the cooling liquid from the engine and i just couldn´t find any engine drain plug on the block...

Í managed to "clean" the better i could inside the circuit by conecting an external water sourse directly into the pump and facing the upper hose to the floor with my car in Idle for some minutes but i´m still wondering if there´s any way to just empty the hole water that is still in the engine and replacing with a good quality coolant to do this the best i can...

Well.. As you know, my car is a little 250 I6 so.. if yu guys know about a drain, great!... but where is it??

If the engine doesn´t have one, which is the best way to clean the inside from what i´m now?

THANKS!!

::chili:: :banana:

As far as I know there is no Engine drain. The only way to go about it is to flush the system as you have done.

As far as I know there is no Engine drain. The only way to go about it is to flush the system as you have done.

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Aha... Lazy designers!!... it could be much more easy to put a little drain!! I´m just concerned because i notice there is dirt in the circuit and flushing doesn´t help too much with some maybe a little heavy particles of rust that are into there... Well... it is what is it!!...

Thank´s Roy!!... how´s your car man!??

Slow process but getting closer

I've taken a hose to my top radiator hose and just blown water through the system with the lower hose disconnected and the thermostat removed for like 20 minutes to get all the junk out. when you fill it back up with coolant if you want to make sure you get rid of most of the water, run the engine for a few days with the coolant extra water mix, then drain the rad and refill it with 50/50 coolant water and you should be good to go.

the system will equalize itself over the next few days you drive it water will boil off a little. eventually the overflow will stop spitting out extra coolant.

I've taken a hose to my top radiator hose and just blown water through the system with the lower hose disconnected and the thermostat removed for like 20 minutes to get all the junk out. when you fill it back up with coolant if you want to make sure you get rid of most of the water, run the engine for a few days with the coolant extra water mix, then drain the rad and refill it with 50/50 coolant water and you should be good to go.

the system will equalize itself over the next few days you drive it water will boil off a little. eventually the overflow will stop spitting out extra coolant.

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Great tip!... i already did the air hose stuff into de radiator and also, into de water pump, engine hole when i removed the old one...

I also can estimate how much water is still in there because i know what is the capacity of the cooling system so... if it is still too much i´ll empty it again in a while just to keep purifying my coolant liquid...

Thanks for the tip!

Hi Damian,

When I do a flush, my final step before filling with antifreeze is to fully open the radiator drain plug and then remove the radiator cap and put the garden hose in it making sure the water from the garden hose is at the same speed as the drain plug. Then I idle the engine again for a few minutes till the water from the drain is clear. Button it up and it's good to go!

All of the above sounds like good advice. Back in the day Prestone use to sell a flushing kit which was a plastic splice piece with a garden hose connector on it. It splices into the heater hose and you just hooked the hose to it and let it flush the system. Not sure if they still make them. I think mine is buried somewhere in one of my toolboxes! I like the idea of removing the thermostat, bolt the housing back on and flush it that way.

An update guys!!... Yesterday night i spent a few hours making the best i could to flush everything again.. (i have done that after cleaning the hole circuit with a 10 minute running liquid i bought in the gas station)...

What i did was stick a garden hose with an improvised rubber seal into the inner waterpump hose and i just used an old radiator hose to connect into the thermostar pipe (without the actual thermostat on) flush the circuit to the floor (didn´t want to wet my engine bay)

Then i started the car to make the waterpump work and move the hole cooling water... Not much happened actually... the water that came off the thermostat pipe was as clear as it could get almost from the beginning...

So i decided to stop the engine, close the water sourse and instead of water, flush some compressed air into the waterpump... just to try to move the remanent of water from the block... I started the engine again for a few seconds with no water sourse but air into the waterpump... By doing that, i took some more clear water through the thermostat pipe and i decided to call it cleaned...

I putted everything back together and refill the radiator with new 25% concentrate coolant in 75% water (following the bottle recomendations of course). I managed to add 10 litres of coolant into the system... I believe Ford says my mustang should have 12 or 13 litres in the cooling system so if my memory is right, it is not so bad...

I will run the car for some days as is and then, i will flush this colant and add new again just to be sure i have the best i can into there...

Thanks guys!!

::goodjob:: bur imo a second round from what you describes is NOT required, but if it make you feel better go ahead. Dont make it harder than it has to be.

::goodjob:: bur imo a second round from what you describes is NOT required, but if it make you feel better go ahead. Dont make it harder than it has to be.

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Great Roy.. i just wanted to be sure it is the best i can set it up... but if you say is not necesary then i wait until i take the rad off again to repaint the fan blade with the correct colour

The other thing o forgot to tell you guy i did was keep the engine idle until the thermostat opened and the upper rad hose started to get hotter by the hot cooling liquid it was passing by the thermostat... just to be sure it was opening correctly

As you know, i´m not even close to know mechanics so i just guide myself by your advices and a lot of common sense! But mechanics tips are ALWAYS WELCOME!!

thanks!

I'm far from a mechanic but if it was good and clear after the first time I just dont see the need, but like I said if it makes you feel better the by all means do it.

the only need is if you want to be 100% sure the coolant is mixed correctly, but what i always notice was after a flush and a drive with new coolant, some garbage always breaks loose from the water jacket and makes it way back to the rad so depending on how you feel just draining and refilling the coolant can be a waste or a piece of mind thing, but its not needed really.

Hey Danny! how are you!?? Sincerely, i took a lot less garbage from the system than i was expected... Besides, when i put my car together after painting the engine, i filled the system with a common coolant coloured in green... Expecting that coolant get rust coloured i didn´t invest in a good one.. The thing was the green coolant never "rusted"... that can be a sign the past owner did a major clean recenly too...

When I through this old coolant the other day i noticed it was pretty clear but my mind got stuck with some gargage i found after taking the old waterpump off... That was why i did as much clean as i could, in order to eliminate at least, the biggest particules floating in my system...

After that i just refill the hole system what this better, non corrosive etc coolant and i knjow i have to run the car some days and at least eye check the level and the colour of this new coolant as i used this acid stuff to clean the system... I have to check if this product didn´t remove even more garbage from the system walls or something like that..

At this point, i dont see the point, as Roy said, of flushing everything off again and i´m positive i can wait some time untill i decide to paint my fan blade to match factory colour to, at that moment, just changing the coolant again and eliminate every possible garbage in the system...

If i check the system in some days and no symthoms of garbage is there, i´m sure i can wait a couple of monthes to take off and empty my rad and try to take the most liquid from the system as i can to fill it with new one without another big flush at that moment...

Thanks Danny!!