Radiator draining problem

[Danno]

Wanted to winterize the car because I replaced the thermostat last summer and just topped the radiator with water. I opened the radiator drain and nothing came out. I removed the drain valve thinking it was clogged, still nothing, just a thick rusty drops. I stuck a probe in the hole and still just that rusty oozing goop. I have driven the car last summer with no cooling problems, the heater worked normally and also after replacing the thermostat confirmed I had good flow visually and that the 'stat was working normally at the radiator filler neck.

Am I looking at a new radiator or will a good flush do the trick? At the very least I am going to have to get the weak mixture out of the engine before the cold weather sets in, probably by disconnecting the hoses and making a mess. Probably have to remove the radiator and have it boiled out??? What do you think?

 

[72HCODE]

try a reverse flush first you can buy a kit at a local auto store prestone, peak, sears all sell similar kits

it allows you to hook up a garden hose to the radiator and sort of pressurize the system. with the drain plug out it should blow the junk out of the system.

you can keep flushing it till it is clean then fill with 50/50

you could then start the engine with the hose running and the plug open to force more junk out just run the engine for a minute or 2 and shutdown.

 

[wwhite72]

The garden hose setup worked on a friends jeep yrs ago, but id have some concerns on the heater core and hoses on original car parts.