Radiator flushing

jws84_02 · **Posted:** Mon Feb 20, 2012 3:06 pm

Ok. I'm just starting to flush the radiator, or trying to.

I made a little 8mm Allen wrench with a 8mm rachet. I got my piece in there and it just seems to turn forever and nothing happens. The piece that the 8mm slides in to looks to be a 3/4" barb or whatever. Could I put a wrench on that?

papaindigo · **Posted:** Mon Feb 20, 2012 5:43 pm

Yep that's because you need to use a 10mm allen wrench. See my 1st post at viewtopic.php?f=5&t=64339&p=711001&hilit=radiator+flush#p711001 and the links provided in that post for a how to.

jws84_02 · **Posted:** Mon Feb 20, 2012 7:23 pm

Thanks papa. I have no clue as to where I got 8mm. I could of swore I read somewhere on here.

Oh well, im on my third draining right now. If I had to guess, it will prolly take two more.

papaindigo · **Posted:** Tue Feb 21, 2012 10:50 am

If you are trying to get rid of incorrect coolant as I recall stoutdog did like 6 or 7 drains, brief drive, and refills with demineralized water before the color of the drain stopped changing significantly. He sent me pictures, which I no longer have, that clearly showed the point where more cycles were not worth the trouble.

jws84_02 · **Posted:** Tue Feb 21, 2012 3:52 pm

Yeah I did 6 drains total with distilled water, each time running it up to operating temp

papaindigo · **Posted:** Tue Feb 21, 2012 4:47 pm

Just to get it out there for future reference there is no particular need to run it up all the way to operating temp. The important thing to do is just to circulate fluid to mix the remaining coolant with the clean water (we used demineralized water in gallon jugs from the grocery store which is the same stuff you use in irons for ironing clothes to keep the steam passages clean - not, as others have asked, to be confused with bottled drinking water). Idling in park for 3-5 minutes is sufficient and it allows for a faster process as I'm not a fan of pouring cold water into a hot cooling system.

Also as nearly as I can tell from the FSM and inspection of coolant hoses our heater has no water control valve (i.e. coolant circulates thru it at all times and only provides cabin heat if the blend doors are set to heat). I find this rather unusual (last experience I had with that sort of setup was a 1965 Mustang and I had to add a manual coolant cutoff to keep the cab from heating in the summer). Anyway in an abundance of caution it probably is a good idea to do this type of flush with the cab heat selector set to warm just in case.

dirtmover · **Posted:** Wed Feb 22, 2012 9:08 am

papaindigo wrote:

Anyway in an abundance of caution it probably is a good idea to do this type of flush with the cab heat selector set to warm just in case.

Probably a good call. The FSM requires that the cab heat be turned fully on when purging the system. I suspect they have a reason for this. Mind you, this is Chrysler we're talking about so maybe not :roll:

.

papaindigo · **Posted:** Wed Feb 22, 2012 11:00 am

Yeh I know what the FSM says in the section regarding bleeding and getting air out of the cooling system. But I also know that the section dealing with the HVAC system says we have a blend air door type system (that type of system does not have a control valve on the heater core lines-plus I've looked and the lines clearly don't have one) and "Engine coolant is circulated through the heater hoses and heater core at all times."

So my conclusion is the turn the heater on language is an artifact of sloppy editing that carries forward instructions that only apply to systems where coolant only circulates to the heater core if a valve is open. Another example of problems with the FSM.

That said as I noted in an abundance of caution best turn the heat on. Won't hurt to do so.

jws84_02 · **Posted:** Wed Feb 22, 2012 8:59 pm

Yep had my heater on.

Is it bad that I feel like I'm sticking it to the stealership for doing all this work on my own. Lol

Radiator flushing

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