image showing a coolant flush

Coolant Flush Guide – How to do a Coolant Flush

April 26, 2023 Off By Andy

Do you want to know what a Coolant Flush is, how to do it yourself, and why it’s important?

In this post, I will talk about what a coolant flush is and why it’s important for the performance and longevity of your vehicle.

I will also show you how a coolant flush works, the pros and cons of doing one, and give you step-by-step instructions on how to do a coolant flush yourself.

By the end of this article, you’ll have a better understanding of how to correctly maintain your car’s cooling system and keep your engine running smoothly.

What is a Coolant Flush?

pic of car radiator

A coolant flush is a procedure in which old, contaminated coolant is replaced with fresh coolant. It’s often done as the first step of a cooling system repair to ensure the system will not leak or corrode.

Your car’s cooling system is one of the most important components, because it keeps the engine from overheating. So flushing the coolant is critical to the performance of any vehicle.

The system includes a radiator, heater core, hoses, and a water pump. The radiator is the heart of a cooling system. It is a metal container that contains liquid coolant in order to cool down the engine.

On most cars, it’s located on the front engine compartment or under the hood and attached to a metal tube called an expansion tank. The coolant flows through this tube and into a hose which leads it to where it needs to go.

Why you should do a coolant flush

A coolant flush is an important part of a car’s maintenance. It removes the build-up of rust and other particles that can cause damage to the engine.

The coolant system is responsible for maintaining the operating temperature of the engine by transferring heat from it to the radiator. The process happens due to a chemical reaction between water and ethylene glycol, which is also known as antifreeze. This chemical reaction creates a mixture called glycol or anti-freeze, which circulates in the cooling system and helps in cooling down your car’s engine.

How does coolant work?

The coolant is a colorless liquid that circulates in the car’s engine and absorbs heat from hot parts such as the radiator. The coolant tank can be found in the front passenger compartment of a sedan or behind the radiator on a truck.

In a coolant flush, the engine’s cooling system is drained and then refilled with new, clean fluid. The process usually takes about two hours to complete.

The process can be done with or without the car off of the ground (raised). Without any additional equipment being used, it’s possible to flush fluids through tubes into an external container. In order to do this, remove one or more of the radiator hoses, which allows fluid to flow into a container under pressure from the engine.

The pressure in the system is then lowered by opening a valve located near the reservoir, and this will allow fluid to flow back into the cooling system.

By keeping an eye on the fluid levels in these reservoirs, it is possible to tell when more fluid might be needed during a flush procedure.

What are the Pros and Cons of Doing a Coolant Flush?

The pros of doing a coolant flush include helping prevent clogs and keeping your car running well. It can remove any dirt, rust, small pieces of metal, or other debris that may have built up within the system.

The cons include making the fluid more acidic which is not good for your vehicle’s engine.

How to do a Coolant Flush?

A coolant flush is a maintenance that needs to be done once in a while. It is recommended to get the coolant flushed at least every two years or when the vehicle reaches 100,000 miles.

The following are steps for flushing the coolant:

  • Remove the radiator cap or open the tank of coolant.
  • Put a drain pan under the radiator.
  • Drain all of the old coolants from the system.
  • Fill up with a 50/50 mixture of distilled water and distilled coolant.
  • Replace the cap and start the vehicle to circulate new fluid through the system.
  • It will take about two hours for everything to circulate, but this process go faster by using a power washer on low pressure in order to wash

Here is a video showing the process of doing a coolant flush. This may not apply exactly to your vehicle but it should give you a good idea of how it’s done.

Conclusion:

A coolant flush is a maintenance procedure that is done to clean out the coolant system and remove impurities such as water, rust, metal shavings, and other contaminants.

The advantages of a coolant flush are that it can extend the life of the cooling system, increase engine performance, improve fuel economy, and prevent corrosion. The disadvantages are that it can be expensive and time-consuming.

Now go and get your coolant flush on, your vehicle will thank you later 🙂