alright i was reading up on how to do this as far as draining the block. and i found 1 of the drain plugs beside the starter, that thing is damn hard to get out. and i cant even find the other one by the alternator.

anyway i filled my rad with water, let it get hot and thermostat open, then drain rad, and repeat. i did this 2 times and im still getting **** out. so this is my idea. fill the rad with water, take off bottom rad hose by thermostat. run the motor to drain, or just leave the plug on the rad open and drain it that way, but i figured it would be a lot slower.

i dunno, any suggestions. then the thing that i was wondering about. how do you know your mixing ur dex-cool and water 50\50 with having the block full of water. does anyone know exactly how much dex-cool needs to go in? or what the capacity is.

i dunno, i thought this would be a simple procedure, but going from working a 67 camaro to a 2001 proved to be rather different

 

That's why you go someplace and have the system flushed.

 

I think the cooling system capacity is close to 12 quarts(if not pretty close to it) so if the block is full of water, just add 1 and a half gallons(6 quarts) and just add water after that till the system is full, it won't be perfect 50/50 but it'll be damn close thats for sure.

 

k ill fill and drain my rad a couple more times tommorow till i get just water.

does using tap water matter, or does it have to be distilled?

 

won't hurt it to flush it with tap water (that's what i've always done, anyways), but for the final fill you should always use distilled water.

 

If you're using tap water to flush it, did you check the local shops for a kit to do it? I thought I saw a kit for like $5 that you hook up to a garden hose. Then you'll have the pressure of the hose instead of relying on the engine to clean itself out. Just a thought...

edit - useful information:
http://www.carcentral.net/content/gu...lingSystem.php

http://www.partsamerica.com/ProductD...rtnumber=AFKIT

 

well i changed it. filled and drained the rad 11 times, till it was crystal clear. then i filled it with distilled. drained again, then anti-freeze.

i did not use dex-cool. i have been reading lots about it, the **** is NOT good. regardless of what gm master techs say, i talked to one today he said dex cool. i talked to 4 other mechanics and a 3 rad places. they all said dex cool is not good, it corrodes gaskets

 

I use Prestone long life in my 88 and my 98 and have not had any problems. The 88 was changed over back in 98. I wouldn't use the green stuff in our LS1 cars, not meant for it.

 

My wife's GAGT has 150k miles and has NEVER had a problem related to Dexcool. I know several people with very high milages trucks that also have never had any coolant problems.

IMO, since Dexcool was new it became the scape goat for many problems that were not related. Its like the BS about not being able to mix Dexcool and conventional antifreeze.

 

well regardless running the green stuff isnt going to hurt anything. plus i get it for free. i dunno, call me old school but i just feel better running it.

 

Just a little imformation to pass on to you and others, I was having major problems with my 1988 chevy truck regarding heater core failures inside the cab, to the tune of 5 heater cores. Let me be the first to tell you it is not fun having to strip the whole interior out after each heater core failure to clean that mess up!!! Now after the first core replacement I filed a complaint with GM because this should not have happend with a truck that only had about 25,000 miles on it and was meticulously maintained.I basically got no where with GM, all the while using the GREEN anti-freeze that came with the truck brand new. I filed complaints after each incident to ao avail with GM, then one day I was in the auto parts store and there was a man in the store that worked at the local cadillac dealership as a master tech, so I asked him if he had any idea why I was having these problems with the cores. The first thing he asked me was if I was using the GREEN anti-freeze, I told him yes and he said that was my problem. He said the acids that they put in the anti-freeze to controll scale build-up was too harsh for the alluminum components and was actually eating pin holes in all those heater cores! He then showed me an addative that was made by prestone (I think anyway) that reduced the strength of the acids to a safer level and was also a water pump seal lubricant. I bought a bottle of that stuff and put it in and that was the end of my problems!! A few years later dexcool came along and I switched to that because it is specifically made for alluminum engines and components and I have had no problems at all since the switch. So if you are going to use the GREEN stuff, you might want to look into some of that addative I spoke about so you don't have the same nightmare I had or switch back to dexcool and just change it out every 12 to 18 months. Sorry for such a long post but I thought this might help you anyone else that reads it. Good luck!