flush cooling system?, how to do it properly? Options

[Hanyo]

how do you properly flush the cooling system of a car?

I know the basics like hook up a garden hose and run water through the system as the engine is runing and heater on to help remove all the rust and containaments in there.

But what do you do with all that radiator fluid? You can't just let that drain into the storm drains.


And your not suppose to get hard water into the cooling system, that is why distilled water is needed. And flushing the cooling with gallons and gallons of distilled water will be very costly....

What about those chemicals you can buy?

What is the best way to do it? To be honest i dont trust those jiffy lube shops to flush my car, they probably wont use distilled water...

[SL44]

Previously had a '94 GT that developed a radiator leak. Replaced it 6 or 7 times with a "1800radiator.com" replacement. Stuck with them 'cause of the lifetime warranty. Lost that one in a crash and now have a '98 GT that I'm more cautious with. Last year did the timing belt & pulleys and the water pump while I was at it. Started with draining coolant from the radiator; could not loosen the engine drain plug so I had to go through multiple fill & drain sequences using tap water from a "Pur" water filter. Used filtered water 'cause I have pretty hard water in So Cal.

Have plenty of containers available to collect the drained stuff. In LA county we can take this to a haz mat round-up. Ask your parts store about what to do with the waste. Pay attention to how much drains out and compare it to the stated capacity; I was able to get a little more than 50 % out at one time. Drained and filled a couple times and then used 2 bottles (I think 20 oz. per bottle) of Prestone's flush (citric acid) and ran the engine to normal operating temp with the heater fully opened. Then did multiple fill-heat-drain to get the concentration down to 1 to 2% The math isn't too hard: 50, 25, 12.5, 7, 3.5, 2, 1%; so 6 or 7 fill-heat-drain sequences were enough. Once down to the smaller %'s, the drained liquid went into the toilet.

Did this a year ago and the temp gauge still doesn't budge above the usual spot; and it's about 100° this weekend in So Cal.