Advice for me when I flush my rad?

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Soldato
Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
7,175
Location
Sussex
My rad could do with a flush through - so I of course want to avoid airlocks.

I'm going to disconnect the hose at the very bottom and blast a load of water through it.

Is this the correct way of doing it ? I don't want to end up with airlocks.

I'll then put the pipe back on, fill with coolant, start the engine and keep topping it up as the level drops till it doesn't drop anymore.

is this the right way of doing it ?
 
With most cars there are two bleed valves/screws.

I just undid both of mine and disconnected the bottom pipe and stuck a hose in it,.

And then left the bleed screws undone whilst I filled it back up with coolant and added water till it was full.

But mine also has an overflow so even if I did put too much in, providing it wasn't TOO much it would have just escaped via overflow.

BMW 528i.
 
Drain with bottom hose. Put hose back on. Open bleed valve. Fill up with water slowly, leaving expansion cap off. Start engine and wait for it to get upto temp. Close bleed valve when water starts to come out of hole. You might need to give it some revs to force the air through.

When upto temp, switch off and drain from the bottom hose.

Repeat as above until water from bottom hose is clear. Be careful as that water will be hot. I managed to do it without burning myself, so pretty sure you'll be able to manage it :)
 
Third Opinion said:
BTW it is illegal to drain your radiator so that it goes down a storm drain. Be careful who is watching you flush the system.
Click to expand...

I've always wondered this... where do you take old coolant?
 
id put a pot of rad flush in it , then run it up hot before emptying, make sure the heater is on hot so you flush the matrix as well, then drain and fill as described above
 
My coolant went all over my driveway, I then got the hose out to dilute it so I don't kill any cats!!
 
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