Coolant//other question??

[stewie]

Hello, 1997 Grd Prix gt and I noticed the engine started to overheat. Well like a DA before checking I added green coolant. Now my radiator is draining into a bucket in my garage. So is it mandatory that I replace with dexcool or could I flush and fill with any other coolant?? I'm new to this 159,000 mile car so I don't know what has been put into it before my idiocy. Secondly can I flush with a garden hose and what about the coolant already inside the engine.How much antifreeze/coolant does it require?? Keep in mind that I'm nearly flat broke.

[brandonl2000]

You can most definitely flush it thoroughly and run green. I have as many others have as well. Yeah use the hose! Just let the car run with fresh water and repeat. There's a gazillion threads on this btw

[Nighthwk12]

I would flush the whole system. Quite a bit of fluid stays in the block due to the water pump being high on the engine. I would drain and flush the system till you are just draining water. Remember to have your heat running on high while doing this. It will suck in about 3 gallons. So you will need two full strength gallons. Prestone or extended peak are not bad choices. Where is the leak did you fix that first?

[Scottydoggs]

to flush the engine, i like to take the T stat out, put the housing back on, then take the upper hose off the rad, push it down towards the ground, open the rad cap, put a garden hose in to the hole, start the car turn on the hose, when clear water comes out your done. then take the hose out of the rad, and run the engine till no water comes out the upper hose, then shut it off.

put back in the T stat, with a new gasket if needed, put the upper hose back on, fill with one gallon of straight coolant, not the 50/50 stuff. then top it off with water, bleed the air out, top it off and done.

i dont think id put 2 gallons of coolant to a 3 gallon system. one gallon works just fine, i did this last fall, and nothing froze during the winter, and it gets pretty cold here in the winter.

[brandonl2000]

Easy way to make sure it's right. Just mix 50/50 in separate jugs that way you know you put in exactly 50/50. I used to have more water than coolant and it would evaporate. Thought I had a coolant leak. But I flushed my car when I was in MI...hehe, unplanned adventure. Anyway, no more evaporation. Still have the same amount I left wit.

[nos4blood70]

My mixture is about 35/65 and it doesn't freeze.

[Buggsy]

Kind of like scottydogs said, I did mine by taking the thermostat out. The difference is that I reinstalled my housing/hose combo and used it to flush my engine backwards. I took off the lower hose to drain the engine anyway, so the water just poured out the bottom. For other reasons, I had the rad out so I just flushed is separately. I had access to run the hose to my washing machine hookups, so I flushed the engine block for around 10 minutes with 120 degree water.

Unfortunately, I'm going to have to do it again. I put Dexcool in, and replaced the hoses. One hose has a tiny leak, and I've changed my mind about Dexcool. My truck is a Dodge and has weird HOAT coolant. After a few years of this, I'm sick of hard-to-find and expensive coolant. I'll get the good stuff, but it'll be general green. I can't even find compatible Dodge coolant anywhere around here, except for the dealer.