Finding information on line through forums and videos proved challenging, so I put together a short video showing some cool tricks for changing the coolant in these Chevy/GMC trucks. I hope this proves useful!
I don’t like the part of running the engine to get more antifreeze to come out. The water pump is running dry and may lead to premature failure and hot spots on the heads and block. If doing this way I’d say drain antifreeze, refill run and drain, each time adding 50/50 mix back in. That way water pump is not running dry and no hot spots. Also you never have to worry about the antifreeze strength because of dilution of when the distilled water that was added for the shown flush in the video. So what antifreeze that was left in the block is not 50/50 if done per this video.
Can't you blow air through the rad,and get all of it out without draining it with water I was told if there's water left inside it will coagulate and gum up your rad?
No you will never get all of it and you would need some type of adapter to even try. Residuals/solids would still be left behind as well, so flushing is the most effective. People used to flush with a hose, but tap water left behind impurities that actually made things worse. Given the formulations of additives that go into antifreeze now, this is presently the recommended method
I purchased two 4L (1 gallon) buckets of the concentrated antifreeze and mixed them to 50-50 with deionized water. Simple method. After each flush I topped up with the new mix. I had lots left over, but it really depends on how many times you flush it out or feel you need to flush it out. If you flush it out with distilled or deionized water, you will have to do a test and calculation for how much concentrate to add versus water as you ratio of antifreeze concentrate will need to go up, but I prefer to use my method flushing with the 50-50 mix since the additives are beneficial for the flush anyway. In most cases, you could probably get away with just one gallon of concentrate (2 gallons of premixed), but if it’s really dirty you may get into the next jug.
From what I understand, turning the heat on makes sure to either turn on or increase the circulation of coolant through the heater core loop. Given that the heater core is difficult to access and hence very expensive to replace, it seems to be a good idea to do everything possible to try to keep it in good shape.
@@regularguy9264 Thanks for your reply.. I liked your video, but FYI there is no heater core valve on this vehicle . The heat is regulated by the air flow doors and hence flow all the time. I believe the older vehicles used to have that heater core valve but since GM has gone away from that. People would not use heat for summer and the cores would plug up..
@@regularguy9264 thought of doing the same . But then realized it started to flush out. Another question . Once you flushed to the point you got clean water . Do you have to add coolant and flush until you start to see coolant again ? To get rid of the water left behind ?
You can actually flush with a 50-50 antifreeze distilled water mix each time if you want. Some mechanics like this because of the cleaning agents, anti corrosion additives, etc in the antifreeze. If you do this, I would go with the concentrate antifreeze though as it’s cheaper. If you have flushed with distilled water, you will have to drain and refill with an antifreeze/water mix that is higher in antifreeze to bring the ratio back to 50-50. You can get a cheap tester to make sure you are within recommended specs.
did that on 2018 Silverado 6 speed tranny not easy. Now the lazy dealerships wont change the filter anymore. They say flushing the Tranny will clean the filter. Man what a load of CRAP. The filter is designed to trap and hang onto the contamination. so forcing contaminated material threw the filter will is not what the filter was designed for. Think about it. Use common sense and tell the dealerships to F- OFF. Take your vehicle to a Transmission shop. @regularguy9264
