Help with cooling system flush

[trucker79005]

Hi all,

I've been reading for a while and so far haven't found this specific question. I just finished running a couple radiator flushes through the system and right now the system is full of the rinse water. If I drain this fluid out then pull the radiator without running antifreeze through the system am I running the risk of rust in block? I don't think it should be out more than a couple weeks.

I'm also not sure if I have done enough to flush the system. I have driven the car around 700 miles and it hasn't blown the engine It has 63000 miles and has been sitting for quite a while. Any thoughts are welcome. Will continue to read

Thanks!

[eaglefreek]

I wouldn't be worried about a few  weeks.  Why flushing it twice? Was there a lot of crap in it?

[trucker79005]

I was hoping a couple weeks wouldn't be too bad. The first flush I only had one bottle when it said to use two and I only ran it for ten minutes. The second flush I used the two bottle, removed the thermostat and drove it 30 miles. I haven't drained the yet rinse water yet but nothing so far has looked like antifreeze or water.....

[AMC1]

I see you're doing a complete job. You didn't mention pulling the engine block drain plug however. If you have any rust in the block you'll see it come out immediately from there. All three of my cars have hex. head drain plugs for ease of removal.

[trucker79005]

I will definitely have to look and see if I can find that. The radiator is being recored now and it would be nice to know that I wasn't putting junk in it when I put it back in. Thanks for the idea! I need all of them I canget. I've never tried to go through a car that's been sitting before....

[AMC1]

On the 6 cyl it should be down low on the drivers side. It will be square/ rectangular bolt not a hex. I think maybe a 7/16" open end may fit but I always had to use a vice grips to get the original off before replacing them.

[trucker79005]

I have this odd feeling that i may not be the best car restorer in the world. My lack of patience led me to get the radiator recored and install new upper and lower hoses and a new thermostat only to fill it up and find crap floating in my new radiator. Fear of not getting it back together right kept me from taking the plug out of the block and didn't flush the heater core. I did get to drive it yesterday though  Thanks Eaglefreek and AMC1 for the help.

[AMC1]

That crap was in the block. It's really quite simple and you can't mess it up. If you get the bolt out it simply screws back in later. You can run the engine with the bolt removed & clean out the block - just have a hose in the radiator & keep water going in - you will see it coming immediately out at the bottom. Be careful like everything else. The coolant is hot & can burn you if you do it hot.  The more things you do the more confidence you get & more patience comes with that because of the confidence. I'm doing somethin now I've never done before & am having problems which require more tooling. But I know I will get it done because I have the patience that comes with that confidence.  Don't forget to have fun - because it is.

[trucker79005]

I will probably attempt a better flush. As long as the stuff won't hurt anything i'll work down my list to other critical items.

[86Woodgrain]

I know this is an older topic but if you are flushing your Eagle, I would highly recommend you disconnect the heater core hoses under the hood and gently use a garden hose to flush out the heater core in both directions. DON'T GO FULL BLAST, just use very light water pressure. I also recommend you remove the overflow bottle and flush it out with the garden hose. My overflow bottle was nearly solid in the bottom with dirt and junk.

[trucker79005]

Thanks for the extra advice. I have struggled to keep mine running so hopefully soon I can get back to all that!

[86Woodgrain]

I just noticed it's been 5 years since the previous discussion. If you flushed the coolant back then it's time to flush it again LOL !