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preparing for spring

I haven't done a flush on mine, but as usual have a couple relevant general tips to add. I'll let SD de-bunk your write-up there, if need be.

If theres residue inside the overflow tank, I dump a handful of gravel in it with some water and cover the holes then shake the bejeepers out of it to help scrape that off. Dump gravel and rinse thoroughly.

I did fix a mess-up where a co-worker mixed green and not green. From that experience, I would say that when you're in the pure water and running stage, that its important to work the throttle some. Like run it gently up to 2,500 RPM and hold for a few seconds and let off abruptly. If you're watching the discharged water, you'll probably see a surge of color after it comes back down to idle. So in my opinion, throwing a few pressure spikes at it while open and flushing helps evacuate the bad stuff. A quart of wrong left in it may be about as close as you can get.
 


ok. there couldn't be that much in there if i properly flush it with a green hose and use the flush liquid. if anything maybe a cup at most right? and it should come to the top?
 
Pontiac Racer said:
ok. there couldn't be that much in there if i properly flush it with a green hose and use the flush liquid. if anything maybe a cup at most right? and it should come to the top?
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no idea what your talking about. your over thinking all this. 3 pages for a coolant flush is 2 pages to many lol re read my how to and have at it.
 
50/50 mix is $1 cheaper, but its not cheaper.

Lets say 50/50 is $13, and 100% is $14.

For $13 you get 1 gallon of 50/50, for $14 you get 2 gallons of 50/50...
 
that was supposed to be garden hose not green hose. yeah its too many pages but thats because i don't want to end up like whoever had the monte on here where he said it took a lot to fix his problem. better to be too cautious than too cocky, i guess
 


you can use old milk jugs of tap water too. its free, and ive never used distilled water in my life. just had 5 or 6 jugs ready to go.
 


I mentioned that because thats what a pro told me. Its solid advice when working on stuff that has aluminum and iron both in the cooling system, and is expected not to leak or go bad for many years. Our 3800s are all iron except for the intake, and most folks here do maintainence on a regular schedule so using sink (tap) water may not present issues. As I said, thats what I use. Quality of tap water varies... like well water vs city water, nasty vs clean, etc. But yeah, tap is OK.
 
If you have the correct dilution of dexcool in your car and just dump green in - that is when people have a serious problem. If you flush as stated by scotty you'll be fine putting in a different kind. If you are really worried about it, drive around with the flush liquid and water in your car, and then flush again, but you can't let it sit outside like that with pure water in the system. Without the antifreeze, the water WILL freeze and you can have a cracked block.

If you already have freezing coolant occurring you better get some full strength coolant in the system asap (put the kind in that is already in there!).

Get a proper mixture of coolant back in your car and buy the little coolant temp checker to verify your dilution is safe to the coldest temp you can imagine having in your area. I understand you want to do it right but this is not a complicated task if you just follow the directions given above. Good luck!
 


Use the "reply with quote" function so we know who/what you are talking about. You can edit the quoted text to narrow down what you want to quote. You can also use it to completely misrepresent what others have said. See below...

SuperChargedPB said:
9999 you mean ** see you never really said this**
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I'm going out and getting the generic auto parts store coolant. says it protects year round and prevents rust and corrosion. i won't have to worry about it freezing again because ill make my own solution to a specific freezing temp like -40 or -45 degrees, bit of overkill but ill never have to worry about it freezing again
 


is this the o ring you guys were talking about? it goes on the lip of the thermostat. all i need now is the thermo housing gasket and ill have my materials. also the thermo is set for 195 degrees. is that good. i saw some 180 and 190...
 
That o ring looks correct - I believe it is tapered if you look at the side. 195 degrees is stock so you're good there. My 08 has no gasket for the thermostat housing but I think the older models may have used one.
 
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