Radiator flush question

I'm going to have the dealer do a coolant system flush on my 2001 sport.
since it's 4 years old.

has anyone had any problems with doing the flush with the machine?
The dealer has some machine that flushes all the coolant.
Was wondering if that would cause any loose particals to clog the water pump or anything like that.

Thanks!

I wouldn't worry about anything clogging the waterpump, but the smaller passages of the radiator could be a problem.

There have been a few threads around here recently covering the procedures - it's a pretty easy do-it-yourselfer.

Why not do it yourself and save some $$$. What do they charge?

I recommend doin it yourself twice....
1 st time will loosen the crap up
2 nd time will flush ALL the crap out.....
This is the way I always do it,and at least once a year...

Stop at auto parts store and pick up the prestone 7 hour flush bottle and a back flush kit.
Go home, drain the coolant out into a 3 or so gallon jugs. Refill the system with the bottle of flush and tap water. Burp it and then do the 7 hour drive.
While out driving go pick up two gallons of mopar coolant and two gallons of distilled water from the grocery store. Good time to pickup a new pressure cap and mopar thermostat w/gasket. Consider a full set of Mopar/jeep hoses too and clamps.
Go home, let it cool off and install the back flush kit. Then drain it again.
Back flush the system per the instructions.
Replace all the hoses, make sure the bottom hose has the anti-collapsing spring in it, if you got it from the dealer it wll, if you bought it aftermarket it most likely will not.
Replace the thermostat. Take note of the original one and how it faces, put the little drain hole thats in the flange at the 12 O'clock position.
Remove the overlfow bottle and clean it out then reinstall.
Refill the system, dump in one gallon of mopar coolant and one gallon of distilled water
directly into the radiator.
Use the empty mopar coolant bottle, dump in half of the remaining gallon of distilled water then add a half gallon of the full coolant, dump the remaining half gallon of distilled water into the now half empty mopar coolant. You now have two 50/50 mix gallons of coolant.
Fill the overflow bottle to the hot mark with some of the 50/50 mix.
Fire the engine up and start topping off the radiator, once it is topped off and there are no more fizzy airbubbles visible put the cap on.
Oh, every time you pour in new coolant the thermostat will close, be patient, it will open again.
Put the new cap on
done

And make sure you run the heater some while you have the flush stuff in there to flush the heater core as well.

Flushing the radiator yourself works best if you drain the system by pulling the large lower hose over a good size flat pan. Once drained, remove thermostat housing and thermostat, stick a garden hose inside the head and with the vehicle slightly downhill, run fresh water until it's clear. I actually start the engine with the garden hose flow and still in the head for a few seconds to better flush the pump. Just be sure the hose doesn't catch on the mech fan.

Let drain, reassemble and refill with coolant and distilled water. The stock drain isn't gonna allow any large chunks of crud out of the system and it takes forever but the lower hose opening is large enough to pass the junk out quickly.

yeah man I think the water hose flush is much more effective than a dealer flush. run the hose through both sides wherever you open the system at. you'll be good to go in no time flat.

the dealer was charging 49.95,
to do the flush.

my only problem doing it myself is i'm not sure where most the stuff to remove is?
and never fixed a thermastat before.
or changed hoses.

My Advice: If it's a power flush...pay the dealer the $50.

There is all good advice here in this thread for the mechanically inclined. Your last post spoke volumes.


The power flush works good, we purchased one for each of our four shops (three bus/ one equipment) a few years back and started flushing annually. The overheats dropped 30%.

The good thing about doing it yourself is just like RichP recommends you can change the hoses (and if you use the chemical flush it's a good idea). The tricky part is removing the old hoses from the heater core without busting the necks, applies to the pressure bottle also. Slit cut the hoses with a razor knife and then peel the hoses off the core is the best way, lube new hoses prior to putting on heater core. Use new coolant or spit, not a petroleum based grease.

Factory heater hoses are not required but they route better cause they're pre-formed.

good Luck,
Tom