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Need to do a heater core flush, I have questions.

If just the heater core.. Take off heater core lines, both of them. Get garden hose. Hold water hose up to heater core hose and let it run through.
 
Do NOT remove the hoses from the core. Remove at the end closes to the engine. Heater core necks are easily damaged.
 
why only the heater core? wouldn't it stand to reason that if the heater core is gunked up, that the rest of they system should be flushed too?
 
X 2 on not removing the heater core hoses from the heater matrix end as this could be expensive if one of those necks snap.

There loads of posts on heater core flushing and some of them suggest slicing the heater hoses off and fitting new ones. Others suggest taking the heater hoses off from the thermostat housing and the water pump.

I tried this initially but my hoses were fitted VERY tight as i guess they hadnt been removed in a while.
This became a problem for me as you may know there is a metal tube that is connected to the water pump that runs about 6 inches into to the lower heater hose and i knew that this needed replacing as it had rusted so i didnt want to start twisting that hose until i sorted out the pump.

Anyway, not sure if its great but this method worked for me very well and is dead easy.
I sliced BOTH heater hoses roughly at the mid point of the engine and got a seperate T-piece fitted to the upper AND lower heater hose. I blocked off both the T pieces with the caps.
I then connected the garden hose to the top heater hose (pouring towards the heater matrix) and allowed water to gently flow into the heater matrix and watched the gunk come out of the bottom heater hose. You DONT want any kind of high water pressure going into the heater matrix as it will be VERY expensive, you just need perhaps little more than a trickle and watch the gunk come out of the end of the bottom heater hose. I kept this going till the water ran clear. Then switch and gently allow water into the bottom heater hose and watch it come out of the top hose. Then just keep switching to and from the two hoses allowing water into each and make sure its flushed AND backflushed and the water coming out the opposite hose is clear running water.

Then when thats done, get a big jug of 50/50 mix and a funnel.
shove the funnel in the end of the top heater hose t piece and start pouring the the 50/50 mix in. When you see the coolant coming out the bottom heater hose the same color as the coolant going in, reconnect the bottom heater hose t-piece to the water pump side of the heater hose.
Then keep pouring the 50/50 mix in the top heater hose t piece until it start to back up in the funnel. At that point you know your heater matrix is full. Reconnect the top heater hose t-piece to the thermostat housing side of the top heater hose

Not sure if its any good but this is what i done and now ive got heat!!:yelclap:
 
Fidget,
It does stand to reason that the whole system needs flushing. However i flushed mine again and again (perhaps incorrectly) but didnt get heat till i flushed the heater core direct. Not that much gunk came out of mine but obviously enough to prevent me from getting heat.
 
So...does anybody even bother with trying to contain old coolant or do you just let it run into the storm drain? Not sure if that's even legal, but I know it's a BAD idea. I really need more heat (-11 on the way to work Mon.), but I have no way to keep the a/f from running down the street. There are also several children and their dogs downhill/downstream from my house.
 
Kujito,
I have three dogs!
I didnt add what to do with the old coolant issue because i assumed everyone would be responsible with it. And because i felt my post was too long as it was!
I placed plastic sheeting down the side of my engine block and even cut a piece out to fit through the oil dipstick, put a kink in the sheeting to divert the old coolant into a pan beneath vehicle. When the pan starts to get full. Turn the hose off. empty pan in accordance with local laws. As the coolant starts to get diluted with water its ok to flush it down the toilet.
Then do the same when you start to top the system up again when it starts to come out green.
 
Contain the old coolant. This is 2008! Back in the 70's we dumped coolant down the sewer and poured our old ATF and oil into holes in the back yard. DUH!!! Not acceptable anymore. Put the antifreeze into jugs and bring it in to a recycleing or oil change place. Once you have all the old coolant out, flush with water where you can keep hosing it good. Antifreeze tastes like coolaid to animals and causes kidney failure fairly quickly. I think some of the new coolants are non-toxic, but I am still too old fashioned to trust them.

Or take it to a shop where they do it right.
 
So...does anybody even bother with trying to contain old coolant or do you just let it run into the storm drain? Not sure if that's even legal, but I know it's a BAD idea.

It depends on your local laws. Where I live, storm drains empty into the ocean (for now) so it's illegal to dump automotive fluids directly into the drains.

When I flush mine, I use a large drain pan to drain the system of coolant initially, then refill with water and whatever flush I choose. Then, after running and cooling off, drain again. Everything goes into 5 gal buckets I get from my local home center (big orange or blue). These get taken to my local reclamation center Once that's done I hook up the hose and let the rest spill into the driveway. The concentration of coolant and flush is pretty low by then.
 
Ya, I know about the dangers with that shiz. There used to be (may still be) a huge pool of a/f that DIA used for de-icing ops. There were dead animals all over the place.
I remember changing oil/coolant right out onto the ground back in the day. There weren't a whole lot of rules about it in NM when I was a kid. The sand drained it all away nicely though. I also seem to remember coolant going all over the place when it got changed.
Man, I really miss the base Auto Hobby Shops from my enlisted days. Always had at least one lube pit with catch basin and oil/water seperator in the floor. It didn't matter how messy you were with it, it was all contained.
 
Coolant CAN be disposed of down the drain, but it's better to take it to a reclamation site if there is one in your area.

From a state web site:

Antifreeze is used as an engine coolant and contains either the chemical ethylene glycol or propylene glycol. Ethylene glycol is very toxic (one teaspoon to one ounce may be fatal to an adult) and is attractive to animals and small children due to it's sweet taste. Propylene glycol is less toxic and lacks a sweet taste. Disposed of improperly, antifreeze poses a potential health hazard and may pollute groundwater, surface water, and (potentially) drinking water supplies. Do not mix used antifreeze with engine oil or other wastes.

Dilute and Flush
Flushing used antifreeze down the drain is the least-preferred disposal option, but it may be the only option available in some areas. Your wastewater treatment facility should be contacted to ensure that they can accept the waste prior to using this method.

Although antifreeze is biodegradable, households on septic systems should NOT dispose of antifreeze down the drain. If your home is connected to a septic tank, give this product to someone who is connected to a municipal sewer system. Even in a diluted form, antifreeze can overwhelm and destroy the bacterial action in your septic system and drain field.

Procedures include:

Provide adequate ventilation by opening windows and doors and/or turning on a room fan.

Wear protective clothing such as chemical resistant gloves, eye protection and long sleeves.

Carefully pour about 1 gallon of diluted antifreeze down the sink, flushing with large amounts of water. Failure to dilute antifreeze may damage pipes or other parts of your plumbing.

Continue disposing in 1 gallon batches until completely gone. Don't mix products, and wait several hours between disposing of different types of products.

The best time to do this is during the working day when the sewage system is in full use so that this material passes through the municipal sewage system faster.

These procedures are intended for small quantities of used antifreeze from a household only.
 
Just did the flush about 2 weeks ago. I did the full coolant flush first and thought that would be not only good maintenance, but also help with the heat. Nope.

You really have to flush out just the core, and as said before, make sure you disconnect the hoses from the front, not at the core, makes it much easier and keeps the plastic bits from breaking. I've found it was also easier to direct the stream away form the block/cap/belts by bending the hoses downward.

Also-
1. Be sure you start out slow/low pressure, and build up. You really don't need *that* much pressure, although I found it helps to -pulse- the pressure on and off to disturb that rusty sediment.
2. Alternate hoses, upper and lower to backflush. Very little came out when I flushed in the forward direction, and I was a bit frustrated. Then I flushed the other way and I was amazed by how much crap came out! Going back and forth worked wonders.

The whole thing will take less than 1/2 and hour, and your Jeep, and cold friends and family will thank you for it.
 
I flushed the GF jeep 3weeks ago and had to put a radator into it cuse it loosened up so much rust it started leaking. I also done a thermostat and discovered so much sillycone that the heater port in the housing was pluged and that it was also hanging the stat open
 
You could always just leave the coolant in a large open pan sitting beneath a carport and realize that the stray cat population is dwindling like my old roommate did. Bad part was his girlfriend had 2 cats that would go outside at night and mysteriously disappeared. :eyes:
LOL




I know I'm a sick bas****. I still chuckle when I work with the stuff now.
 
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