cadillac_caddy_sts Posted March 15, 2005 Report Share Posted March 15, 2005 How do I know its time to flush and replace the coolent? Is there a message or does it need to be done at a certain miledge or what? Thanks Defending Northstar perf a qtr mile at a time!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob D Posted March 15, 2005 Report Share Posted March 15, 2005 How do I know its time to flush and replace the coolent? Is there a message or does it need to be done at a certain miledge or what? Thanks First of all you don't need to flush. Really. Just drain and add 50/50 distilled water to ethlyne glycol (green) coolant. Add the six GM tabs, or a tube of Bars Stop Leak Gold formula (same chemically) and it'll be fine. For our older Northstars this should be done approx every two years, or 25,000 miles. '93 STS.. opened, dropped, wide...fast. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cadillac_caddy_sts Posted March 15, 2005 Author Report Share Posted March 15, 2005 How do i do that? Defending Northstar perf a qtr mile at a time!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maremrak Posted March 15, 2005 Report Share Posted March 15, 2005 You should really go to your mechanic as soon as possible and ask him to change the coolant for you. Make sure you buy Bars Leak Gold pallets and ask him to put all 6 of them in the upper hose, and just add the 50/50 premix coolant to the surge tank. The mechanic should now that after the coolant is there, the car should idle for a few minutes, put the cap on, and check the coolant next day after the engine cools down. It is very important to do this every two years and you will be OK, for many more miles. 1960 Sedan De Ville (sold) 1970 Coupe De Ville (sold) 1987 Mazda RX-7 (sold) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimD Posted March 15, 2005 Report Share Posted March 15, 2005 Not to get hung up on terminology, but "flush" makes me nervous. Your (green) coolant should be "refreshed" every two years or 24,000 miles (40,000 kilometers), whichever occurs first. Drain as much coolant as possible by pulling the bottom hose. Place coolant supplement material in the hose and reinstall the hose. Fill the system with a 50 / 50 mix of distilled water and antifreeze. Adding the coolant supplement material is important. Flushing implies using tap water pressure to "clean" the cooling system. The down side to that procedure (for me) is you will end up with some unknown ratio of water to antifreeze. Maximum cooling system protection is provided by a 50 / 50 ratio and that is important (to me). Plus, tap water may contain minerals that are safe to drink, but are less than friendly for your cooling system. Jim Drive your car. Use your cell phone. CHOOSE ONE ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob D Posted March 15, 2005 Report Share Posted March 15, 2005 This may have been just stated by 'Jim D', but MAKE SURE whoever does this change for you puts the tabs or Bars in the bottom radiator hose and NOT the small coolant surge tank. Very important. '93 STS.. opened, dropped, wide...fast. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ranger Posted March 15, 2005 Report Share Posted March 15, 2005 Flushing implies using tap water pressure to "clean" the cooling system. The down side to that procedure (for me) is you will end up with some unknown ratio of water to antifreeze. Maximum cooling system protection is provided by a 50 / 50 ratio and that is important (to me). Plus, tap water may contain minerals that are safe to drink, but are less than friendly for your cooling system. The other down side to tap water is the introduction of unwanted minerals such as calcium, lime, iron etc. Not sure how much they will hurt (if at all) but why put them in there when distilled water is so cheap. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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