I am planning to drain and flush my cooling system on my 1960 Corvette this winter. What is the proper procedure for doing this? Also what is the best ratio of water to antifreeze to use for maximum cooling efficiency? As usual thanks for all your help.
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Re: Flushing Cooling System
It really depends on how dirty your system is. If it has been well-maintained, you should be able to get by with a simple water flush. I'm not a huge fan of the chemical flushes since they can result in unintended consequences like leaks in the radiator or heater core or gaskets. Of course, this depends on the overall condition of your engine. If it has been poorly maintained in its past, you may have problems. On the upside, you'd certainly want to know of weak links in the chain. If your system is dirty, then go ahead and do the chemical flush, but better than that, take the car to a radiator shop (a real radiator shop, not one of these fly-by-night places) and get a real service by professionals. As to the mix, the standard 50/50 mix will be fine. Depending on where you live, a 30/70 coolant to water ratio is O.K., but if your system is working to specs, go with the 50/50 mix.
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Re: Flushing Cooling System
Remove both block drain plugs. This may be difficult. It is necessary to remove them and to remove both of them. There's lots of crud down there. The flushing described below doesn't get to those 2 places. And those 2 places aren't interconnected. There might be a crust of crud that prevents coolant from coming out when you remove the plugs, so stick a pointy object in there if nothing comes out right away. Both plugs are square headed. Try to get a good grip on them so you don't mung up the head. You'll really hate yourself if you mung up the heads and can't get them out. Consider square sockets. I'd be afraid or 12 point sockets. You'll probably need the leverage of a breaker bar. You will put them back with anti-seize, won't you, so someone else doesn't have to go through this years from now.
Remove both heater hoses from the intake manifold. Open the heater control valve. Stick a garden hose in the open end of one hose for a while, and then the other hose. This'll flush the heater hoses and heater core pretty good.
Open the radiator drain petcock. Remove the thermostat. Remove the top radiator hose. Stick the hose in the top radiator hose and block off various openings to flush every which way you can think of. Flushing from different points and having the water come out in different places ("back flushing") is desirable. You can't flush too much.
You should collect the old antifreeze and dispose of it properly. It tastes sweet and is attractive and poisonous to dogs and critters. 50/50 is usual suggested mix, but look on the back of the jug of the antifreeze you decide to use.Comment
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