Can anyone help?

 

Yeah, I would run it until clear. But you should go with a 50/50 mix of distilled water and the toyota coolant. I mixed mine before pouring it in the radiator. Not sure about the Water Wetter stuff though.

 

So just flushing a bunch with that drain open is enough to get rid of most of the old coolant? It sounds like the other drains are way too hard to reach. Are all the people on this thread just opening the easy-to-reach drain hole and calling it a day?

 

But I thought the car holds about 4 quarts in reserve of distilled water? Thats why I thought to get a 50/50 mix you would pour in pure antifreeze? Can someone please clarify this?

 

When you pull the plug on the radiator, the old (mixed) coolant will remain in the engine block...so if you just run fresh water through the radiator, you're essentially leaving the coolant in the block untouched.

You have a few options:

1) Drain the radiator and engine block. You will need to remove the plugs from each side of the engine block in order to drain it, and the plugs are very difficult to reach. Drain everything, flush it out with water, then refill with a 50/50 mixture.

2) Drain the radiator, refill with distilled water, run the engine to circulate, then drain the radiator again. Repeat this process several times to run clean water thru the system. The problem with this is that when you are finished, your engine block will be full of water...you will have to estimate the quantity of water in the block then add straight coolant to the radiator in hopes of ending up with a 50/50 mix.

3) Drain the radiator and refill with a 50/50 mix of coolant and distilled water. This is by far the quickest and easiest way to service the radiator. If you do this every 30K or every other year, you will probably never have problems with your radiator corroding, etc. I have used this routine for years and have never had a cooling system problem. I also use OEM Nissan coolant.

What type of coolant is in your car now?

 

Talkinghorse, thanks for the clarification; your post makes the most sense of any in this thread. This is very helpful to me.

 

That's what I did. I did this until the water coming out ran clear. It took a good amount of distilled water to do this.

 

Good! thanks :-)

 

Right now I have the coolant that came with the car when bought new so its the original stuff. I went and bought some toyota red stuff which from my understanding is pure coolant with no water. If I choose to go with method number 2, since there will be nothing but distilled water left in the system (in the block) once it turns clear: First, just pull the plug to drain it, Second just refill with the pure toyota red coolant? Since whats left in the block is distilled water therefore this should yeild a very close 50/50 mix? Thanks to everyone for the help this far.

 

The process sounds okay...a lot of work, but it will get the job done. Make sure you know what your total system capacity is and try to measure the amount that comes out when you drain the radiator...that way you'll be able to calculate the amount of straight coolant you need to add. Total capacity on the 4th Gens is 9 quarts, including the overflow reservoir...capacity on the 5th Gens should be pretty close. Good luck with your project!

 

I have read all 6 pages of the thread regarding the flush.
Here is what I got
2 gallons of toyota blue or honda red--Some posts suggest that toyota and honda are pre-mixed..Are they?
10-12 gallons of distilled water
Drain-fill-run car until fan kicks in. Repeat blah blah until clear. Drain radiator and then fill with AF. But if the AF is already mixed, the water in the block and the mixed AF will end up causing a mixture of 30/70??
I am in Indiana and temps get below zero...
I need to change AF this weekend. It's supposed to be 66.....

 

I just picked up Toyota Red and its not pre-mixed.

 

I went with Honda Blue, and it is premixed....

 

Anyone???

But if the AF is already mixed, the water in the block and the mixed AF will end up causing a mixture of 30/70??

 

Get Nissan "Genuine" Long Life Coolant. This is not premixed but 100% coolant, and if used as is, then it will mix with the water in the block nicely!!!

 

You mixed bfr pouring correct? But you don't drive her in the winter. So even if your ratio is 30/70 you won't have any problems. I went ahead and used honda blue. Drove the car a few minutes. Drained the radiator and filled it again. I am sure it is still not 50/50, since the blue stuff is premixed. I will use the prestone tester to find out the correct ratio...

 

tanks for info

 

For Honda Blue!!!

 

question, i have a 04 with about 45k on it. i got some general ideas about the flushing methods in the past couple of pages. the "T" coupler which you hook a garden hose sounds the easiest, any drawbacks? also do you need it to be COMPELETLY clear to switch to the toyota red coolant? im in texas so i was thinking maybe a 40/60 coolant/distilled water mix with one bottle of redline water wetter. it worked very well in my turbo civic a while back. [also with a radiator upgrade as well] TIA

 

You are not supposed to use tap water for flushing - what part of this ppl do not understand?

Guys - use distilled water...........

 

Is there any known advantages of Toyota Red over Nissan Green (or Honda Blue for that matter)? I believe they're all labeled Long Life or Extended Life and seem to have similar chemical compositions (silicate/boron-free, etc.). I've even read they're manufactured by the same company.

 

I don't think so..I think ppl do it cause the color is not the norm green

 

Yes, I mixed before pouring. Yeah my ratio was a bit off, so I fixed it and tested with my Prestone tester until I got 50/50.

Oooh, Honda Blue...you rebel you!

 

And dude, I totally agree with you. The ONLY actual tap water I even know of that could just barely work to flush the system would be Baton Rouge, LA tap water (supposedly we have some of the best water). Even then, I wouldn't simply rely on tap water. After flushing with tap, I would flush my system with distilled water as well (6-8 gallons worth).

 

Well it's not "good" tap water you're looking for...the tap water here is really good because it's hard (high in calcium and magnesium and other minerals which are healthy to drink) but those are really bad for any kind of coolant system! So unless you have good soft water (close to distilled, with few dissolved ions) I wouldn't dream of using tap water.

 

for hot areas, such as TX, waht would be a good mixture? i was thinking 60/30 coolant/distilled water?

 

I've heard that when there is no danger of freezing (like in TX and FL) it okay to up the amont of distilled water.

I run 40:60 Coolant:Water in FL.

The extra water increases the thermal carrying capacity of the mixture.

 

And like I said, we have the BEST tap water. Actually, Denver has the best, we're second in that one. Our tap water tastes just like distilled water because it comes from pure artesian wells. So we pretty much don't drink bottled water. We get bottled water to have the bottles to carry around Baton Rouge water.

So what I'm stating is yes, our city has VERY soft water.

 

We have no worries of freezing and I run mine at a 25% coolant, 75% water mixture.

 

Hmm, the general opinion is that hard water (water + minerals) tastes better than pure water alone, and it's healthier too. Another interesting fact is that pure/distilled water picks up the plastic taste from bottles much more than spring/mineral-rich water since it has no dissolved solids to begin with. But this is getting pretty off topic.

 

When first reading this I was wondering how the hell does this take 1.5 to 3 hours to do but if you want it done right it does add up.

From what I read though after you drain the radiator there's still a gallon of distilled left in the engine block so just add your wetter and OEM coolant and away you go.

As for the reservior it's cool to leave it up to the full line in distilled water right?

 

Exactly. I'm getting ready to do this for the second time and that's the way I'm going. I sold the last car I flushed...and it's time for the current one to get flushed.

Fill the reservoir with 50/50 mix. Before you fill the radiator...you have just water. When you fill the radiator...you have roughly 50/50. If you add just straight water or straight coolant to the reservoir...you're basically throwing off your 50/50 mix. I say go with 50/50 in the reservoir aswell.

 

Nissan Long Life Coolant??? Is that on the older container or newer? I just got a gallon of Nissan coolant from the dealer here, and it mentions nothing of long life. All that's on the container is Nissan coolant L248SP. Is this the newer bottle or what?? Not to mention it was like 27 bucks. Unfortunately there's only one dealer in town, or anywhere close, so it sucks to be me.

 

mine specifically said nissan long life coolant

 

You should have read the thread and called your local Honda and Toyota dealers, they often sell their coolant cheaper. It's identical to the Nissan coolant except for color.

 

Taken from the Prestone website:

http://www.prestone.com/carcare/faq.php

Q. Does Prestone® Antifreeze/Coolant contain phosphates?
A. Some European automobile manufacturers request that a phosphate-free antifreeze be used in their vehicles. This issue is related to the extremely high mineral content of the water in Europe. If you were to mix an antifreeze that contained phosphates with the type of water they have in Europe, it may produce deposits that can settle in the cooling system and promote corrosion. However, in North America we do not have this type of water problem. Typical North American coolants have contained phosphates (which is part of the corrosion inhibitor package) for many years. Therefore, the question of phosphates is a non-issue here in North America. Prestone® Antifreeze/Coolant is completely safe for use in both foreign and domestic vehicles. For those consumers who would feel more comfortable using a phosphate-free antifreeze, our Prestone® Extended Life 5/150 Antifreeze/Coolant is phosphate, silicate, and borate free. This coolant uses a special chemistry and technology that extends the life of the corrosion inhibitor package so that it lasts for five years or 150,000 miles (whichever comes first), and is safe for all cars and light trucks (old or new). Prestone® Extended Life 5/150 Antifreeze/Coolant has been approved by General Motors under their DEX-COOL® specifications and is compatible with other DEX-COOL® approved coolants.

 

question,

i want to get some honda blue stuff cause its already pre mixed. my coolant is low in the reservoir, do i just add it in or do i need to do a complete drain and refill if i want to use the blue stuff?

 

dont mix different coolants, i would advise u also not to get anyting but Nissan Long Life coolant. our cars were designed to be using this stuff.

any reason u want the honda stuff ?

 

cheaper. lol, so i can just the nissan stuff, and then just pour it in the reservior and call it a day since i am on low? thanks. its like 22bucks a gallon here at nissan.

also, reason i want honda is because its premixed and alot of hype around it on this forum, not so much the nissan one thats why. and the toyota is not mixed. so i went with honda.

 

Hhmmmmm....with all I have learned on this site, and money I have saved by doing things myself and buying stuff from Dave B, I really don't care if coolant is $30/gal since you mix it anyway and I can buy distilled water for a buck so spending that once a yr or so to help the car and put in high quality stuff is a non issue. Don't let a few bucks in cost on coolant and a few moments in mixing it yourself hide the fact of ALL the money you save by learning on this site!!!

And don't mix the coolant brands, llike was stated above.