Hello,

I have a 99 TL.

I wanted to know how to Flush the radiator myself and what tools wiii I need?

How often does it need to be changed?

Any info would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

 

Anyone?

 

well you need to raise the car, but keep it level, so a lift is best but if you only have jack stands, park it on someones slanted driveway and jack it up. on the underside of the front, where the splash guards are, about 6" from the front bumper there is a little white plug up about 3" kinda hidden bu the splash guards, thats the drain plug for the radiator. pop the cap of the radiator and then pop the drain plug, but be careful, the plug is a ***** to get off and it breaks easily. after it drains, add new coolant!!

 

don't forget the redline water wetter!

 

There's more to it than that. On my old Altima there was a secondary drain that drained the block (got all of the stuff on the other side of the thermostat).

Also, you'll probably want to flush with water for a few minutes. On the Altima it was done by putting a hose on the secondary drain.

Then, there's the issue of properly bleeding air from the system. If you don't bleed the air out correctly you can damage the engine when you start it.

We need someone with a manual to give us the real story here. I'm also interested to know, since I will also probably do this myself.

Also, remember that you are supposed to use a coolant that is silicate free. Normal store brand coolants, like Prestone, have silicates which wear down the aluminum in the engine. It's sort'a like putting extremely small sand grains in your coolant. It's great to keep rust off of a cast iron block, but it's not needed (and in fact harmful) in an all aluminum engine like ours.

 

Anyone else.

Someone who has done this before would be great.

 

and have them dispose of the antifreeze the right way! you wouldn't just dump it down the sewer would you?!

 

What else do you want??? What everyone has explained will work. I've done many cars and it's either 2 ways.

Easy: Pull plug at bottom of radiator, flush with hose and refill.

More complete: Same as above plus remove block plug.

Just use good antifreeze also!!

 

Thanks everyone.

I won't discard the antifreeze improperly.

 

kinda right. you should get a kit to flush the system, which requires the car to be running to help get every thing out of the engine and clean all the water jackets. a additive for cleaning should be added while flushing it. then you would need to take the right steps for refilling the system.
its not as simple as pulling a plug and draining it.
oh and while your at it you should replace the thermostat

 

remember you really should use distilled water to mix with the antifreeze. Have you ever seen the ugly mess under your clothes iron from tap water?

 

how often are you supposed to flush your radiator?

 

A Honda service manual and Haynes (for my Taco) recommends running the engine with the heater on, shut off and drain from all plugs, flush with a garden hose and mix new antifreeze with distilled water. It does say to use a chemical cleaner if rust and scale has built up within the engine/radiator. But if I flush on time and properly with the right antifreeze, I should have no worries about having to use a chemical. I've worked on friends cars that have 100K+ miles and they don't remember ever flushing the cooling system, then I'll use it.