TeamSwift

Can someone help me out here, I want to flush my radiator tonight but am unsure of all the step to take to do it correctly.

can some one explain to me how to get this done, my radiator is starting to look like mud, I need to clean it out and refill with coolant asap

Thanx for any help

Ray G

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1993 Suzuki Swift 1.3L GA
http://www.pctek4you.webs.com

Is your car overheating?
It was the hottest day of the year, and maybe your car was one of the cheapest purchases in the past 6 months.
If it is a cooling problem, a new radiator will be a wise investment here in the desert.

For $125, you're done.

Plus, you're installing A/C...

So, think about it.

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Once you get the cars dialed-in (compression, leaks, bearings, alignment, brakes) swap in new rubber and glass, you've got something which should last for years!

No I am not overheating at all, car is running great. I just happened to open my radiator cap today when I got home and noticed it was getting a little muddy in there, looked like rust was starting to build up.

I will be buying a new thermostat and new radiator cap and would like to flush it out soon, just would like the proper steps to get this done correctly.

Thank You

RG

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1993 Suzuki Swift 1.3L GA
http://www.pctek4you.webs.com

if you want a ghetto backyard way of flushing the system, pop the top hose off the rad and have it dump into a bucket. get yourself a few liters of aquafina or other bottled water and start the car up, itll constantly be pouring it out the upper hose that used to go to the rad (which is now open on the rad), have the rad cap off and keep pouring the water into the rad as the engine runs. bottled water isnt to expensive compared to a proper flush of 80-120 bucks or something, so buy 4-5 liters minimum, aswell have a big jug of PREMIXED antifreeze. premixed just makes things easier. once the water starts coming out of the upper hose clear like water you are basically done, I keep going a little longer for piece of mind.

NOTE: do not use tap water... infact some people will probably complain about this method of flushing (it can be messy too)
NOTE: have your cool/hot on full hot. and keep your interior fan on full blast.

I wouldnt say anything against using 10 liters of water through the car, the more the better, but make sure its distilled or demineralized or something. You dont want to CAUSE rust down the line.


also, another good product to use when changing coolant is WATER WETTER, look it up.

ive been doing it this way for years and the only problems ive ever had is stubborn upper hoses that crack or tear when you pull them off, be careful of that too.

obviously once its done coming out clean (dont let the rad ever dry up when you are doing this... maybe have a spare set of hands nearby) you pop the hose back on and fill up with your premixed.

I believe you are then supposed to idle it with the rad cap off (everything else connected) and let the cooling fan cycle on 3 or 4 times to bleed any air from the system... again this can get messy, youll see the fluid slowly come up to the top of the rad until it starts pouring out, then when fan kicks on itll drop a bunch, when it drops, add more. do it 3-4 times, add water wetter last if you chose to use it

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1991 Swift GT Build G10 +25 psi + other goodies
1996 Metro Build QR25de swap, still undecided where to take it
the lolcar family

Two comments ...

First - on this particular car (and in fact on most Japanese cars) it makes no difference where you put the interior heat selection - there is no valve that controls the flow of hot water - temperature selection is handled by air control flaps in the plenum chamber.

Second - if you do it this way and then use premixed coolant, you are going to end up with a weak or diluted coolant.

There is really no way to drain the block itself, so your premix coolant is going to be diluted by how much ever water is in the block, I suggest that after flushing it with bottled water you switch off and allow the engine to cool, drain the radiator, and then hook up the hoses and add the required volume of unmixed coolant and then top it off with more bottled water.

Don't forget to bleed the air out afterwards

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'93 1.3 Swift GLX
'98 2.0 Grand Vitara

oh sorry, I didnt know the coolant valve (or lack there of) wasnt operated by the heater selection.

And yeah you are right about the water left in the block, most places dont require a 50/50 mix though (like whats in the bottle) so even if you were 70/30, that should be good for some of the sub zero temps and still raise the boiling temp of the water. However if you leave the water in the block and add the premix, like fordem said, you will have less than a 50/50 mix. but if you add water wetter aswell at the end, you should be fine.

Does anyone know how much water the block will hold when the rest of the system is drained? I know it wont be full in the block as some will come out when you drain, but maybe you could compensate that much by just using regular antifreeze and not premix in the same volume as whats left in the block (and then add the premix)

either way its an easy job, most of it is standing around and/or pouring

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1991 Swift GT Build G10 +25 psi + other goodies
1996 Metro Build QR25de swap, still undecided where to take it
the lolcar family

thats good to hear the flush fixed your car. i think i might just need one of those as part of my fix. i open my rad cap everyday and look in there. well last night i looked in there and my coolant was frozen

i don't know why i've always had 50/50 mix in there, and have never added just water. could this mean my rad is defective? or maybe because i have a bad water pump, and its not circulating the hot coolant from the engine to the rad. meaning cold coolant is staying in the rad all the time. and on top of that the fan is kicking on to "cool" it down, maybe making it worse.

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1994 Geo Metro 5 spd: All stockish. Re-built head, and lots and lots of donar parts B to the ER'

1995 Camaro Z28 6 spd: Magnaflow 3" Cat-back, K&N, skip shift elim. and thats it...for now.

bman

you can never have a good 50/50 mix. When you flush your Rad you flush it with clean water, the you empty the radiator then add 50/50. That 50/50 you add gets diluted but the rest of the clean water in your engine so it makes it more like a 20/80 mix in there

RG

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1993 Suzuki Swift 1.3L GA
http://www.pctek4you.webs.com

I am not sure what kind of temperatures you have to deal with. You should check with a gravity tester or one of them fancy optic ones. Some times 50 /50 is not quite enough in colder temperatures like we get here in Alberta. I found in order to get the balance that is needed for - 40 C + I needed to mix upwards of 60 -70 / 40 - 30. Perhaps you can get away with a lower ratio in your climate providing of course keeping the boiling point in mind. Irregardless you should check the weight of the coolant. Testers are inexpensive and are available at almost any auto parts jobber.

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---===Obsessed with my '89===---

NA 1.0 with a 3tech performance head with 222/365 cam mounted to a fresh over bored bottom end, 2" exhaust, throttle body bridge removed, 6mm wires, high output coil, Swift GT tail lights, Suzuki 7 spoke alloys, and one over kill of a high energy sound system! FUN FUN !

2011 SX4 JX AWD 6 spd MT. Mods Pending!
6 time Suzuki owner now. That dam '89 got me hooked!

raygo.

i don't quite know what you mean. why would there by water in the engine. it would be 50/50 because thats all that was ever put in the car. when i did my flush (not really a full flush) i just emptied my rad right out until nothing came out, then i refilled it with the same stuff that came out. and that same stuff was 50/50, and it carried me through 2 previous winters.

irregardless i'm going to change my rad, and put in 65/35 mixture to be safe. for a temp fix until i can get my rad, i added 100%, a liter give or take, to my 50.50 mix. should keep it from freezing up.

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1994 Geo Metro 5 spd: All stockish. Re-built head, and lots and lots of donar parts B to the ER'

1995 Camaro Z28 6 spd: Magnaflow 3" Cat-back, K&N, skip shift elim. and thats it...for now.

Touching very old post.

I had the same problem of rusty water in the rad as I used to use only water in the rad and no coolant.

I first flushed it with tap water by opening the flush cap below the rad. Second step I got 100 gms of scale removing ( supplied with whirlpool washing machine ) powder in the rad and run the car for 1 hour and flushed the rusty scales out.

Cleaned thoroughly with tap water again and flushed all the water out.

Filled 2 lites of Maruti-Suzuki recommened coolant and 1 liter of distilled water. Its been one month and the radiator fluid is as clean as new and there is no speck of rust in the fluid.

Next time I will top up with coolant only and wont add any water as higher concentration of the coolant prevents rust formation.

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Cried for not having a Honda, laughed at Honda not having G13B motor.