Flushing Radiator Q's & Situation

[hellllo]

I was flushing my radiator today and fell into a situation. First the koyo radiator plastic petlock got stripped (why couldn't they make it a screw metal plug :confused: ) Since i couldn't get the coolant out from that way I went with a different procedure. I opened the lower radiator hose and got all the coolant out from the radiator that way.

But then i fell into another problem... I couldn't find the drain plug on the block. FSM says under the header but there's nothing there to unscrew! So I just tried to flush everything through the radiator while washing my car between each flush shift.

I flushed it about 6 times from the radiator with water and prestone flush solution. The water seems to be clear. But now I have no idea how to put full 100% coolant in the cooling system since I can only flush from the radiator. Currently its full tap water inside the engine & radiator, but i want all coolant in there (Prestone 50/50). How would go about this situation?

I dids:
-Used lower radiator hose to drain radiator
-Flushed using hose tap water
-Heater Full Blast after each fill until operating temperature
-Redo all these after engine is cool

I did nots:
-Drain engine coolant from block plug
-Use radiator petlock to drain radiator

Q's
-FSM talks about the air relief hole, What does it do? I've opened it and filled radiator up and water just spills out of there...
-Can someone help me with a picture for drain plug on the SR20DET?
-How long does it take for water to circulate through the whole engine?

I'm going to using Linsle Funnel System to get the air out of the cooling system when I do the final flush and refill with Prestone 50/50. I know tap water will cause rust thats why I want to do this the right way. Thanks alot in advance! <3

[projectRDM]

First off, I would not suggest 100% coolant, for any application. Secondly, if you use distilled water you will not corrode the steel nearly as much, since there's less pollutants in it.
The block drain plug is a bolt, 14mm head, sticking out mid way down on the exhaust side of the block behind the manifold. Even with it removed you're only going to get maybe 98% of the water out, so flush it with the distilled water to fully get all the tap water out.

[hellllo]

I'll try to find it, even though i flushed it more than 6+ i'll flush it out with distilled water. Well I get real paranoid about doing these things by myself, question, is it possible to blow the HG after refilling and running the engine to operating temperature? I seriously don't trust the stock gauge temp. :ugh:

[contranication]

First off, I would not suggest 100% coolant.

He's talking about "100% coolant" being the 50/50 mix he bought...

anyway the air relief whole is used after you flush the coolant(from the block especially)... b/c you are supposed to start the car up, run the heater on high and listen for bubbling noises... if you hear them its b/c you have air in your system... so you turn off the car and bleed the air out through the whole which is on top of the waterneck...(but of course don't do this if you have let the engine run for a while, unless you want some nice steamy skin)

and if you are truly flushing your system you should just get the radiator flush stuff... fill your system up with that... follow the directions, then drain that stuff and put in you 50/50 mix

[hellllo]

yea i am using radiator flush stuff, i did get some booger looking things out and some dirt peices. i guess i dont need the air relief plug since im using lisle funnel system which takes out air in the system as coolant flows throughout the cooling system, http://youtube.com/watch?v=kplCNrR2juw. ( u gotta wait til 9mins then u see bubbles come out)

but my question is, can flushing the system wrong kaboom the engine? (blow the hg?) if theres too much air in the system (while doing the flushing), or do i have to drive the car real hard, never had a blown hg so i wouldn't know. i ask this because right after it hits below midway mark on the stock temp gauge i turn off the car immediately and dont risk problems.

[hellllo]

finally found it! thanks, its really at that spot on the FSM, bracket bolts confused me.

question, since i will be draining from the block to, will filling the radiator transfer to block even if car isn't on? i just dont like the feeling of running the car with the block having no coolant until the radiator circulates it.

[projectRDM]

There's nothing to block coolant flow to the block, only coming back out from the thermostat, so you're fine. You can fill as the engine warms up, you're not going to damage anything unless you let it overheat, which won't happen unless you're a moron. Fill it first and then begin the bleeding/adding more coolant as the engine warms up.

[hellllo]

Ah alright, thanks for the response. Its my first flush ever and I just dont want to mess up the engine doing a maintanence procedure.

I will be redoing everything tomorrow using distilled water.

Let me get all organized.
1. Drain radiator/block
2. Fill with distilled water
3. Run engine until operating temp with heater on
4. Let it cooldown
repeat 7-6 times?
Last flush:
5. Drain radiator/block
6. Fill with Prestone 50/50 coolant
7. Run engine, keep filling
8. Burp engine (Lisle Funnel System = ultimate burping tool)
8. Drive when theres no more air inside?

Sounds good?

[Jung918]

http://www.kang.tv/james_files/zilvia/drainplug.JPG

Quit wasting money and just do it right. Drain it from the engine block.
I would suggest to use OEM fluids.

[hellllo]

i said i found it, i guess you didn't read any replies but thanks anways. I was curious whats the capacity of the cooling system of a SR20DET with a Koyo Radiator?

I bought 20 gallons of distilled water from target, to just make sure i have enough, and which antifreeze brand do you guys recommend? I'm planning to ditch the prestone 50/50 and just go with 50 water/50 AF.

[Jung918]

It is for the ka but should give you a rough estimate. Just go to the dealership and buy oem. Only buy one gallon of it. It is concentrated so you will have to mix it. It doesn't have to be exactly 50/50

http://www.kang.tv/james_files/zilvia/quickref.jpg

[OptionZero]

Last time I did it, Turdz and I found some comparo tests where Toyota Red coolant was the best, in something a little less than 50/50 distilled water

it's been fine for me in 100 deg weather and long drives around the boonies of california

[all stock]

holy crap, 20g of distilled water. you might use 3-4 gallons i'd estimate.

[hellllo]

alright i flushed the system, about 12 times with distilled water (2 day period). At the last flush i put about 2 gallons of Prestone 50/50 with a whole bottle of water wetter. I used a funnel system to take out all the bubbles in the cooling system, squeezing all 3 hoses, upper, lower, and heater hose (did this for a good half hour). I test drove the car today for about 10mins and when i stopped i looked under the hood and the radiator was steaming crazy and the coolant in the reservoir went down about an inch. The car didn't overheat but it never steamed like that before.

[zoomswimmer]

Unless you live somewhere where it get really cold, you don't even need to do 50/50. Water has a higher thermo capacity than coolant. Coolant does have some anti-corrosive properties, so you still should use it. Water wetter just breaks the surface tension of the water, so it can even hold a higher thermo capacity. A higher thermo capacity means that more heat is being transferred to the water from you engine block. Most race cars run straight water, but they can get way with it because they drain their engine afterward so they don't have to worry about it.

[anumeric]

I am currently having same problem with my koyo with the petlock getting stripped. Did you ever get a replace one? If so where you pick it up from? I thinking about trying a petlock from a 96' altima to see if it works.

[hellllo]

I just left the stripped one on there. A guy told me you can get one that fits from a subaru vehicle, I don't know which one but he described it as being white draincock