I am planning to perform maintenance on the cooling system this weekend. I believe the coolant, the hoses, and the t-stat are all original from the factory. This 2003 GC has 120k+ miles on it.

I remember seeing some reference that advised against using the draincock to drain the cooling system, rather, it was advised to remove the lower hose to do this. I just can't remember if that advice applied to my Dodge or my Saturn, and I was unable to find any close reference in searching the forums.

Is flushing recommended if the coolant "looks" o.k.? If yes, is plain water suitable?

Is distilled water recommended when mixing in with the new coolant? Are there any recommendations of coolant to use or to avoid?

The hoses feel firm, and the cooling system appears to be running well. Should I use this opportunity to replace the hoses and/or the t-stat anyway?

Any other tips regarding this maintenance item?

 

I used the draincock when I changed my coolant/water pump no problems, or you can pull the lower radiatior hose and drain it that way

yes use distilled water, it's only a bit more then 1$ per gallon, only will need a few gallons

I recomend either sticking with mopar coolant, or I went with http://www.valvoline.com/products/br.../antifreeze/42
it is a Hoat coolant, avail at napa for around 16$ and is concetrate

when i changed mine(with rear heat) I got out just about 2 gallons, so make sure you have 2 gallons of concetrate

if your replacing the hoses then replace the tstat,

I wouldn't do a flush inless the fluid is dirty,


what I would do is after you drain and refill, drive for a week,then drain and refill again, get more old fluid out

*when staring draining, don't open the radiator cap untill the reserve bottle is emptie or almost empty

when refilling, fill the radiator up, put cap on, then fill reserve to just blow full, go for a drive, and let van sit, then when cool top up reserve, continue to check the reserve for a few days, mine didn't move much at all after the first cool down cycle

 

i think the reason why the lower hose is preferred over the drain **** is it drains alot faster and sometimes those goofy lil draincocks dont like to reseal after theyve been disturbed, they arent like the old days with threads, they are cheezy lil 1/4 turn plastic P.O.S.

 

Just to be clear, you are recommending this only if the fluid is dirty, correct?

Good tip! I wouldn't had thought to do that, but that makes sense.

Thanks!

 

I would drain it a 2nd time even if it wasn't dirty(thats what I did)


but I would only flush it if it was dirty


and one other note after refilling and going for a drive, have both front and rear heat on high

 

Bugger. I used the draincock, but also disconnected the lower radiator hose form the engine "pipe", since the draincock was at least two inches from the bottom of the radiator! I used the draincock first so I wouldn't dump 2 gallons of old fluid on the ground.

Apparently, that was a mistake, because now the draincock has a very slow/small leak, but a leak nonetheless. (Sitting overnight, I collected about a tablespoon's worth in an empty water jug, using a tube I connected to the drain yesterday when I started draining the radiator.) Not sure how much it's losing while driving.

Any ideas, short of replacing the radiator? My initial thought is to plug the draincock with *something*, even if it is a permanent plug. Not sure what to use if I go that route though.

 

Remove the petcock and replace the o-ring on the valve. To remove the valve unscrew and pull out of the radiator.

 

A little confusing. Once I unscrew the petcock to where it normally stops for maximum drainage, do I continue (use more force) to unscrew it to remove it from the radiator? That looks like my only choice, since it looks like the housing that the petcock sits in is permanent, and is not removable.

Once I get the petcock out, then I have to remove the valve in the petcock to get at the o-ring? Are there any special tools involved?

Is the o-ring generic, or is there a specific part number for it?

I trust this can be done without removing the radiator or other surrounding parts?

 

gee hope i didnt hex u lol

after turning and it comes out to its fullest then it pulls straight out, may need a little claw to give you the levereage to remove it, the O-ring will be on it and then you can remove it and size it up approproatley, nothing exotic a standard o-ring assortment should have one

can be done with rad in car

 

Well, can't say you didn't warn me!

As I alluded to in my previous post, I didn't have a good way to capture nearly 4 gallons gushing out of the cooling system, which is what I would have been dealing with if I didn't use the petcock. As it was, I had to jack the front end up uncomfortably high in order to get the get the gallon jug and the funnel to fit under the junction. (Yes, I used a jackstand, but the higher it goes, the less stable it is.)

(BTW, what's the point of having a petcock two inches from the bottom of the radiator?)

Anyway, thanks for the tip! That doesn't sound to difficult.