Automotive Cooling System: Radiator Flush-What is a Radiator Flush?

In this article on cooling systems I will try to answer the question, “What is a Radiator Flush?”

Cooling Pressure Test Kit

Basically a radiator flush is what it sounds like, the flushing and cleaning of your radiator. At least once a year you should have your cooling system inspected for proper operation. The job of the radiator is to help cool down the automotive engine in extreme cold and hot weather. Should your radiator get dirty and plugged up you will notice a rise in your temperature gage. This is where a radiator flush might be suggested by your local auto repair technician.

Automotive Radiator

The cost of a radiator flush should run you around $20-$30 and should take about 30 minutes to perform. The automotive repair technician will wait a few minutes before removing your radiator cap and opening your radiator drain plug. Once this is completed most of your antifreeze just in the radiator will be drained out and possibly recycled. Some auto repair shops will run some water through the radiator for cleaning purposes before the new antifreeze is poured back in.

Car Engine Block

The contaminants that will be removed by the radiator flush is dirt, rust, and corrosion. If your cooling system is not flushed out on a regular basis the radiator could eventually plug up and cause your engine to overheat. The worst case scenario is you will blow a head gasket causing hundreds of dollars in auto repairs. So as you can see it’s a good idea to have your radiator flush on your cooling system at least once a year.

Back in the 90's I can remember the big problem with General Motor's orange life time antifreeze. It was suppose to last the life of the car then they said ok maybe it will last 100,000 miles instead. I can remember doing some warranty work at a Buick Dealership and found cars and trucks with only 30-40 thousand miles on them and the orange antifreeze was eating away the engine from the inside out! Gaskets were giving out earlier than what was expected, the entire cooling system was deterioating very quickly. General Motors finally warned the consumers to get rid of the orange antifreeze with a cooling system flush and fill including flushing out the radiator. You can find some of the information here.  

My 25 years experience found that an entire flush and fill on every make and model should be performed once a year with a thermostat and radiator cap. This type of maintenance on your automotive cooling system will prevent any cooling system problem for the life of the car.

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Flush and Fill -Cooling System Repairs-Bleeding Air Out of your Car

This article is about bleeding the automotive cooling system now that your car is over heating after some cooling system repairs have been made. Have you ever performed a flush and fill on your car or truck and you notice now that your engine temperature begins to rise until it over heats and boils over out of the radiator? What happens is that during this procedure an air bubble was created inside of your cooling system and created an air pocket. Because of this air pocket, your cooling system has stopped circulating the antifreeze. What you need to do now is purge or bleed the automotive cooling system out until the air bubble is released from your car and it does not over heat any more.

Engines Equipped With Brass Bleeder Screws

Some automotive engines have small brass screws located around the thermostat housing that need to be opened with the car running. You will see small bubbles of antifreeze leaking from the brass screws. When the small bubbles of antifreeze turn into a steady stream of coolant emerging out only then it is time to close the brass screws and fill the radiator back up. Once you have topped off the radiator with the required antifreeze and water 50/50 install the radiator cap and watch the engine gage. Bleeding this type of automotive cooling system when your car is over heating is normally found on the import models.

Engines Without Brass Bleeder Screws

Bleeding the automotive cooling system with out the brass bleeder screws can be very tricky when your car is over heating. On this type of car engine without the brass bleeder screws, you have to bleed the cooling system quite a few times. I have found out over many years of performing flush and fills or repairing the cooling system that you will have to bleed the air out of the system or your car or truck will immediately over heat and your temperature gage will show Hot. If this should happen to you while servicing your cooling system let the car or truck idle until the coolant bubbles disappear and you see a steady flow of antifreeze pouring out of the radiator. You may have to perform this procedure a few times until you quit seeing the air bubbles coming out of your radiator. Turn the engine off, fill the radiator, and install your radiator cap. Bleeding the automotive cooling system when your car is over heating can be dangerous and some times very time consuming.

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