Keep my Subee Alive:Flushing Rad tips!!??

[SubeeTed]

Hi All again!

In my continual need to keep my '92 Loyale SW alive I need to Flush my raidator and cooling system. I went to Albany, Ny yesterday via Mass Pike/Rte. 90. It was only about 65 degrees. I didn't have the heat on, AC doesn't work anymore.....car not really pulling a load other than me doing 70-75 MPH. Yep, it'll still do it! It was an hour trip, it's hilly, long ones. But I noticed that the Temp gauge needle rising. Most of the time it was sitting above half. The car also has been eating oil on these high speed trips. It does have 208K miles after all! Anyhow....today I check the antifreeze in the radiatior, YUCK! Gross brown stuff! Time to flush and change, see what happens! Any tips on a good flushing???

 

Many thanks!!!! SubeeTed

[viceversa]

I also have a 92 Loyale also with about 205K miles.

 

I flush it by draining the radiator,disconnecting the lower radiator hose. Refilling it, then running the engine, making sure the T-stat opens, then draining again.

 

1.8L engine, needless to say, is sensitive to overheating.

[sparkster58]

well iam real simple about that i take the Hornet to Jiffy-Lube and have a power flush......works for me....sparkster

[chef_tim]

Don't waste your time or money on a flush. If that is the original radiator, it is time to replace it. OEM style rads are only about $110-$125. The

Gross brown stuff!

Would have me a bit worried, that would be an indicator of oil in your A/F, and that would indicate a head problem. Also, that may explain the excessive oil consumption. I'd start with a compresion test, then move into the rad. Later, Tim

[EmmCeeBee]

In my experience, the only flush that has a chance of working is to take it to a radiator shop and have them do a professional acid flush or rod out. BUT..... by then you're paying as much as a new radiator would cost. Save yourself the trouble and just get a new radiator, Sub's need 'em about every 10-12 years or so.

 

I went this same route a couple years ago, worked my way progressively through the more expensive flushes on the auto parts shelf. In the end, I got a new radiator. After all the flushes, I dropped the coolant level halfway in the radiator so I could look down the filler tube and see about 8 rows. Then I idled the engine till hot, I could still see 4 or 5 rows that were blocked, not flowing coolant.

 

As for the brown sludge, if it's oil then you got trouble.... cracked head or blown head gasket. First thing to do is determine that. If oil is getting into the coolant, then you'll also get bubbles in the radiator, in fact while running it would probably force some coolant out the overflow. A surefire way to test this is with a hydrocarbon test, you can get a kit for about $25 (online) to $50 (Napa Autoparts), or have a radiator shop do the test. Rule this out before you try to fix the radiator.

 

Good luck.

 

-- Mark

[TheSubaruJunkie]

Nothing really beats a new radiator. But if your broke, like I usually am, then this might help. Its easier if you remove the radiator. EA82 might be harder than EA81, but to do a good thourough flush its easiest out of the car.

 

One of the 1st things you wanna check are to make sure all the fins are clear of debris and not bent. I used my garden hose and backflushed my radiator a few times... then flushed through the cap. It removed ALOT of crap, mind you this is after a few treatments of Penzoil radiator flush (run it in the car before you remove the radiator).

 

After flushing it a few times, and installing the radiator i noticed a drop in temp's, but here in California it didnt take long for the weather to catch up to me. I ended up buying a new radiator and that solved my problem for good

 

-Brian

[Hondasucks]

Also, remove the drain plug in the head, it's a 14MM might need a impact gun or a good breaker bar, they are usually perty tight (Put some anti-seize on the threads when you put it back in ) or you will not get everything out of the block. Migth help to jack up the side of the car opposite the drain plug, since there is one on each head, but the one on the driver's side you have to drop the exhaust to get to).. One of those flush n' fill kits that you can get for like 5 bucks that pipe into the heater hoses, those work great, got sooo much gunk out of my car when I did a flush on it..

[thealleyboy]

Lots of good comments above...

 

I believe it is possible to do an effective flush yourself. The trick is to install tees on both heater hoses, and do a "backflush" (flush in both directions). This will clean out your system as well as can be done without removing the rad & core.

 

But from what you describe, the flush alone probably won't do it. Plan on getting a better rad in the near future - if not performing an entire cooling system overhaul.

 

Before doing that, I would attempt to learn more about the contaminants in your anti-freeze. You may want to do the flush, and observe the coolant for awhile to see if the oily deposits return. (ie blown head gasket)

 

good luck, John