How Often Should You Flush a Radiator

Proper and regular repair and maintenance of your car is of prime importance to enjoy an uninterrupted travel with to long distances. We all should know the function of the radiator in the car before we talk about things such as radiator flush, how often to flush it, etc. The radiator is basically a heat exchanging device and it does the task of cooling your automobile, thus preventing it from getting over-heated. It is observed in many cases that after a period of time, the radiators tend to get corroded and clogged, and also develop leaks in them. This calls for a radiator flush, which is exactly what we'll see in the section below.

How to Flush a Radiator

Radiator power flush is an important element in the maintenance of your car. For a typical radiator flush, you will need:

• Four to eight liters of distilled water
• Garden hose with nozzle
• Bucket of sudsy water
• Drainage bucket
• Antifreeze around two gallons
• Safety goggles to protect your eyes

While flushing the radiator, you should ensure that the engine of your car is cold as there is every possibility of the hot engine getting damaged by the application of cold water. Cleaning the radiator is the next step. The task of cleaning of the radiator must be done by using the sudsy water and the nylon brush by removing the debris and the dead bugs, which have eventually been collected on the portion which is referred to as the grill of the radiator. The scrubbing work should be done in a direction which is the same as the direction of the fins of the radiator. After this, by pouring some water, ensure that he debris have gone.

Now, you should drain the coolant in a proper way and it is recommended that the pan which you are using is to be disposed after the job is done and not re-used. Make sure that the size of the pan is small enough to fit under the car. The position of the pan should be at the exact center of the drain valve of the radiator. The function of the task cap of the radiator is to keep the engine off the car cool by acting as a lid for the radiator. If the rubber seal is rough or dry, then you may need to change the cap of the radiator. Checking the hoses which are at the top and bottom of the radiator is important. Cracked and leaky hoses and rusty clamps must be changed before you go ahead with the task of refilling the radiator.

Now, you need to allow the coolant to flow into the pan, which has been placed under your car by simply unscrewing the petcock. The drain pan must be placed back under the petcock once after all the fluid has been drained. Start the process of rinsing or flushing the radiator by inserting the nozzle of the garden hose into the spout of the radiator. Then, the water is drained into the pan and keep doing this till the water runs clearly. Adding the coolant which contains antifreeze and water in equal proportions is the next step. You should also bleed out the air pockets in the cooling system and then start your engine by ensuring that the radiator cap is off. Lastly, you should do a check for any kind of leakage from the petcock, clamps and the drain pan. You should take special efforts for the repair the leak to avoid problemsr.

How Often should one Flush a Radiator?

The answer to this question is once in two years. Many people may advise you to flush it once in a year giving the reason of risking the pH level of the coolant along with causing damage to the car's lower tubes. A lot depends on the type of the car. However, it is advisable to clean the grill of your radiator once after the car has covered a distance of eleven thousand miles.

The radiator repair cost is estimated to be around USD 100. Maintaining the radiator yourself at home is possible, but it will require a very deep knowledge of the car parts. However, there are many mechanics from whom you can get the radiator maintenance done.