i tried to flush my radiator today and it didnt go as planned.
first, my petcok opened fine but nothing came out. i opened it just like yall said on here, turning and pulling out. i tried to stick a rod in there, it didnt help. so i figured no big deal, i ll undo the lower radiator hose.
so i flushed and fill it up 6 or 7 times and i was still getting some green coming out. i didnt like this but it was getting dark so i put the hose back on and proceed to fill it up. i only got like 1 and half gallons! i bought 5.
i drove it a little, it took a little more, but not much.

so whats the deal, is it full of water from flushing, if so how can i get it out? how can i fix the petcok?
BTW i was parked on a hill.

please help dieselfan.

 

I have to do this at Christmas time when on the Island. It seems to me that there would be ???? is it a gallon left in the block when draining the coolant? Is you water hard or soft, think that you should be using distilled water. If there is a little green coming out that isn't tooo bad for you have removed most of it. And that is the gooood thing to do.

 

I couldn't get anything out of my petcock, either - so I pulled the radiator and flushed it; Once pulled, I was able to get flow from the petcock by rotating AND pulling the petcock outwards, whereas I was only rotating it while the rad was still in the truck, not sure if you've the same radiator setup?

 

My petcock sucks as well. They are plastic, and I have to turn it with pliers.
To drain the block, you need to take off the lower rad hose from the engine, and have it slightly higher in the rear.
Did you flush it AND back flush it?

Dieselfan, how did you flush it? By just filling up the rad, or did you put a T in the heater line?

 

When I flushed mine out a few weekends ago, I had similar problems with the petcock. I had to use pliers to open and close it. I had it open with a catch bucket underneath. I then pulled the TOP hose off of the radiator and thermostat housing. I also pulled the thermostat out and replaced the housing. I put the top hose on backwards and routed it over the radiator and put a 5 gallon bucket underneath it. I used the engines water pump to flush my system out.

The thermostat housing is the discharge of the pump. So what I did was put a garden hose into the radiator spout, and ran the engine until the the discharge water was clear. It took roughly 20 gallons to flush it clear, and then I ran 10 more gallons through to be sure. Then I popped of a heater core line and used compressed air to blow the water out of the core. I let the block and radiator drain completely before buttoning it back up. I did have the rear of the truck raised up to promote better draining.

I then pulled the thermostat housing back off and filled the block up with the Fleetguard ES Compleat blue coolant I bought until the block was full. I tested the thermostat and put it back in the engine. I then filled the radiator and then test drove it and topped of when I returned. All in all it took 4 ½ gallons of coolant.

 

Mike, i dont know what back flushing is. this is what i did, since i couldnt get my petcock to open.
i pulled the lower rad hose, let it drain, then filled it with water, ran the truck for 10 min after coming up to temperature(which took awhile since it was cold) i did this a least 6 times and was still getting green.
i was parked on a good decline.
i read some directions, that said to fill from the thermostat and i should be able to get 5.5 gallons. any did this.
whats a t in the heater line?

thanks guys, soon i will be going back to walmart to get more coolant and start all over, to get that nasty water out of there.
do i need to re flush with solution(super flush) or can i just drain and refill since its only been like half a day?

thanks dieselfan

 

I just done a flush & fill on my truck and took me all of 1 hour and got 5 gallon of coolant in...

Use ramp or jack stands uder rear axle to help draining...
Use pilers to open drain ****. Twist - pull - Twist again...
Pull the thermostat out... Put T-Stat housing back... Leave hose disconnected.
Put the garden hose in the radaitor and turn on the garden hose...
START ENGINE...
Let water flow till the water is clear out the upper hose....
SHUT DOWN ENGINE - Allow all water to drain out...
Re-assemble the cooling system with thermostat... Close drain... Etc..
Now put the ramps/jack stands on the front axle to aid in filling and removing air...
Fill with 50/50 mixed coolant...

Nothing hard...

 

this seems like it would be alot quicker and easier.
wheres the heater core line, do i have to blow it out or will it drain on its on.
thanks dieselfan

 

Back flush is best done with a T in the heater line.
Once you have all the coolant drained, you attach a hose to the Tee. With the thermostat out and the housing back on, You block off one side of the heater hose. Flush the system with the hose, keeping the cap off of the radiator. Once it is clear, turn the hose off. Take the clamp off the heater hose, and place it on the heater hose on the OTHER side of the T. Turn the water on again, and flush until clear.
Drain the complete system of all water, replace thermostat, and fill with Premixed coolant.

 

wheres the heater line?

 

ok i did what yall said and got the petcock open, then flushed using the water pump. i got about 4 to 4.5 gallons.

thanks for the help, dieselfan

 

Look towards the firewall on the passenger side, above the turbo. You should see 2 ½" lines going into the firewall. That is the coolant lines that go to the heater core. It will not drain by itself.

All I did was pop 1 line off, put a compressed air blower in the end, and blew out the water in the heater core into the block. I estimate there was at least a ½ gallon in the heater core.

 

What he said.

 

since i didnt do this and theres probably a half of gallon of regular water and antifreeze from the first flush give or take a little.

do i need to re flush again and blow out the heater line?

also when i took off the thermostat housing, there was surface rust on the top of the inside of it,i wiped out what i could, also when i looked where the thermostat goes in the block, i saw surface rust in there also. should i be worried?

a little worried, dieselfan

 

Once you get the petcock open, with vice-grips, you can pull the whole thing out, it just snaps. You do have to pull hard, or use a lever action to help you. Once you get it out, put anti-seize compound on it, push it back in. It makes it a LOT easier to deal with the next time.