Use gutted thermostat for flushing? Very slow internet.
01-15-2011, 10:08 PM
#1
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Use gutted thermostat for flushing? Very slow internet.
I am using a very poor 19kps net connection on an old computer so it is taking forever to search the threads. Figured I would ask you guys instead.
Hello from my parents place in NW CA. On Monday I plan on replacing my WP, belt, thermostat and coolant. My plan is to remove the guts from the old thermostat, reinstall it (so I can seal the housing) and use distilled water to flush the system. The reason for gutting the thermostat is so I don’t have to heat the engine up too much for each flush. I will be using the lower rad hose to drain the system.
Can you think of any reason not to do this?
I appreciate your thoughts. I am sure this has come up before but I will be here all night researching it at this internet speed.
I will attempt to check back tomorrow if this computer will let me. Thanks again.
Hello from my parents place in NW CA. On Monday I plan on replacing my WP, belt, thermostat and coolant. My plan is to remove the guts from the old thermostat, reinstall it (so I can seal the housing) and use distilled water to flush the system. The reason for gutting the thermostat is so I don’t have to heat the engine up too much for each flush. I will be using the lower rad hose to drain the system.
Can you think of any reason not to do this?
I appreciate your thoughts. I am sure this has come up before but I will be here all night researching it at this internet speed.
I will attempt to check back tomorrow if this computer will let me. Thanks again.
01-16-2011, 05:50 AM
#3
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Thanks for the thought. I had heard that the outer thermostat seal had something to do with sealing the housing but might be wrong. Also somebody else had said too much of an opening would provide too much pressure to your heater and other areas causing death and distruction.
Anyrate, if you can do some searching at your faster connection, please let me know if you see a problem with it. Thanks again.---Even the keyboard on this computer has problems. As a good son I should get them a new comp and Hughs net,,but I was always rotten as a child.
Anyrate, if you can do some searching at your faster connection, please let me know if you see a problem with it. Thanks again.---Even the keyboard on this computer has problems. As a good son I should get them a new comp and Hughs net,,but I was always rotten as a child.
01-16-2011, 12:01 PM
#5
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I think I took my tstat out when I did it last and I ran the engine at about 1500. When I drained it, I still got some white sediment out at the tail end. Next time, I will remove the stat put some cardboard in front of the radiator to keep some heat and run it down the road hard to stir up all the crud I can. I flushed with tap water then rinsed with distilled before refilling. The highest pressure on the heater core is when the stat is closed and high rpm. That's why there is a restrictor in the heater fitting coming out of the head. A radiator rebuilder told me that the core can blow when people loose the right nipple and put a full flow fitting in there. He said the core can see 60 psi when the stat is closed, without the restrictor. Craig
01-16-2011, 12:53 PM
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You can buy a proper flushing liquid that is run through then completely rinsed out. Go see a rad shop. Not sure if it is slightly acidic or caustic but they will let you know.
01-16-2011, 02:44 PM
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Thanks. You guys answered my main question since it sounds like you wont blow up the heater core (thats what the parts guy said) or anything running it without the t-stat at low RPM's for a little while.
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01-16-2011, 08:11 PM
#8
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I used to clean boilers with TSP, tri sodium phosphate, but I don't know if it would be safe in an engine. Rydlyme is an excellent commercial descaler - safe for all materials and biodegradable. I might use that in mine. Craig
01-17-2011, 09:23 AM
#10
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I use a gutted thermostat becuase it has a seal! You should be replacing the t-stat anyhow, so may as well gut the old one for flushing.
The reason to use distilled water for flushing is becuase the block holds over 2 gallons when fully drained, so you want to ensure you only have the proper fluids in there.
Here is a link to my write-up with pics and I have posed all the words for your slow connection.
https://www.dieseltruckresource.com/...n-t262131.html
The reason to use distilled water for flushing is becuase the block holds over 2 gallons when fully drained, so you want to ensure you only have the proper fluids in there.
Here is a link to my write-up with pics and I have posed all the words for your slow connection.
https://www.dieseltruckresource.com/...n-t262131.html
This is a pretty simple maintenance procedure, but I thought I would throw my .02 out here for everyone to read.
First off the service manual has the procedure, and it really is quite simple.
In addition to the coolant flush I changed the thermostat. That procedure can also be found in the service manual.
I started off by simply draining the OE fluid into a bucket. It was still very red, no oil, or any contaminates that I could see. There was a little bit of some contaminate the showed up on the 3rd flush in the radiator, but looked liked what I have seen in every cooling system. On my 2nd flush the coolant was much warmer and now had a small oil film on the top. But my buckets were new and I attribute that to the new plastic and warm water, something to consider if you find the same conditions when you flush your system.
Since it was in the 20's and snowing yesterday I knew I would have a hard time making the coolant warm enough to open the thermostat to get a good flush, and removing the thermostat would cause a leak so I modified my OE thermostat. A freind of mine calls this a "Hawaii T-Stat".
So I drained the block/radiator 5 times. This may seem excessive, but consider this. A drain only gets about 4-5 gallons out, and its a 7.4 gallon system. So I wanted to ensure that I had as much of the old coolant out as possible.
What I would do is drain it, very slow about 30 minutes to drain, then fill it with distilled water, and start it. I would then top it off with the engine idling, put the pressure cap back on and bump the idle to 1100 and turn the EB on to get some heat. With my Hawaii T-stat and a 30ish degree garage (cant fit the truck in with the door closed) and the hood open the coolant would only get to 114*. I would let it get to 114* then turn the EB off and bump the idle to 1500 for a few minutes. Then shut it down, drain, and repeat.
This photo shows 1 gallon from each flush, with the full strength OE fluid on the left and an unopened gallon of water on the right. Drains 4 and 5 were identical in color, so I assumed that was about my point of diminishing returns.
For coolant I chose Zerex G-05, its HOAT and the factory fill. HOAT coolant is very difficult to find, and HOAT is not compatible with non-HOAT. I think I paid about $11/gal for it at NAPA. (Even thou its the OEM fluid, its not pink it's a yellow, which is really hard to see in the overflow tank)
Since its a 7.4 gallon system and only 4-5 gallons drain you MUST, I repeat MUST, use concentrated coolant, not a 50:50 pre-mix (even thou the service manual states 50:50 you don't want to do this, it will yeild you a 25-40% mix at most). You need to add 3.7 gallons of coolant to the system to have a 50:50 mix. First thing to do is to make 1.5 gallons of pre-mix, this is for the overflow tank. Fill the overflow tank to the FULL line and pour the rest of the 50:50 in the radiator. Now add the remaining 3 gallons to the radiator. Now, and only now, will you and any straight distilled water to the radiator. I was only able to get about .5gallons of distilled water in after the coolant, so even adding a gallon of distilled first will mess up your 50:50 desierd mix. Now start the enigne with the heater still on full and let it idle for a minute. Then add more distilled water to top it off. Repeat this once. Now you should be full enough that you won't pull your overflow reservoir below ADD.
Take it for a test drive, try to drive it a few miles after you have reached operating temp to get the coolant and water to properly mix throughout the block, radiator, and heater core. This was the hardest part for me, it was 19* outside, and there was 1-3" of snow on the roads. Even with my winter front fully closed I had to get up to 65-70 to get the T-stat to open and mix, then slow and accelerate again... But I got the t-stat to open 6-8 times and am confident I got a good mix.
I used 3.7 gallons of G-05 and approx 23 gallons of distilled water.
A little trick for pouring the coolant into smaller containers from the bucket. If you have ever put a funnel in a gallon container you know it bubbles and spills since the air cant escape. Try putting a toothpick in the opening of the container with the funnel, works great.
First off the service manual has the procedure, and it really is quite simple.
Originally Posted by 2005 Service Manual
DRAINING COOLING SYSTEM - 5.9L DIESEL ENGINE
WARNING: DO NOT REMOVE THE CYLINDER BLOCK DRAIN PLUGS OR LOOSEN THE RADIATOR DRAIN
PLUG WITH SYSTEM HOT AND UNDER PRESSURE. SERIOUS BURNS FROM COOLANT CAN OCCUR.
DO NOT WASTE reusable coolant. If the solution is clean, drain the coolant into a clean container for reuse.
1. Start the engine and place the heater control temperature selector in the Full-On position.
2. Turn the ignition off.
3. Do not remove radiator cap when draining coolant from reserve/overflow tank. Open radiator drain plug and
when tank is empty, remove radiator cap. If the coolant reserve/overflow tank does not drain, (Refer to 7 -
COOLING - DIAGNOSIS AND TESTING). The coolant need not be removed from tank unless the system is
being refilled with fresh mixture.
4. Remove radiator pressure cap.
REFILLING COOLING SYSTEM - 5.9L DIESEL ENGINE
Clean cooling system prior to refilling (Refer to 7 - COOLING - STANDARD PROCEDURE).
1. Close radiator drain plug.
CAUTION: Due to the use of the one-way check valve, the engine must not be operating when refilling the
cooling system.
NOTE: The diesel engine is equipped with two one-way check valves (jiggle pins). The check valves are
used as a servicing feature and will vent air when the system is being filled. Water pressure (or flow) will
hold the valves closed.
2. Fill the cooling system with a 50/50 mixture of water and antifreeze.
3. Fill coolant reserve/overflow tank to the FULL mark.
4. Start and operate engine until thermostat opens. Upper radiator hose should be warm to touch.
5. If necessary, add 50/50 water and antifreeze mixture to the coolant reserve/overflow tank to maintain coolant
level. This level should be between the ADD and FULL marks. The level in the reserve/overflow tank may drop
below the ADD mark after three or four warm-up and cool-down cycles.
DRAINING COOLING SYSTEM - 5.9L DIESEL ENGINE
WARNING: DO NOT REMOVE THE CYLINDER BLOCK DRAIN PLUGS OR LOOSEN THE RADIATOR DRAIN
PLUG WITH SYSTEM HOT AND UNDER PRESSURE. SERIOUS BURNS FROM COOLANT CAN OCCUR.
DO NOT WASTE reusable coolant. If the solution is clean, drain the coolant into a clean container for reuse.
1. Start the engine and place the heater control temperature selector in the Full-On position.
2. Turn the ignition off.
3. Do not remove radiator cap when draining coolant from reserve/overflow tank. Open radiator drain plug and
when tank is empty, remove radiator cap. If the coolant reserve/overflow tank does not drain, (Refer to 7 -
COOLING - DIAGNOSIS AND TESTING). The coolant need not be removed from tank unless the system is
being refilled with fresh mixture.
4. Remove radiator pressure cap.
REFILLING COOLING SYSTEM - 5.9L DIESEL ENGINE
Clean cooling system prior to refilling (Refer to 7 - COOLING - STANDARD PROCEDURE).
1. Close radiator drain plug.
CAUTION: Due to the use of the one-way check valve, the engine must not be operating when refilling the
cooling system.
NOTE: The diesel engine is equipped with two one-way check valves (jiggle pins). The check valves are
used as a servicing feature and will vent air when the system is being filled. Water pressure (or flow) will
hold the valves closed.
2. Fill the cooling system with a 50/50 mixture of water and antifreeze.
3. Fill coolant reserve/overflow tank to the FULL mark.
4. Start and operate engine until thermostat opens. Upper radiator hose should be warm to touch.
5. If necessary, add 50/50 water and antifreeze mixture to the coolant reserve/overflow tank to maintain coolant
level. This level should be between the ADD and FULL marks. The level in the reserve/overflow tank may drop
below the ADD mark after three or four warm-up and cool-down cycles.
In addition to the coolant flush I changed the thermostat. That procedure can also be found in the service manual.
Originally Posted by 2005 Service Manual
5.9L DIESEL ENGINE
WARNING: DO NOT LOOSEN THE RADIATOR
DRAINCOCK WITH THE SYSTEM HOT AND PRESSURIZED.
SERIOUS BURNS FROM THE COOLANT
CAN OCCUR.
Do not waste reusable coolant. If the solution is clean,
drain the coolant into a clean container for reuse.
1. Disconnect the battery negative cables.
2. Drain cooling system until coolant level is below
thermostat (Refer to 7 - COOLING - STANDARD
PROCEDURE).
DR/DH ENGINE 7 - 65
WARNING: CONSTANT TENSION HOSE CLAMPS
ARE USED ON MOST COOLING SYSTEM HOSES.
WHEN REMOVING OR INSTALLING, USE ONLY
TOOLS DESIGNED FOR SERVICING THIS TYPE OF
CLAMP, SUCH AS SPECIAL CLAMP TOOL (NUMBER
6094).
CAUTION: A number or letter is stamped into the
tongue of constant tension clamps. If replacement
is necessary, use only an original equipment
clamp with a matching number or letter.
3. Remove radiator hose clamp and hose from thermostat
housing (1).
4. Remove the three water outlet-to-cylinder head
bolts and remove the water outlet connector.
5. Clean the mating surfaces of the water outlet connector
and clean the thermostat seat groove at the
top of the thermostat housing.
5.9L DIESEL ENGINE
1. Inspect thermostat seal for cuts or nicks. Replace if
damaged.
2. Install the thermostat into the groove in the top of
the cylinder head (2).
3. Install the thermostat housing (1) and bolts. Tighten
the bolts to 10 N·m (89 in. lbs.) torque.
4. Install the radiator upper hose and clamp.
5. Fill the cooling system with coolant (Refer to 7 -
COOLING - STANDARD PROCEDURE).
6. Connect the battery negative cables.
7. Start the engine and check for coolant leaks. Run
engine to check for proper thermostat operation.
5.9L DIESEL ENGINE
WARNING: DO NOT LOOSEN THE RADIATOR
DRAINCOCK WITH THE SYSTEM HOT AND PRESSURIZED.
SERIOUS BURNS FROM THE COOLANT
CAN OCCUR.
Do not waste reusable coolant. If the solution is clean,
drain the coolant into a clean container for reuse.
1. Disconnect the battery negative cables.
2. Drain cooling system until coolant level is below
thermostat (Refer to 7 - COOLING - STANDARD
PROCEDURE).
DR/DH ENGINE 7 - 65
WARNING: CONSTANT TENSION HOSE CLAMPS
ARE USED ON MOST COOLING SYSTEM HOSES.
WHEN REMOVING OR INSTALLING, USE ONLY
TOOLS DESIGNED FOR SERVICING THIS TYPE OF
CLAMP, SUCH AS SPECIAL CLAMP TOOL (NUMBER
6094).
CAUTION: A number or letter is stamped into the
tongue of constant tension clamps. If replacement
is necessary, use only an original equipment
clamp with a matching number or letter.
3. Remove radiator hose clamp and hose from thermostat
housing (1).
4. Remove the three water outlet-to-cylinder head
bolts and remove the water outlet connector.
5. Clean the mating surfaces of the water outlet connector
and clean the thermostat seat groove at the
top of the thermostat housing.
5.9L DIESEL ENGINE
1. Inspect thermostat seal for cuts or nicks. Replace if
damaged.
2. Install the thermostat into the groove in the top of
the cylinder head (2).
3. Install the thermostat housing (1) and bolts. Tighten
the bolts to 10 N·m (89 in. lbs.) torque.
4. Install the radiator upper hose and clamp.
5. Fill the cooling system with coolant (Refer to 7 -
COOLING - STANDARD PROCEDURE).
6. Connect the battery negative cables.
7. Start the engine and check for coolant leaks. Run
engine to check for proper thermostat operation.
Since it was in the 20's and snowing yesterday I knew I would have a hard time making the coolant warm enough to open the thermostat to get a good flush, and removing the thermostat would cause a leak so I modified my OE thermostat. A freind of mine calls this a "Hawaii T-Stat".
So I drained the block/radiator 5 times. This may seem excessive, but consider this. A drain only gets about 4-5 gallons out, and its a 7.4 gallon system. So I wanted to ensure that I had as much of the old coolant out as possible.
What I would do is drain it, very slow about 30 minutes to drain, then fill it with distilled water, and start it. I would then top it off with the engine idling, put the pressure cap back on and bump the idle to 1100 and turn the EB on to get some heat. With my Hawaii T-stat and a 30ish degree garage (cant fit the truck in with the door closed) and the hood open the coolant would only get to 114*. I would let it get to 114* then turn the EB off and bump the idle to 1500 for a few minutes. Then shut it down, drain, and repeat.
This photo shows 1 gallon from each flush, with the full strength OE fluid on the left and an unopened gallon of water on the right. Drains 4 and 5 were identical in color, so I assumed that was about my point of diminishing returns.
For coolant I chose Zerex G-05, its HOAT and the factory fill. HOAT coolant is very difficult to find, and HOAT is not compatible with non-HOAT. I think I paid about $11/gal for it at NAPA. (Even thou its the OEM fluid, its not pink it's a yellow, which is really hard to see in the overflow tank)
Since its a 7.4 gallon system and only 4-5 gallons drain you MUST, I repeat MUST, use concentrated coolant, not a 50:50 pre-mix (even thou the service manual states 50:50 you don't want to do this, it will yeild you a 25-40% mix at most). You need to add 3.7 gallons of coolant to the system to have a 50:50 mix. First thing to do is to make 1.5 gallons of pre-mix, this is for the overflow tank. Fill the overflow tank to the FULL line and pour the rest of the 50:50 in the radiator. Now add the remaining 3 gallons to the radiator. Now, and only now, will you and any straight distilled water to the radiator. I was only able to get about .5gallons of distilled water in after the coolant, so even adding a gallon of distilled first will mess up your 50:50 desierd mix. Now start the enigne with the heater still on full and let it idle for a minute. Then add more distilled water to top it off. Repeat this once. Now you should be full enough that you won't pull your overflow reservoir below ADD.
Take it for a test drive, try to drive it a few miles after you have reached operating temp to get the coolant and water to properly mix throughout the block, radiator, and heater core. This was the hardest part for me, it was 19* outside, and there was 1-3" of snow on the roads. Even with my winter front fully closed I had to get up to 65-70 to get the T-stat to open and mix, then slow and accelerate again... But I got the t-stat to open 6-8 times and am confident I got a good mix.
I used 3.7 gallons of G-05 and approx 23 gallons of distilled water.
A little trick for pouring the coolant into smaller containers from the bucket. If you have ever put a funnel in a gallon container you know it bubbles and spills since the air cant escape. Try putting a toothpick in the opening of the container with the funnel, works great.
01-18-2011, 06:54 PM
#11
DTR's Volcano Monitor, Toilet Smuggler, Taser tester, Meteorite enumerator, Quill counter, Match hoarder, Panic Dance Choreographer, Bet losing shrew murderer
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Good!! That was my plan for the same reason. Just the parts guy spooked me with his tale of too much coolant flow rupturing the heater core.
Also appreciate the pictureless write up.
I had actually copied part of your write up before and purchased your recommended coolant from Napa but missed the "Hawaii T-Stat" part.
Thanks again for the info Guys! I hate this slow dial-up connection. Makes me feel like I have to whisper.
Also appreciate the pictureless write up.
I had actually copied part of your write up before and purchased your recommended coolant from Napa but missed the "Hawaii T-Stat" part.
Thanks again for the info Guys! I hate this slow dial-up connection. Makes me feel like I have to whisper.
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