Radiators

Even easier way is to remove the cap on top and loosen the drain plug on the bottom. --- easiest way to drain radiator, is to disconnect the bottom radiator hose from the radiator

Drain plug should be on bottom or rear of the radiator or remove lower radiator hose

If if starts bubbling even if the engine is cold, most likely blown head gasket. If only when engine warm, stuck thermostat.

you can but it will wreck it! salt will destroy your water pump and probably make all your freeze plugs rust out in a matter of weeks! salt is very corrosive and will cause lots of damage. If your looking at keeping water from freezing in your engine or radiator stick with coolant. You can run a stronger mixture of coolant that will stand up to the cold better but it doesnt cool as well or vice versa.

A mix of 50% clean water and 50% antifreeze is recommended in most climates. Add only when engine is cold.

Cooling SystemEnsure that the engine is completely cool prior to starting this service. 1. Remove the recovery tank or radiator cap. 2. Raise and support the vehicle. 3. Place a drain pan of sufficient capacity under the radiator and open the petcock (drain) on the radiator. è Plastic petcocks easily bind. Before opening a plastic radiator petcock, spray it with some penetrating lubricant. 4. Drain the cooling system completely. 5. Close the petcock. 6. Remove the drain pan. 7. Lower the vehicle. 8. Determine the capacity of the cooling system, then property refill the system with a 50/50 mixture of fresh coolant and distilled water. 9. Leave the recovery tank or radiator cap off to aid in bleeding the system. 10. Start the engine and allow it to idle until the thermostat opens (the upper radiator hose will become hot). The coolant level should go down, this is normal as the system bleeds the air pockets out of the system. 11. Refill the system with coolant to the proper level. 12. Turn the engine OFF and check for leaks.

A plastic radiator will crack under extreme over heat conditions for example a defective thermostat or bad cylinder head gasket will cause a cooling system to over pressurise and rupture.

Purchase a Prestone flush kit, a container of radiator flush, and new antifreeze at a automotive parts store. There are directions on the flush kit package. What you will be doing is adding the chemical to your cooling sytem then inserting a flush tee into a heater hose and back flushing the system using your garden hose. Works very well.

Pressurized oil lines go from the block through to the head. If the head gasket is leaking at that point and allowing a small amount of pressurized oil to seep between the line and the coolant jacket you could get oil in the radiator. Another possibility is that perhaps someone used water pump lubricant which is nothing more than an emulsified oil (oil blended with water). Over time the oil can separate from the coolant and that might be all you're seeing, especially if it isn't much oil. If it's RED oil it could be comming from the transmission cooler line. That runs through one of the radiator tanks and if the transmission line is leaking you could certainly get oil in the radiator... but it' would be red.

in the altima, the radiator plug is at the left side of the bottom. if your planning to drain it, be very carefull because the plug is kinda fragile since its plastic. dont over tighten when putting it back in :)

There are 2 fuses to be checked for radiator fan. Small one right side under steering wheel in the fuse box. In the cap of fuse box it is written where the one for cooling fan is. If that ok go for the fuse box under hood. it is on passenger side and is of 30A.

This should not be necessary on this vehicle.

stop leak

Coolant is pushed out of the radiator and into the overflow tank as it heats up and expands. The liquid is drawn back into the radiator as it cools and contracts. If it doesn't flow back the radiator will only be partly full (at least until the coolant warms fully again). The potentially large air gap left at the top of the radiator leaves metal parts open to corrosion. In extreme cases the engine could overheat.

The fix, easy. Just replace the defective radiator cap and be sure the path from radiator to overflow tank is clean.

Cheers

Yahoo Groups has a very helpful group; villagerquest. It is here you find the answer(s).

This is a light duty job for the average mechanic.

First disconnect the negative battery cable (black).

Second, remove the engine cover. To take the cover off, remove the oil filler cap. Then the neck of the oil fill can be rotated counter-clockwise and then lift away. Once those have been removed, the cover lifts off. There are no screws that attach the cover.

Next, you will need to drain the coolant from the car. Make sure the car is cool, and the radiator cap is cold. this is best if car has set overnight, or up to 4 hours. There is a drain plug at the bottom right of the radiator. A large drain pan is recommended. Remove the drain plug with pan under car to catch the fluid. once it has drained, replace the plug.

In the forth step, most people would remove the belt from the engine. I like to keep the belt on, to advoid the water pump pully from moving around while you remove the pully bolts. Remove the four bolts from the water pump pully. Be cautious that the belt has some force on it, and once you start the remove the last bolt on the pully, the pully will begin to move, be prepared.

Once the pully is removed, remove the belt. Now it is time to drain the engine of coolant. standing on the passanger side of the car, looking at the water pump...on the right of the water pump are two bolts. have your drain pan ready, and remove the lower bolt. the coolant will begin to drain, then remove the upper bolt. Once it is drained, move to the next step.

To the lower left of the water pump, is a pully for the power steering pump. The power steering pump will be removed, to set out of the way. The lines on the pump will not need to be removed. To remove the pump: look at the center of the pully, and notice three oval shaped holes. These holes allow you to access the two bolts that need to be removed to set the pump out of the way. The bolts are located just above and just below the center of the pump. Using a short extension, you can slide it through the holes and remove the bolts. Lay pump aside, for later reinstall.

Now you can remove all the bolts from the water pump. One all the bolts have been removed, use light pressure to push down on the pump, and it will break free from the engine.

To install your new water pump, make sure the surface where the old pump is free from old gasket and sealant. This can be removed with light scraping, and or acetoan. The new water pump needs to be prepared to be place on the engine. To start, place sealant around the edges, and surfaces that the gasket will be covering. Make sure there is plenty of sealant placed on the pump. Place the gasket on the pump. Now you will need to place more sealant on all of the gasket surface. The water pump is now prepped.

Make sure the gasket is aligned to all the bolt holes. Grab two of the longer bolts, and place them in the pump, and then apply the pump to the engine. Fasten the pump with the two bolts, finger tight. Start applying all the bolts to the pump, to a finger tightness. Now tighten all the bolts in a criss-cross pattern, getting tighter and tighter, until the all the bolts are very tight.

Replace the power steering pump in the same way it was removed.

Now its time to re-install the pully to the water pump. To start this, place the pully on the pump and then place the bolts on, finger tight. You CANNOT place the belt on now and use it for tension to tighten the pully bolts. You can tighten the bolts in a criss-cross pattern, using both hands, one holding the pully in place, while tightning the bolts. Follow the label under the hood to place the belt in the correct position.

Now its time to fill the engine with coolant. Using a 50/50 mixture of DEXCOOL coolant, and water, start to fill the radiator with fluid. Once full, using a falt head screw driver, you will need to open the bleeder valve. the bleeder valve is located on top of the thermostat housing. Do not remove it all the way! Continue to fill the radiator with coolant mixture, until full. Check under the car for any leaks.

Replace the negative battery cable(black).

Replace the engine oil filler neck and oil fill cap, without the engine cover, as you still have parts to access.

start the engine, with radiator cap off. Once the car is started the coolant level will drop, contine to add more of the coolant mixture. Once full again, check the bleeder valve. The bleeder valve should have fluid comming out of it in a slow steady pace. There may also be steam and/or air comming from the valve. Do not tighten valve until there is fluid only comming from the valve. You may see steam, bubbles, or spouts of fluid.

Once you have filled the radiator, allow the engine to reach normal temp. Once it has reached normal temp, shut the engine off, place the cap on the radiator, and tighten the bleeder valve. Allow the engine to cool down, a couple hours is decent. Once cool, remove the radiator cap and add coolant mixture until full.

Loosen the bleeder valve, if it has a steady stream of coolant comming from the valve, tighten the valve. Start the engine, and continue to fill the radiator with mixture, until full. Place the cap on the radiator, and let the engine reach normal tempture. Once normal temp is reached, shut off engine, and allow to cool.

Replace the engine cover, Oil filler neck and cap. Fill the over flow tank with coolant mixture to hot level.

Now you can drive you car for about 20-30 mins, then allow to cool, for a few hours, check the fluid level by removing the radiator cap. Add mixture if needed.

You should be good to go.

I just did this today, it took about 4-6 hours, with all the cooling down time.

I have a 2000 Pontiac Grand AM and radiator drain cock is located at the lower/front (not bottom) at the curbside of the radiator, you will need a hex key to back out petcock.

I usually pull one end of the lower hose off the radiator and allow the system to drain then, reattach and fill with antifreeze. Start car and let it idle for 30 minutes, (keeping the radiator cap off to bleed the air out) and top off the coolant level.

Buy a kit at auto parts comes with adaptors and instructions

Try the bottom of the radiater on the driver's side, should be a plastic plug. If not, you may have to remove the water hose to drain. If the plug is there, it may be very small, and hard to see.

Heat went out in my 300, what could be the problem

I have a 92 Ford F150 and the cap is on top of the radator, but you can also add water via your overflow since your over flow is up higher, it will still drain into your radiator.

Don't! Most cars have a reservoir for radiator coolant ... add liquid to the reservoir. Opening the radiator cap introduces air into the sealed system ... you don't want air bubbles in the cooling system.

it doesn't matter what brand you use. in the summer you could settle for watter if your cheap, but make sure you swap it with anti freeze before it gets to cold or you'll have a load of problems. you can find a 50/50 mix at most gas stations.