First let me start off by this is probably a stupid question in general, but I'm so not a car guy, as you will obviously tell haha

I think I need to get my radiator flushed, as its always running hotter than usual now. Someone suggested I run this Prestone super radiator cleaner for "neglected cooling systems", because honestly mine probably is a little neglected. So I took the radiator cap off, but when I did, coolant just kept squirting out of it, so I just put it back on so I didn't have a huge mess. I think this happened because I overfilled the radiator reserve tank a bit, thinking that maybe there wasn't enough in there so that's why my car was running hot, but that didn't help.

So how do I take the radiator cap off without having it squirt back at me? Also, when I did have the cap off, the fluid looked pretty high in the radiator itself, so how would I pour the cleaner in there? do i have to suck some out with a turkey baster or something first to make room? I dont want to dump the cleaner in the coolant reservoir then have it just leak out in my driveway or something later rather than going where it needs to go.

I hope this makes sense guys.

 

You need to crawl under the car and remove the petcock from the radiator, allowing the radiator to drain. Then you put the cleaner in, and fill it up with water. Then you run the engine with the heater on full-blast for about 15 minutes. Then you drain the radiator again, and fill it back up with a 50/50 mix of coolant and water.

Truthfully, if you aren't very car savvy, mechanics DON'T charge too much to hook your car up to a machine and flush and refill your coolant system. You should be able to find that for <$100, which is a pretty good deal if you still have to buy tools / coolant / radiator cleaner / jack stands / fluid storage tanks / etc.

 

Oh ok, that sounds a little different than what my buddy was telling me. He said, and i'm paraphrasing here, you run that stuff in there for a few days and then when you drain it, this stuff helps get all the crud out of there when it drains. He also said that if I couldn't get the radiator cap off, to just put it in the reservoir, so eventually it would work its way into the radiator itself.

Out of your list, I have jack stands, but that's about it I think. Probably easier to take it in for the drain/flush/fill though, plus save me a lot of time. So really if i'm going to take it in for that, would me dumping that cleaner stuff even into the reservoir until I can take it in be of any benefit to me? or would it make the flush they do "better" since that cleaner would have broken up some of the junk in there already, or something like that?

 

The flush that they do should be sufficient at cleaning your system. What they do is hook it up to a machine and that machine feeds flush into the system, and it is hooked up to an exit as well and it is run on that machine. It completely flushes your system pretty well.

I would just call around some shops, they should be familiar with what old and neglected dexcool does to the coolant systems, and they'll get you going

 

Thanks for the reply. I have one more question though if you don't mind.

So if I did put that stuff in there, do you think it would help at all with why the engine is running hotter than normal? I'm guessing its doing that because it hasn't been flushed in quite a while, but wondering if I still dump that stuff in even the coolant reservoir, if that may help with that aspect. It might not be till next week til I can take it in anywhere, so just wondering if that might gain me any time or help prove/disprove anything in regards to why its running hotter than usual.

Also, should coolant just be coming out of the radiator cap in general when I take it off, or was that because the reservoir was overfull probably?

 

I wouldn't bother adding it. It won't truly do anything. You most likely have coolant that is gunking up in the coolant lines and preventing the stuff from flowing properly. It's not going to dissolve or magically disappear until that system is flushed out.

Coolant shouldn't come out when you pop the cap either.

 

Just skimming over this thread, all that little flsuh bottle is supposed to do is break loose gunk, scale and deposits. It does not disolve them. Plus, long term use (beyond what the manufacturer states to use) of the product in the car may be hazardous to the cooling system.
Think of it like "Drano". It breaks the material up, but it still has to go somewhere. Hence why after running the product in the car for the time the manufacturer states, you flush the system with water (removing all the old coolant).

As you admitted, you're not too car savvy (no problem, it's all a learning experience). It sounds like you are best off taking Chibi's advice and finding a reputable shop to do the process start-to-finish.

FYI - This would also be a good time to have the t-stat changed (as those should be replaced once in a while).

 

bro i have a question for you does your car spit it out bad? and if you dont take off the cap does it boil into your over flow tank? cause honestly when mines hot it doesnt spit out cause i just built a new motor.. but mine would spit it out cause their was a gasket problem..

 

Did you allow the engine to cool before trying to remove the radiator cap, or was the engine up to temp? If it wasn't cool then coolant burping from the radiator when the cap was removed is normal because of the system pressure. You should never attempt to open a hot cooling system unless it is equipped with a pressure release cap.

Coolant burping when you remove the radiator cap can also be caused by excessive pressure in the system caused by a blown head gasket. This would also cause overheating. Prior to having the system flushed you may want to have a pressure test done to the cooling system to insure you don't have any internal leakage. If the system is in good condition then (as others have mentioned) a professional reverse flush on the system would provide the best cleaning. Most shops will replace the thermostat as part of the service but you may want to inquire about it and make the shop aware that you want it replaced.