I need to get the coolant on my car flushed. It's been over two
years since the last flush.

A lot of auto repair shops offer the coolant flush service.
It will take some time to do the job.

However, the "speedy," 10-minute oil change places also offer
what they call a coolant flush. It can be done much faster
while-u-wait.

Is the coolant flush offered by these "speedy" lube places
an actual complete flush and fill, the same as the auto repair
shops?

Or is it just a quick shortcut that just replaces some of the
coolant?

On 10/2/2019 6:39 PM, F Russell wrote:
I need to get the coolant on my car flushed. It's been over two
years since the last flush.

A lot of auto repair shops offer the coolant flush service.
It will take some time to do the job.

Why does it have to be flushed? Most car makers just tell you to drain
and replace the fluid. My car says first change at 10 years or 120000
miles and then every 2 years. Nothing about a flush.

I'd not trust any of the fast lube places for anything.

On Wed, 02 Oct 2019 19:10:42 -0400, Ed Pawlowski wrote:


Why does it have to be flushed? Most car makers just tell you to drain
and replace the fluid.


It's an older car: 1997 Ford Taurus.

"Speedy" lube places are fine for an oil change, but I need
to know about their coolant change process.

F Russell wrote:

I need to get the coolant on my car flushed.

Then discuss it over at rec.auto.tech.

On Wednesday, October 2, 2019 at 7:10:49 PM UTC-4, Ed Pawlowski wrote:
On 10/2/2019 6:39 PM, F Russell wrote:
I need to get the coolant on my car flushed. It's been over two
years since the last flush.

A lot of auto repair shops offer the coolant flush service.
It will take some time to do the job.

Why does it have to be flushed? Most car makers just tell you to drain
and replace the fluid. My car says first change at 10 years or 120000
miles and then every 2 years. Nothing about a flush.

I'd not trust any of the fast lube places for anything.

I think it also depends on the specific coolant as to how long you can go, but I would just drain and replace. And imo even a 1997, no need to change it sooner than 5 years, 50k miles. Also, sometimes you wind up changing it because of a leaking hose, water pump failure, etc. anyw ay.

On 2 Oct 2019 23:14:09 GMT, F Russell wrote:

On Wed, 02 Oct 2019 19:10:42 -0400, Ed Pawlowski wrote:


Why does it have to be flushed? Most car makers just tell you to drain
and replace the fluid.


It's an older car: 1997 Ford Taurus.

"Speedy" lube places are fine for an oil change, but I need
to know about their coolant change process.
Reverse flushing removes any sediment and products of corrosion as
well as helping to neutralize the PH. If the lube shop is using a
reverse flush machine it will be the same as a dealer would use.
However, MANY garages are now using a recycler - which does the same
thing but filters and reconditions the original coolant, adjusting the
pH and replacing the additives as required. Done properly this is
every bit as good as replacement and does not involve producing
hazardous waste..

On Wednesday, October 2, 2019 at 5:40:31 PM UTC-5, F Russell wrote:
I need to get the coolant on my car flushed. It's been over two
years since the last flush.


Who ever told you that it needs to be flushed so often?

On 10/19/19 11:42 AM, Davej wrote:
On Wednesday, October 2, 2019 at 5:40:31 PM UTC-5, F Russell wrote:
I need to get the coolant on my car flushed. It's been over two
years since the last flush.


Who ever told you that it needs to be flushed so often?


My 2008 Ford manual recommends first change at 6 years then every 3
years. (Being retired I only drive about 5000 miles/year)

�‘ 6 years or 105,000 miles - change Premium Gold coolant (whichever
comes first)
�‘ After initial change - change Premium Gold coolant every 3 years or
45,000 miles (see page 48)

On Sat, 19 Oct 2019 08:42:47 -0700 (PDT), Davej
wrote:

On Wednesday, October 2, 2019 at 5:40:31 PM UTC-5, F Russell wrote:
I need to get the coolant on my car flushed. It's been over two
years since the last flush.


Who ever told you that it needs to be flushed so often?
Older vehicles and older antifreeze required change/flush or
recycling every 2 years. Current product 4 or 5??

On 10/19/2019 10:40 AM, Clare Snyder wrote:
On 2 Oct 2019 23:14:09 GMT, F Russell wrote:

On Wed, 02 Oct 2019 19:10:42 -0400, Ed Pawlowski wrote:

Why does it have to be flushed? Most car makers just tell you to drain
and replace the fluid.

It's an older car: 1997 Ford Taurus.

"Speedy" lube places are fine for an oil change, but I need
to know about their coolant change process.
Reverse flushing removes any sediment and products of corrosion as
well as helping to neutralize the PH. If the lube shop is using a
reverse flush machine it will be the same as a dealer would use.
However, MANY garages are now using a recycler - which does the same
thing but filters and reconditions the original coolant, adjusting the
pH and replacing the additives as required. Done properly this is
every bit as good as replacement and does not involve producing
hazardous waste..

Â* Speaking of flushing and sediment removal ... Our Toyota 4Runner has
done this before , the heater is not getting warm enough , barely warm
at all in fact . Last time this occurred I ended up flushing the system
out with CLR/water , letting it sit with that in the system for a couple
of hours . It's weird , the flow is good for a while after just flushing
, then barely warm again . The only thing I can figure is that there's
mineral scale in some of the passages , bits break off occasionally and
plug things up - btw , flushing has never produced any visible sediment.
Valve and heater core were both checked and were clear last time this
happened . I'll be verifying this time too ...

--
Snag
Yes , I'm old
and crochety - and armed .
Get outta my woods !

On Saturday, October 19, 2019 at 5:11:41 PM UTC-4, Terry Coombs wrote:
On 10/19/2019 10:40 AM, Clare Snyder wrote:
On 2 Oct 2019 23:14:09 GMT, F Russell wrote:

On Wed, 02 Oct 2019 19:10:42 -0400, Ed Pawlowski wrote:

Why does it have to be flushed? Most car makers just tell you to drain
and replace the fluid.

It's an older car: 1997 Ford Taurus.

"Speedy" lube places are fine for an oil change, but I need
to know about their coolant change process.
Reverse flushing removes any sediment and products of corrosion as
well as helping to neutralize the PH. If the lube shop is using a
reverse flush machine it will be the same as a dealer would use.
However, MANY garages are now using a recycler - which does the same
thing but filters and reconditions the original coolant, adjusting the
pH and replacing the additives as required. Done properly this is
every bit as good as replacement and does not involve producing
hazardous waste..

Â* Speaking of flushing and sediment removal ... Our Toyota 4Runner has
done this before , the heater is not getting warm enough , barely warm
at all in fact . Last time this occurred I ended up flushing the system
out with CLR/water , letting it sit with that in the system for a couple
of hours . It's weird , the flow is good for a while after just flushing
, then barely warm again . The only thing I can figure is that there's
mineral scale in some of the passages , bits break off occasionally and
plug things up - btw , flushing has never produced any visible sediment.
Valve and heater core were both checked and were clear last time this
happened . I'll be verifying this time too ...

--
Snag
Yes , I'm old
and crochety - and armed .
Get outta my woods !



Does it have a temp gauge and the engine is running normal temp or
you've otherwise verified that the coolant is hot? Does it have
a bleeding procedure for the coolant system? Trapped air can be a
problem, but I think that usually works it's way out given enough time.

On Sat, 19 Oct 2019 11:40:51 -0400, Clare Snyder wrote:

Reverse flushing removes any sediment and products of corrosion as
well as helping to neutralize the PH. If the lube shop is using a
reverse flush machine it will be the same as a dealer would use.
However, MANY garages are now using a recycler - which does the same
thing but filters and reconditions the original coolant, adjusting the
pH and replacing the additives as required. Done properly this is
every bit as good as replacement and does not involve producing
hazardous waste..


Thanks. This is the answer I suppose that I was looking for.

I had the coolant change done at one of the "speedy" lube
places. They wheeled out some machine that contained a
large, vertical, clear plexiglass tube in the center.
They first filled it with what presumably was fresh coolant
(green) from a reservoir. Then they hooked the machine up
to the car, attached a compressed air hose, and let it
operate. After a few minutes there appeared to be hot
steam being vented from the machine. After a few more
minutes the coolant that was added to the plexiglass
tube began to slowly empty. Then they were done. The
whole process took about 10-15 minutes.

I was also in luck. It just happened that they had
a special offer that week. The regular coolant change
charge of $89.00 was reduced to only $59.00.

But a lot of these "speedy" places are unscrupulous
and will usually try and sell you services that you
don't need or that are ineffective. I wasn't sure
if the coolant "flush" service was the real thing
or just a worthless ruse.

This lube place has good on-line reviews and seems
to be the real thing -- and it beats going to a
auto-repair shop where the wait time would be a lot
longer.

On Sunday, October 20, 2019 at 12:37:50 PM UTC-4, F Russell wrote:
On Sat, 19 Oct 2019 11:40:51 -0400, Clare Snyder wrote:

Reverse flushing removes any sediment and products of corrosion as
well as helping to neutralize the PH. If the lube shop is using a
reverse flush machine it will be the same as a dealer would use.
However, MANY garages are now using a recycler - which does the same
thing but filters and reconditions the original coolant, adjusting the
pH and replacing the additives as required. Done properly this is
every bit as good as replacement and does not involve producing
hazardous waste..


Thanks. This is the answer I suppose that I was looking for.

I had the coolant change done at one of the "speedy" lube
places. They wheeled out some machine that contained a
large, vertical, clear plexiglass tube in the center.
They first filled it with what presumably was fresh coolant
(green) from a reservoir. Then they hooked the machine up
to the car, attached a compressed air hose, and let it
operate. After a few minutes there appeared to be hot
steam being vented from the machine. After a few more
minutes the coolant that was added to the plexiglass
tube began to slowly empty. Then they were done. The
whole process took about 10-15 minutes.

I was also in luck. It just happened that they had
a special offer that week. The regular coolant change
charge of $89.00 was reduced to only $59.00.

But a lot of these "speedy" places are unscrupulous
and will usually try and sell you services that you
don't need or that are ineffective. I wasn't sure
if the coolant "flush" service was the real thing
or just a worthless ruse.

This lube place has good on-line reviews and seems
to be the real thing -- and it beats going to a
auto-repair shop where the wait time would be a lot
longer.

Decades of experience here with many cars. You know how many
I flushed? None. How many problems did I have that were attributable
to coolant? None.

IMO most of these Flush You places are scammers. I remember
back in the 80s, I had a fleet vehicle, Jiffy Lube was one of the
places we could take our cars for oil changes. They'd come into
the waiting room with a white paper towel and the tranny dipstick,
showing me that the fluid was tan, while new fluid is reddish,
telling me how it was dirty, needed to be changed. This happened just about
every oil change and we got new cars when they hit 60K, so the
cars were low mileage. I had access
to the GM shop manual for the car at the time. It clearly stated
that the red color was only a dye, that it would quickly change
to a tan color and it was perfectly normal, not an indication of
the fluid deteriorating or needing change. I think the manual at
the time also said the fluid was good to 100K, in normal service.
I saw plenty of customers fall for that though, having the tranny
fluid changed and flushed. I've also seen plenty of stories on
the internet where people flushed transmissions that were working
fine and soon after had problems. I can only imagine how much
money JL raked in with their servicing that which didn't need
servicing. Along those lines, what car manufacturer today says
that you need to even change coolant at two years, let alone
flush anything?

In article ,
says...

Decades of experience here with many cars. You know how many
I flushed? None. How many problems did I have that were attributable
to coolant? None.




I gave up years ago on changing the coolent. Just add some if it needed
it. I did get it changed about every 70 thousand miles due to having to
have the timing belt changed on my Toyota. At the same time I spent a fe
dollars more to replace the water pump as it was behind all the belts
and gears and the mechanic only charged his proce for the pump.

Put 200,000 miles on that car and never had a coolent problem.

On Sunday, October 20, 2019 at 4:15:59 PM UTC-4, Ralph Mowery wrote:
In article ,
says...

Decades of experience here with many cars. You know how many
I flushed? None. How many problems did I have that were attributable
to coolant? None.




I gave up years ago on changing the coolent. Just add some if it needed
it. I did get it changed about every 70 thousand miles due to having to
have the timing belt changed on my Toyota. At the same time I spent a fe
dollars more to replace the water pump as it was behind all the belts
and gears and the mechanic only charged his proce for the pump.

Put 200,000 miles on that car and never had a coolent problem.

Same here, rarely some repair required draining the coolant and if the coolant was maybe 5+ years old, I would replace it. Did the water pump preemptive replacement on the BMW-X5 and regretted it. They used plastic impellers and there were lots of reports of them breaking apart, pieces getting stuck in bad places, etc. So had to do an alternator and put in an aftermarket water pump with metal impeller at the same time. That had a bearing failure at 50k. The original looked fine and might have lasted longer.

On 20 Oct 2019 16:37:14 GMT, F Russell wrote:

But a lot of these "speedy" places are unscrupulous
and will usually try and sell you services that you
don't need or that are ineffective. I wasn't sure
if the coolant "flush" service was the real thing
or just a worthless ruse.

A dozen years ago, I was on vacation in Arizona (USA), and found myself, for reasons not worth
mentioning, having to wait around for several hours with nothing to do. I had wanted to get an
oil change for the car before leaving home, but didn't get it done. So I pulled into one of
these quick-oil-change places, and asked if I could get *JUST* an oil and filter change,
*WITHOUT* any other monkey business, and was told yes. 20 minutes later, the high-school
dropout came into the waiting area to tell me that my air-cleaner housing was broken, but... I
was in luck! They could have a new one there within 4 hours, and it would only cost 395 US
dollars. Oh, lucky day, indeed. It wasn't a lucky day for the manager.

--
croy

Clare Snyder wrote:
On Sat, 19 Oct 2019 08:42:47 -0700 (PDT), Davej
wrote:

On Wednesday, October 2, 2019 at 5:40:31 PM UTC-5, F Russell wrote:
I need to get the coolant on my car flushed. It's been over two
years since the last flush.


Who ever told you that it needs to be flushed so often?
Older vehicles and older antifreeze required change/flush or
recycling every 2 years. Current product 4 or 5??

I was into draining and between years added that white protection stuff.
Seems I went to long and my car water was all brown, too late. After some
cleaning agent, still overheat problems. Radiator probably need special
treatment or replacement. Sold car.

Greg