Flushing out Radiator'

2005 TOYOTA 4RUNNER
135,687 MILES • V6 • 2WD • AUTOMATIC
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T. JOHN
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  • 24 POSTS
I consider myself to be a shade tree/back yard mechanic. I am back to doing oil chances, brake jobs and etc.
My question for you is this. I am thinking about doing a radiator flush on my vehicle listed above. I have done this on my other vehicles in the pasted. Bought a repair manual for it and looked it up.
I must say it looks very difficult/bear. In your view. What do you think i should do? In closing this. I have one or two friends that could help me out.
One knows more about working on vehicles then I do.
Thanks
Oct 30, 2017 at 4:47 PM
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STEVE W.
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Not real difficult. Start with a cold engine. Pull the lower radiator hose and the cap off. Let the system drain. Replace the hose, fill with clean water and about quarter cup plain Dawn dish soap. Start it up and let it run until its warm and the thermostat has opened. Shut it off and let it cool enough that you can pull the lower hose again. Drain out the crud. Fill with clean water and run it to rinse out the soap. Drain and repeat again with clean water. Drain that out and fill with a nice 50/50 mix of new coolant of your choice.

If you wanted to change the thermostat or rebuild the pump, do it just before you do the final fill. That way you are only working in clean water.
Oct 30, 2017 at 5:53 PM