changing the antifreeze

[raygreg]

I know this must have been discussed here before, but a search revealed nothing. What is the best way to drain the radiater so that I can replace the coolant.(most of it anyway) I plan on replacing it with the same dexccol that is in there now.
thanks
Ray

[dmaxalliTech]

pull the petcock, pass side lower radiator, should get 2- 2.5 gals

[mdrag]

raygreg,

jbplock posted a thorough description on how to drain/refill/purge the coolant system in this COOLANT FILTER TOPIC (http://forum.thedieselpage.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=3;t=006730).

[b] [quote]Since the filter is pressurized and also has an anti-drain back valve, I decided the horizontal mount should be OK. And, per Jim

[raygreg]

Thank you all, I guess that I should start wearing my glasses I didn't see a petcock on the radiater. I hope to check tomarrow in the daylight. And thanks for the article on purging too.

[jbplock]

Raygreg.
I also didn’t see the plug at first since it’s black plastic and it tends to blend in with the black plastic radiator endcap. As Eric said, it's located on the backside of the radiator on the passenger side. Be careful when you open the plug especially when the coolant is hot since it doesn't have a drain tube and the coolant will gush out and splash off the wheel liner. To keep all the coolant from spilling on the ground you would need a large shallow pan. At first I tried a 5-gallon pail but that didn’t work so everything ended up on the ground (you could probably get it to drain in the bucket if the plug was just cracked open instead of removed but it would take a long time to drain). If you just plan to drain the rad you will get about half the coolant (2.5 gal as Eric said) out of the system which has a specified capacity of 20.7 quarts. When refilling the helms says to fill to 1/2inch above the “cool” level on the expansion tank then run the engine cycling the rpms up and down to purge the air. The thermostats have to be open (engine hot) for this to work. I found that having the engine hot before draining made this go faster – just have to be careful draining the hot coolant. Hope this helps… smile.gif

[roegs]

For years I've drained the radiator in all my vehicles every fall with a small electric pump. I just push hose into the radiator cap opening and pump till is empty. Its easy, and I get no spills on the driveway. New antifreeze goes back in. This looks to be a little tough wih the new sealed system on my DMAX. Is there a way for me to use this same method on my new truck?

[jbplock]

Scott,

Using a pump is a neat idea but on the Dmax it seems like you would have to disconnect the upper radiator hose to get your pump hose down to the bottom of the radiator. The only other place that’s easily accessible is through the cap on the plastic expansion tank but you will only get about a gallon of coolant from there. (I siphoned about a gallon out the tank prior to connecting my coolant filter).
smile.gif

[roegs]

Thanks for the note Bill. I was able to take a closer look this am, and you are correct that removing the upper hose is about the only way. Guess my pumping days are over, and I'll need to get a drain pan for the valve on the bottom. :(