Coolant ?

[Crimson Fury]

i hear on the radio, every ?year and a 1/2? you need to flush and replace the coolant, true? would just draining it do it? i think i need to replace the ole coolant.
any help is appreciated

[ryan.hess]

Yeah, you should regularly change your coolant. Flushing it helps, but unless you have a lot of rust or sediment, it's not necessary. After a while the anti-oxidation properties break down, and you don't want that stuff attacking your radiator/block/heads. I typically try to replace it every other year- I don't like spending money I don't have to, your mileage may vary.

[Crimson Fury]

wa hahah!! change it when i get the 180* w/ ROYAL PURPLE!!

[Anonymous]

I recently changed the coolant on my car (last summer, haven't drove it this summer) and on the van this summer.
Flushed out the radiator and the block (somewhat) as well.. its easy on 3.1 anyhow. Changed the stats on them as well. I put a 180* in my car and we put a 195 (factory) in the van. If I were to do it again with my car I'd probably put in stock so that the heater would heat up faster. The van with the new coolant and new OEM stat runs perfect and the temp guage never goes past 1/3.

As far as how often to change it, it should say in your owners manual or in a Haynes manual. I think every 2 years is good enough.. no need to do it more often than that. If you haven't changed it in a long time you should give it a good flush. The van (1995) didn't require as much of a flush as my car did, but my dad added some sort of rad flush to the coolant before we drained it.