I just flushed my corolla '04 radiator. According to the manual, the capacity should be about 6 liters (a bit less than 2 gallons); but the amount that comes out is a bit over 1/2 gallon (2 litters). I flushed it 3 times (the original coolant, the flush fluid, and all water) and when I captured the first 2 flushes, it filled only 1/2 gallon of a milk jug. AND I just refilled it with the 50/50 coolant water mix. IT ONLY TOOK 2 litters. What gives??
HELP!!!
Thank you.
It appears you have quite a bit of flush water left in the block, etc. An old rule I learned was fill with 100% antifreeze up to half the book capacity of the vehicle, especially if you do not drain the block. Test your antifreeze and I am betting it is not ready for winter and will not read -25 degrees. I bet it reads +10 or higher, because you needed to account for the regular water remaining in the engine block. I would either drain and refill per my recommendation with 100% antifreeze, or drain at least half out and replenish with 100% antifreeze rather than the 50-50 mix you used. Restest and see where you are.
You’re learning one of the first lessons of auto work. You only have a small problem. Drain the radiator and add 100% antifreeze. Only after you drain the radiator. you might pull one of the block drains too. On the old 350 engines, you would sometimes have to poke a screwdriver into the block drain hole to punch through the blockage which seemed to be a thin wall of iron, (it didn’t seem like residue). One other trick to do instead of pulling a block drain is to disconnect the lower radiator hose. That would sometimes get additional coolant out. You might end up with some extra antifreeze by the time you get a 50% mixture in the engine, but that’s not so big of a deal. You can use it to add to somebody else’s radiator. 50% antifreeze is what you fill up with if you don’t flush the radiator. You got experience and it didn’t even cost $20.
Did you open the block drain? There is more coolant in the block and heater core than there is in the radiator. You also have to have the heater set to max heat when you drain and refill.
My daughter has an 03 Corolla and I recently did a coolant change on hers. Its listed as having 7 quarts, but it only took 6. Not much came out from the radiator drain, most came from the block drain.