How Do U Remove Thermostat... N Oops Skipped A Step On Coolant Flush

[kcpth]

Hey guys... i got several questions for u.

1) Today i did a coolant flush. Spent a lot of time on it... since i couldn't get the stupid left n right drain !Removed! loose. Took me literally forever to get it off. A lot of PB BLAST n my body weight... but not simple wit the clearance n lying down. N e wayz... as i was doing it... i accidentally skipped a step... step 15 on lexls tutorial. Wut would happen? I didn't run only water all the way through to clean the soap. I basically drained the soap out... n poured some water like 1/2 gallon while it was being drained... but only a little bit... i guess i was too tired when i realized that. I didn't finish this till 2am... so u can see i was tired.

2) Also another problem is.... i tried to remove the thermostat. Do i just pull?!??! Do i twist it n pull? I couldn't get that !Removed! thing to move. Even after the flush... i couldn't get that !Removed! thing to move out. Should i get plyers n just pull it out?

3) I saw a lot of rust particles or metal particles flowing through the tube... n it was no where as green as the coolant seen on lexls. It was a bland water down green. I had stupid Jiffy Lube do it like a few yrs back. I hope my radiator isn't damaged.

4) I also did a Throttle Body clean... well i didn't take off the throttle body... i just turned the plate... n sprayed very little of STP Throttle Body Cleaner... was too tired by the end of the day to remove the whole thing... (since i will have to do the spark plugs n wiresets next warm day... i will do the Throttle Body CLean)... but when i put everything back together... the RPMS r a lot higher... i read it would do that. But when i put it into drive... !Removed! car LURCHED forward... i guess due to higher RPMS... it catched on as soon as it was in drive... that scared the crap out of me. It would clear up in a couple of days right? I hope i dind't do much damage.

Thanks guys

Tom

[sha4000]

did you put everything back and leave the old thermostat in there?if so i recomend that you go back in and change it so you dont have to worry about it down the road. the higher rpms arent a problem thats normal and give it a couple of days to see if the lurching stops. also put a can of b12 chemtool in the gas tank to clean up your fuel system

[kcpth]

hey sha.... yes i did leave the old thermostat. I already have a replacement n gasket for it. I just couldn't take it out. I even tried using a small flat head (made for really small screws) n tried to run along the edges of the gasket n thermostat housing (i dont know if thats wut u call it) to try to remove the gunk thats around there. It seemed like it was literally gummed up in between the gasket n housing. So thats y i left the old thermostat in there... n seeking help.

On lexls... it doens't tell u exactly how to remove the thermostat... it just said to remove it. I tried pulling n i tried twisting n pulling with my hand. But if im suppose to just pull the old one out... i' about to grab a vise grip n PULL HARD. But before i damage n e thing... i thought to ask for advice.

Also... if i didn't totally flush that chemical out... would that do n e thing?

Thanks again for the help sha.

Tom

[sha4000]

you can just yank it out, just make sure you put it back in the same way the old one was in there.You really need to flush all the old stuff out of there.Heres an easy way to do it, remove the inlet hose from the engine after that remove the outlet hose from the bottom of the radiator then pour water through the top of the engine until everything is clear coming out the other end

[kcpth]

Hey Sha... thanks again.

So i can take the vise grips n yank the old thermostat out huh.

As for when i was draining the coolant yesterday... it was running clearish i guess. It wasn't fully clear... but then again it was kinda dark so i couldn't tell. But it looked clear.... but not like water clear. Some spilled on my hands... n it definitely felt soapy. Will the car b ok for several weeks. I need to go on a 800 mile trip the next coming weekend. U think it would survive or have n e bad reprecussions if i were to drive it the way it is now? I know if u mix the red n green stuff... it might just block the radiator.... but since i flushed it... i'm assuming even if there was some in there... im assuming it's not going to clog it that badly.

If it can survive the trip... i plan to do a reflush perhaps on a warmer day... n over the weekend when i have time to do it.

Thanks.

Tom

[hyperopt]

I used a screw driver to pry out the thermostat at near the center of the thermostat (near where the conical legs converge). It took some force but you would not break anything except for bending the old thermostat.

[kcpth]

Cool... thanks for the tip. I will remove the old one n replace the new one asap.

N e one know n e thing about the flush chemicals n wut it would do?

[sha4000]

Cool... thanks for the tip. I will remove the old one n replace the new one asap.

N e one know n e thing about the flush chemicals n wut it would do?

they clean up any rust and debri in thesystem

[kcpth]

Cool thanks a lot guys. I was getting really worried. I dont feel that bad n e more. What a relief. As for the Engine Lurching foward.... i will wait it out to see what will happen. Initially when i start up the car... its fine. It's only after i drive a bit... n put it into park... that i notice the RPMS jumping a bit higher... strange. But we'll c if it burns out of the system

THANKS!

TOM

[KY350]

KC - I don't know what effect leaving the radiator flush in the cooling system would have on it, but can you tell me if the flushing agent (not your original coolant) was green or red in colour?

If it was green, then I would definately flush it completely clear with water. In fact even if it was red, I'd flush it clear with water as I don't know what effect if any it could have on the cooling system components.

I had my coolant changed just a couple of weeks ago. I asked on this forum about an alternative flushing method as I could not access the left and right drain !Removed! from under the car to drain out all the old fluid. So after trying to drain all the fluid using just the front drain !Removed! (it doesn't drain completely using just this access point), I took it to the mechanic and he flushed it for me.

What he did was really simple. He removed the heater hose located against the firewall and drained the coolant from there. Then he attached his water hose to one end of the heater hose and turned on the tap to flush the fluid out (you can also turn the heater on to max temp to increase flush speed). Once just clear water was coming out, he reconnected the heater hose and added between 4-5 quarts of red coolant through the coolant reservior, as there is already about 6 quarts of clear water in the system. Then just run the motor / heater as instructed in the tutorial. Once the car has cooled right down (several hours or next day) just check the coolant level in the reservoir tank and top up to between the lines with additional coolant if necessary.

This procedure was slightly messy as the mechanic ran the coolant straight out of the heater hose and down the back of the engine into a drain. If you want to be environmentally sound, you would need to purchase some clear hose to attach over one end (the draining end) of the disconnected heater hose. That way, you could collect the old coolant / flush in a container for proper disposal.

This whole procedure will take you between 30-45 minutes, so you may be able to do this before your weekend drive. Beats getting under the car and trying to get to those badly located drain !Removed! on either side of the engine.

BTW, as I stated in another coolant flushing thread, I spoke with a Lexus mechanic about the flush procedure and they also use the heater hose - even he said draining from the !Removed! was way too hard LOL.

I hope this is of some help.

Edited January 17, 2006 by KY350

[kcpth]

Lol... thanks KY. I remember writing to u about reaching the !Removed!. Two days ago was my first time doing the flush. But i must agree... i had a heck of a hard time doing it this way. The right drain !Removed! wasn't so bad n putting the tubing in... but the freaken left... took me forever... the tubing was realli hard. Luckily my hand isn't as big as urs... i think i wear a medium for those latex gloves... so u can get an idea of my hand size... but that was still tricky for me. I was thinking about using a CHOPSTICKS when i first couldn't get in. I just kept on twisting my hands in every which direction i could do... n every hole possible. It was hard to do it especially laying down like u did im sure... n on a snowy night... lol.. let along at night. *sigh*. Wut was worse was opening the !Removed!.... no matter how hard i pulled... it wouldn't budge. PB BLAST did the trick... but still used a lot of energy n a cut n many scrapes afterwards... i finally got it.

The previous coolant was green. I put in the Toyota Coolant. The flush was clear... but after running through the system... it was kinda murkey... i couldn't fully tell if it was greenish or wut. It was after putting the regular Toyota coolant did i realize i didn't completely flush the flush out ( i wonder if that made sense).

I will probably do it again sometime in April. Too cold to do it now... n too tired. But i'm happy that i changed the coolant... the temp gauge doesn't seem to go crazy n e more. But i do see it rise here n there. Possibly the thermostat being all screwed up. Still gotta replace that by the way. But i believe changing the coolant might have cooled the car down a bit... or maybe i wanted to believe that. But i did notice that my temp wasn't going up n down like it did prior to the flush.

Thanks for ur response.

Tom

[92ls forhundo]

KC - I don't know what effect leaving the radiator flush in the cooling system would have on it, but can you tell me if the flushing agent (not your original coolant) was green or red in colour?

If it was green, then I would definately flush it completely clear with water. In fact even if it was red, I'd flush it clear with water as I don't know what effect if any it could have on the cooling system components.

I had my coolant changed just a couple of weeks ago. I asked on this forum about an alternative flushing method as I could not access the left and right drain !Removed! from under the car to drain out all the old fluid. So after trying to drain all the fluid using just the front drain !Removed! (it doesn't drain completely using just this access point), I took it to the mechanic and he flushed it for me.

What he did was really simple. He removed the heater hose located against the firewall and drained the coolant from there. Then he attached his water hose to one end of the heater hose and turned on the tap to flush the fluid out (you can also turn the heater on to max temp to increase flush speed). Once just clear water was coming out, he reconnected the heater hose and added between 4-5 quarts of red coolant through the coolant reservior, as there is already about 6 quarts of clear water in the system. Then just run the motor / heater as instructed in the tutorial. Once the car has cooled right down (several hours or next day) just check the coolant level in the reservoir tank and top up to between the lines with additional coolant if necessary.

hey i thought id try again, could you describe where that heater hose is, that method seems to really rock.

Thanks in advance any help would be great. :D

This procedure was slightly messy as the mechanic ran the coolant straight out of the heater hose and down the back of the engine into a drain. If you want to be environmentally sound, you would need to purchase some clear hose to attach over one end (the draining end) of the disconnected heater hose. That way, you could collect the old coolant / flush in a container for proper disposal.

This whole procedure will take you between 30-45 minutes, so you may be able to do this before your weekend drive. Beats getting under the car and trying to get to those badly located drain !Removed! on either side of the engine.

BTW, as I stated in another coolant flushing thread, I spoke with a Lexus mechanic about the flush procedure and they also use the heater hose - even he said draining from the !Removed! was way too hard LOL.

I hope this is of some help.