10Prestone Flush Article for Training130009252017

CATALOG NUMBER 10 www.midwestwheel.com NLINE www.midwestwheel.com Order NLINE ™ When in doubt, flush it out! One of the most frequently asked questions to our Prestone® technical team is, “When and how often should I flush the cooling system in my Heavy Duty truck?” and “What procedure should I use to flush the cooling system on a HD truck?” When should you flush the cooling system? 1. Whenever there are any signs of contamination in the system. The contamination could be oil, fuel, particulates, or hard water salts leaving deposits on cooling system metals. 2. If the vehicle has overheated. An overheated system can break down the coolant causing it to turn acidic, quickly causing component failures. 3. When the cooling system has been contaminated with multiple coolant types. For example, a truck operating with a HD extended life coolant was topped off with a conventional (green) coolant. This would lower the overall protection and may cause water pump failure or even cavitation pitting of the cylinder liners. If mixing coolant technologies is occurring, the cooling system will need to be flushed and the system refilled with a HD extended life coolant. 4. Flush the system whenever there is a cooling system component failure. If the component failed, it failed for a reason and likely left residual foreign material in the system. 5. A regular cooling system maintenance flush should be done whenever the coolant is at the end of the recommended mileage or time protection. Refer to the trucks owner’s manual for the recommended coolant change intervals. 6. Lastly, always remember the saying: when in doubt, flush it out! When flushing a HD cooling system always follow the OE Manufacturers flushing procedures. In a HD truck, flushing procedures can be different depending on the year, make, and model. It could be a universal flushing procedure, or a more intricate flushing procedure that requires a scan tool or laptop to open and close cooling system valves while flushing. Steps for a universal flushing procedure. • • When the engine is cold, start by completely draining the cooling system by loosening the radiator petcock drain. At this time you do not have to worry about the leftover coolant in the engine block, the flush solvent is designed to work with some coolant in the system. • • Tighten the radiator petcock drain and pour one gallon of Prestone® HD 2in1 Flush and Degreaser into the radiator or reservoir bottle and fill the rest of the system with water. • • Start the engine and let it run until it reaches normal operating temperature. Continue to run the engine for an additional 30-45 minutes with the heater set on high heat. Systems that are especially dirty or oily can be run for up to 3 hours. • • After the time has lapsed, shut off the vehicle and let the cooling system cool down. • • Open the radiator petcock and remove all engine block drain plugs to completely drain all water from the cooling system. You might have to disconnect the heater core inlet and outlet lines to completely drain the water from the heater core. • • Flush the system with water. Let the water run until the water coming out of the radiator drain and engine block drain plug holes is clear. If the heater core lines were removed, run water through these and back flush the heater core running water into the outlet hose until the water is clear and no debris is seen. • • Shut off the water and let the system drain.