Flush Your Antifreeze and Save Some Money

I have been in the automotive repair industry for about 15 years. I feel that one of the most important services you can provide for your vehicle is an antifreeze flush. There are mainly 2 ways this can be done and both have pros and cons, which I will inform you of so you can decide what’s best for you.

The old fashioned method of exchanging fluids was the drain and fill. This consists of opening the valve on the lower part of the radiator and letting the coolant inside run out. Then you would simply top off the antifreeze and run the vehicle until all the air is out of the system. The pros-quick and easy, low cost. The cons-it’s not very thorough, all the old antifreeze sitting in the rest of the system mixes with the new. This process won’t remove any build up in the internal parts of the system.

The process of flushing the antifreeze using a machine to push old fluid out and new fluid in has been around for at least 20 years. This process uses a pump to push out the old fluid and removes build up or deposits inside the system that can cause damage. Most repair facilities also use a conditioning agent with the new antifreeze to help remove deposits and protect against formation of new deposits. The pros-it’s a very thorough process that can save you money on future repairs. The cons- costs a bit more and on higher mileage vehicles, may create leaks that weren’t there before. This is because the deposit removal process can sometimes reveal pinholes in places that corrosion had been built up in.

If you flush your systems every 30-50,000 miles, the leak problem shouldn’t be as much of a concern because the build up of deposits will be minimal. If you never flushed your system and you have more than 100,000 miles on your vehicle, you will probably encounter issues after a flush.

The costs of not maintaining your cooling system are as follows: Water pump replacement-$250.00 and up, radiator replacement-$350.00 and up, heater core replacement-$600.00 and up. The highest cost repair will be your primary reason for flushing because it is located inside the dash of your vehicle. When the heater core fails, you get one of 2 primary issues- either you get no heat in your car because build up causes blockage, or you get a leak inside your car on the passenger floorboard that smells something like dead fish. Neither is pleasant.

So do yourself and your car a favor, flush the system and save yourself time and money!