My upper radiator hose seems to be leaking fluid so I'm replacing it. My car hasn't been driven for 3 weeks. So can I just replace the hose without draining any coolant, or do I still need to drain? Where is the drain plug exactly? I'm assuming I just drain the coolant, replace the hose, then fill the coolant from the reservoir cap? Thanks...

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2004 WRX - WR Blue Pearl
1997 Eclipse GS - Royal Sapphire Pearl

You don't have to drain it unless you are worried about making a mess. You can pull the hose off and spill out all the fluid that's in there. As soon as you get it off stick a shop towel in the radiator upper inlet or else coolant will keep coming out (not a lot but still...) You should only lose a little more than what is actually in the hose at the time. Then refill through the radiator cap.

Or you can use a syphon hose to stick in the hose and drain most of it out into a recovery jug then pour it back in later. This method is a little less messy. You will still loose some but it prolly won't even hit the driveway. Or you can pull the drain plug on bottom of the rad. it has a clear hose on the end of the valve and looks like a wingnut.

I edited to the wiki!

Hehe is that what that clear hose sticking down from behind the front bumper is? I guess I should at least drain some of it since I do not want any coolant hitting any of my paint. How much should I drain to be safe that nothing will spill out when I replace the hose? And I just need pliers to replace the hose right?

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2004 WRX - WR Blue Pearl
1997 Eclipse GS - Royal Sapphire Pearl

dude, just drain it less mess for you.. if you just drain a bit and remove the hose some coolant is still going to come out of the hose ... so might as well replace it all.. it wont hurt... the drain valve is on the passengers side of the radiator it should be a 'white' valve to drain it... not sure about the color..you cant miss it...
cool

Michael 99gs
HRC Stage 2
Stage 3 process begins anyone got a 420a block thats not spun/head for sale?

http://www.dreamwater.net/purplebeast

Michael
99gs hrc stage 5000 SOLD...
2004 Honda Accord V6 (240 hp)stock
what other car should i buy?? hmmm
Car info & pictures at http://www.cardomain.com/memberpage/520269

Ok I'll just drain it all. How much coolant do I need to refill the whole thing? I bought one of those large prestone bottles (maybe 1 gal?). Is that enough?

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2004 WRX - WR Blue Pearl
1997 Eclipse GS - Royal Sapphire Pearl

I just did mine and my GF's a few days ago. Really simple.

remove the radiator cap (when the car is cold...really important)

under your passenger side radiator fan you will find a white petcock (I believe it is the name of it). Loosen it and voila...raidator fluid.

If you want a really complete flush, Prestone has a good flushing agent for 5.99 at walmart.

If not just fill the radiator with the 1gallon prestone at 70% coolant and 30% water. I used one bottle of water wetter since I'm turbo and all..

At most I used about 3/4 of the prestone containier. And the rest is water.

hope this helps out.

Oh and replace your radiator hose. I woudl use worm clamps instead of the stock spring lcamps. Just don't trust it...

-K-

You can just drain it enough to clear the fluid form the hose. You don't need to drain it all.

I use a 50/50 mix of DISTILLED water and coolant. Please use distilled water, tap water will leave mineral deposits in your cooling system.

Una salus victus.
He will triumph, who knows when to fight, and when not to fight. - Sun Tzu

Michael J. Kulaga
e-mail: Michael_97RS@2gntDSM.zzn.com aol IM: MJKulga
http://highlander.dsmpower.com/

All motor in the making.

Injen CAI, P&P Intake Manifold, Crower Stage 2 Cams, Hooker Header, GS-T Muffler, AFX UDP, S-AFC, 8.5mm Magnecor Wires, Crane Fireball HI-6DI2, FU/RU/RL STBs, TSW Blade 17x7.5, Bridgestone Potenza RE730, Front KVR Cross-Drilled Rotors & Carbon Fiber Pads

To Be Installed: P&P Milled Head, Rear Disc Brakes, Rear KVR Cross Drilled Rotors & Carbon Fiber Kevlar Pads, SS Brake Lines, AFX 55mm TB (re-installed once exhaust is done, intake was outflowing exhaust)

Firefly:
Mal: You don't know me, son, so let me put this to you plainly: If I ever kill you, you'll be awake. You'll be facing me. And you'll be armed.

Yeah its enough. Once you drain the system it will take about 1.5- 2 gallons of 50/50 mix antifreeze. An alternative is to use a clean basin and reuse the antifreeze.

Hey hows your new ride coming along?

99rs green
basic bolt ons
strut bars -- wainting on GS bars
other stuff

Whoops if forgot to ask you where excatly is it leaking on the radiator hose. if it from the hose it self get a new one. If its leaking at the connections purchase some new hose clamps for <1.50 any hardware/auto store. Replace the ring clips they aren't worth shit... mine was leaking when it was new, so i replace the clips with clamps...

Thanks for all the help guys. I did get new hose clamps and a new generic hose from kragen. I'll just replace all the coolant then. The leak seems to be coming from where the hose is connecting to the radiator above the fans.

Oh and the car I want is still in Japan and expected here maybe November to December. But I'm debating getting another car because I drive crazy when I have a fast car...btw, my car is up in autotrader for sale, as well as http://sale.importvenom.com in case anyone's interested...

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2004 WRX - WR Blue Pearl
1997 Eclipse GS - Royal Sapphire Pearl

what kind of car are you getting?


Michael 99gs
HRC Stage 2
Stage 3 process begins anyone got a 420a block thats not spun/head for sale?

http://www.dreamwater.net/purplebeast

Michael
99gs hrc stage 5000 SOLD...
2004 Honda Accord V6 (240 hp)stock
what other car should i buy?? hmmm
Car info & pictures at http://www.cardomain.com/memberpage/520269

>what kind of car are you getting?

I'll tell you if you go to the meet tomorrow....



hehe jk, hope you can make it though. I have my eyes on a Mazdaspeed Protege or a WRX. I have already negotiated pricing of 249 over invoice for the World Rally Blue WRX, or somewhere near or under MSRP for the Mazdaspeed Protege. However, I am debating on selling my car because 1) it is hard to sell for what I want, and 2) having a fast car is scary when all I want to do is floor it everywhere and listen to the turbo and bov...

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2004 WRX - WR Blue Pearl
1997 Eclipse GS - Royal Sapphire Pearl

hey dude, jamesman my bud told me to go to the meet, but i got some family things to do with karl (session101) tommorow and its in the afternoon... i would stop by for a couple mins if it was closer to road race or something area... which wrx are you looking into the stick wagon or ? dame the wagon is tight i would get one... got to ride in a auto wrx wagon with two of my fat friends with the salesperson at irvine sub...dame that thing was quick for auto... let me know if you get a wrx i might get a extra car for my parents..hehe
cool

Michael 99gs
HRC Stage 2
Stage 3 process begins anyone got a 420a block thats not spun/head for sale?

http://www.dreamwater.net/purplebeast

Michael
99gs hrc stage 5000 SOLD...
2004 Honda Accord V6 (240 hp)stock
what other car should i buy?? hmmm
Car info & pictures at http://www.cardomain.com/memberpage/520269

hehe k i'll let you know, I would only get the sedan though. No wagon for me. It's kinda small in the rear seats...too bad you can't make it to the meet. So the auto one was fast to you? The dealer I went to didn't have auto's in stock...

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2004 WRX - WR Blue Pearl
1997 Eclipse GS - Royal Sapphire Pearl

let just say the auto wrx wagon pulled us all back in our seat.. 2 250+pound guys me 150pounds and salesperson 130 pounds?...i would pick the power over a stock gst, but of course not the look..hehe

Michael 99gs
HRC Stage 2
Stage 3 process begins anyone got a 420a block thats not spun/head for sale?

http://www.dreamwater.net/purplebeast

Michael
99gs hrc stage 5000 SOLD...
2004 Honda Accord V6 (240 hp)stock
what other car should i buy?? hmmm
Car info & pictures at http://www.cardomain.com/memberpage/520269

And remember to check for coolant drips after you're done as well. Last thing you want is a small child or family pet licking that shit up and poisoning themself. It's the prime reason I don't want to do any coolant work at my residence; I have two curious/stupid dogs and I always worry they'll stick their heads under the car while I'm working and right into a reclamation pan or something...

An another thing....so call me a Noob if you must but I've never ever mixed coolant and water (even when I was living in FL). What's the story with that?

...back to the graveyard shift....

woodix

...At least I let my warranty expire first...wait...damn!