About to attempt a coolant flush for the first time, few questions.

I’m about to do a coolant change/flush for the first time and am a bit nervous. Although I feel confident enough to do it, And have done plenty of my own car work in the past anytime I do a new job, I Always try to be as prepared as possibly and ask all the questions.

I drive a 2002 sequoia RWD

What is the general consensus on coolant flush additives? Or with doing a simple distilled water flush be the preferred and safer method? I know that most of that stuff is snake oil. But I saw a video of Chris fix using it, And he seems to know what he is doing.

I plan on using the brand Zerex, if there is a better brand I am open to recommendations.

As far as doing the flush, it seems pretty straightforward… here are the steps I plan to take

1-Drain out the old fluid

2-Filled with distilled water (?possibly use coolant cleaner/flush?)

3-drive for about 10 to 15 minutes with the heat on full blast (keep an eye on the temperature gauge)

4-drain out the distilled water

5- repeat steps, 2through 4 as many times as necessary until the water comes out clear

6-Begin to fill with new coolant, crank the engine up, and continue to fill until it is full


How does my game plan sound? I’ve Read somewhere about flushing out the heater core but I am not familiar at all with doing that, and I don’t even have a garden hose to do that with so maybe skipping that part is best for my situation given I don’t have a garden hose. I’m sure that having the heater turned all the way up will be good enough anyways.

I always try to strive for perfection so if there’s anything I am leaving out, I am open to all suggestions, tips, and advice. Thanks everybody, in advance, for all the help

 

OP, do you even search or do you just open up a new tread with each new thought that enters your mind? You already asked that question HERE and also some of your answers are found in the MEGATHREAD if you would just STOP, LOOK and READ. Forgive me for sounding harsh or rash, but this kind of thing will make others just scroll over your posts and not respond.

https://www.tundras.com/search/7805244/?q=coolant+flush&o=relevance&c[node]=2

Purge/refill with pink long life coolant especially if anything other than pink/red coolant is installed BUT be sure to flush with water if any color other than pink/red is installed. When draining, drain at the radiator petcock and BOTH block drain valves on the sides of the block, under the manifolds on either side of the engine.

 

I apologize, I have no ill intentions. I guess I truly don’t know how this forum works yet. But I used the search function, looked at the mega thread, and scrolled through my posts and there were still questions I had unanswered. I couldn’t find any posts of doing a coolant flush laid out step by step. Nor could I find anything about flushing out the heater core (is that even possible on these trucks?) I guess part of me is just afraid to make some oddball of a mistake a screw up my truck, so I feel like I need everything laid out before I feel comfortable doing a new to me maintenance. It’s hard to to ask questions.

I thought making a new thread would help keep the information organized since these questions have nothing to do with my other thread i posted. I just wanted to start “fresh” and have a thread that could possibly be used as a point of reference for people who have the same questions in the future. Like I said I have no ill intentions and thought I was using the forum the way it was intended to be used (new topic = new thread)

again i apologize, please forgive me as im still learning. Still learning how to maintain my truck, and still learning how this forum works.

 

You don’t need to flush with distilled water, the hose is fine. When using an additive flush solution, follow instructions on label. I use air into top radiator hose to remove excess water. Running the heater flushes the fluid from it. Use only the Asian vehicle coolant. These products work. I also bought a tool to pressure check cooling systems and refill under vacuum, not necessary, but effective. When using a funnel fill, pour coolant down top radiator hose, then connect to rad. Use top hose to burp the system, by squeezing it while filling the radiator at the cap.