Hitman's Pontiac Trans Am Page | 1978 Pontiac Trans Am
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Coolant System

Doing the cooling system is quite easy. The hardest part is making sure you dispose of the old coolant and the flush economically. If you have a place you can do this that empties into a sanitary drain than you are in good shape. If you don't, then get to a place that does. It just makes it so much easier to perform this. If you can't find a place, then you need to drain the system into a container to dispose of properly. Make sure you have a garden hose accessible to you because you are going to need it. The first thing to do is to detach the lower radiator hose either from the radiator itself (preferable) or from the water pump (as shown here). With the engine cool, drain the entire system of old coolant. Once the system is drained, pour in a
bottle of coolant system flush into the radiator and then fill the rest with water from the hose. When the system is full, cap it off and start up the car. Get the engine up to normal operating temperature and then turn on the heater and let it run. Leave it running for about 10 minutes like this. This makes sure that the flush gets all the way through the system even the heater core. Once you have let it run, go ahead and turn off the car and let it cool down completely. You don't want to empty this now or you are going to get a face full and whatever hand you are using of VERY hot water and flush chemicals. Once the engine has cooled off go ahead and drain the system again from the lower radiator hose. Once again, if you are not over a sanitary drain make sure you dispose of this properly. Once the
system is drained, leave the lower radiator hose off and put that garden hose in the top of the radiator. Turn on the hose and keep water running through the system. Go ahead and start the car again and let the running water completely throughout the system. Once the water starts to run clear, then go ahead and stop the water and close the system off by re-attaching the lower radiator hose. Fill the radiator with a 50-50 mixture of antifreeze and water. I used about a gallon and a half of antifreeze and a gallon and a half of water. Read your owners manual for the proper mixture of antifreeze and water. And that's it.

