How I did the the flush on my 2005 Malibu V6. No intake gasket
problems at 63K but the Dexcool was looking like muddy water so
decided I'd go about changing it out. After looking at the prospects
of pulling the thermostat I decided that was going to be more of a job
then I wanted to tackle. The heater hoses were an option utilizing one
of the flushing kits but also looked pretty intensive as they were
buried pretty deep in the back between the engine and firewall. What I
ended up doing was to put the car on jack stands. I then removed the
bottom rubber shield and the radiator support bracket. This allowed me
to remove the lower radiator hose. With a catch pan in place, I opened
the coolant reservoir and disconnected the top radiator hose to drain
as much of the old coolant as possible. I then ran water through the
radiator until it flowed clear. I then turned my attention to the
reservoir. This I removed and thoroughly cleaned, prior to
reinstalling. At that point I turned my attention to the engine block
plug located directly next to the oil filter. I removed this plug and
drained completely. I would have liked to have opened the rear plug
but for the life of me, I couldn't figure a reasonable way to access
it so I passed on it's removal. With every outlet completely drained
to the best of my abilities, I then put all hoses and plug back in
place and filled the system with clear water through the coolant
reservoir since my model does not have a radiator fill cap. I then ran
the engine up to operating temperature for about 15 minutes with the
heater at full hot to purge it as well as the balance of the cooling
system. I also made sure to bleed any trapped air from the system by
opening the little bleeder screw located at the water pump area until
nothing but clear water escaped it. I then shut down the engine and
gave it a bit of time to cool down so as not to scald myself. I then
repeated the process of draining the system again. It took a couple
cycles before I got nothing but clear water draining from the system.
With that I then put in the recommended amount of Dexcool with the
balance water to bring the system up to the full mark on the
reservoir. I then once again brought the engine up to operating
temperature and let it cycle for about 15 minutes with the heater on
full hot. After allowing the engine to completely cool, I checked the
fluid level in the reservoir and added just enough water to bring it
up to the full mark. I have periodically checked the fluid level after
driving for the past few days and find that it is maintaining the
correct level. The Dexcool is maintaining it's orange color so I'm
thinking I successfully purged the system and now have a good, new mix
of the correct coolant and water. This by no means is the only way to
flush the coolant system on the Malibu. It's just the way I
accomplished it. Hope this is of some help to others who might also be
in need or are facing this project.
Tha RagMan
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