Hey guys I am planning to replace all of my coolant hoses and do a coolant flush over the next few days. I was just wondering two things ...... Does anyone have any hints on how to get to the hose that connects to the water pump without taking out the fan? I dont have the tools to remove the fan and it looks terribly tight in there to get to. The second thing is should I use one of the coolant system flush products. I am going to be switching from Dex-cool to Peak Global, but Ive seen horror stories about how the Dex-cool can gum up in areas over time. That being said, I wasn't sure if the distilled water flushing method (fill/drain/repeat until clear) was enough. Any suggestions will be appreciated.

 

Just flush with fresh water, no need to use distilled water for your flush, just the garden hose.
Since you are replacing the hoses run your garden hose though everything you can, ther heater core, the engine block, the radiator, everything you can until the water comes out clear.
Then put your hoses on, fill with water, idle for 15 min with the heater on hot.
Let cool for 20 min and then drain.
Fill with the new coolant of a 50/50 mix, bleed the system and you're good to go.

 

I assume you are talking about the hose that goes in on the bottom of the pump. It's not that bad. Attack it from under the truck. Pretty straight shot from the bottom.

 

If your clamp is on it a direction where you don't have a tool you can get it off with, just rent a fan kit from autozone or similar. It's free (you pay for it and they give your money back when you return it). This kits will have everything you need, which is pretty much just a thin 36 mm (I believe that's correct, but please don't take my recollection as a definite). There are no other tricks to getting that off.....if you can't reach, you can't reach. Depends on the angle of the clamp, what tools you have to work with, and how big your hands are.

Taking the fan off is easy with the right wrench, and make the whole process much nicer. You will thank yourself for doing it, not just on that hose, but for the rest. Just make sure you tighten it when your'e done. Someone once told me that if you just put it on hand tight and forget to tighten it then do a test start, it will spin and fall right off when you shut down the motor (ok, I actually did that).

 

Thanks for the replies. This information makes things much less daunting. I am crossing my fingers that the clamp is in at a good angle. Once I get it done with everything I will post back.