I used the wrong coolant (I'm an idiot) and now my 2001 Disc 2 is overheating. How do I flush the entire system out before I add the correct pink 50/50 and bleed it? I see videos on how to do the blead, but I'm not sure how to get all the wrong coolant out first? THANKS!!

 

it's not overheating because you used the wrong coolant. more than likely you have air bubbles in system and they are causing the overheat.

what coolant did you put in? i run the old school green in both my '04's and my P38. i have Dexcool in the '01. they all run temps within factory spec. actually, a little cooler.

 

I also use the standard green coolant in both the D2 and the P38.

 

Pink= bad. 50/50 green stuff. And bleed. Bleed some more. And then bleed again just to be sure.

Flush with distilled water. Get it all out- you’ll know by the color- and then add the 50/50 green stuff. Did I mention you’ll be bleeding a bit?

 

The correct answer to this question is to flush then do Extinct’s inline thermostat mod, with green coolant of course As a bonus getting out the air becomes trivial.

 

Evan, as others have said there is no "wrong coolant", per se. Coolant is coolant, generally speaking.

There are, however, some coolants that don't play well with others, and can clog radiators and heater cores if mixed. Let's hope that's not the problem with your truck. And BTW, pink is not the "right" coolant. They came from the factory with orange DEXCOOL, but DEXCOOL is known to cause problems, especially when mixed with other types, which is why a lot of us here use good ol' green Prestone (or similar).

I seriously doubt that the "wrong coolant" caused your truck to overheat. More likely there's a leak in the system that caused the system to be below capacity, or perhaps the radiator is clogged.

But to answer your question, here's how to flush out all the old coolant.

• Start by pulling the lower radiator hose off the radiator outlet. It will be messy. Have a shallow bucket ready to catch what drains, and then have a plan to dispose of it properly. Antifreeze is toxic to mammals; don't just pour it down the sink or into the storm sewer.
• Once the system is drained from doing that, reattach the lower hose. At that point, you will have drained about half the coolant from the system, with the other half still in the engine block and elsewhere.
• Refill the system with water (distilled water preferred), using the instructions in the RAVE workshop manual.
  • Remove cap from the coolant reservoir
  • Remove the reservoir from its mount and raise it up 8" or so. I use a bungee cord to suspend it in position.
  • Remove the bleed screw from the upper radiator hose T fitting.
  • Add water via the reservoir until coolant begins to flow from the bleed screw fitting. Replace the bleed screw (don't overtighten).
  • Replace the reservoir in its mount. Reinstall the reservoir cap.
• Now go drive the truck a few miles (~10 miles). That's enough to get the engine up to operating temp and mix the water you added with the coolant that remained in the system.
• Let the truck cool down, then repeat this process one or two times, until there is no discernible color in the coolant. By that point, most of the antifreeze has been diluted and removed from the system.
• Next, drain the system one more time. That will leave the cooling system about half full of mostly distilled water.
• Then, refill the system as described above using the antifreeze CONCENTRATE of your choice. That will result in the system having the desired 50/50 mix.
• Go drive the truck ~10 miles again. You'll find that the coolant level is low. Top up the reservoir with concentrate or 50/50 you mix yourself.
• Always bleed the cooling system with the engine stone cold.

Again, I and many others here use good ol' Prestone but you can use the pink stuff if that makes you happy. But remember, friends don't let friends use DEXCOOL.