Heat

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Yupster Dog

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I have done the flush and it was a great success. It went from 5% heat (you could only notice if the blower was off) to about 85% heat.(almost to the five minute high heat burn you out of the truck that we all know these trucks can do)
Not that hard to do once you figure out how to get hoses off. I removed 5.4 cover for better access.
the videos said to push the clips in while pushing then pull. file-1 (002).jpeg
so I saw the end of the hose and think the clips are in the holes at the end. WRONG They are not clips at all they are tabs that are at the very end of hose not in the hole. There are two tabs on each hose opposite each other. The drivers side hose the tabs are at 7 o'clock and 1 o'clock and the passenger side tabs are at 11 and 5. give the hose a little push towards the firewall and push the tabs towards the center of hose they will click. when you have both tabs pull hose off. Find and get O-rings either on heater core end or in the hose. two black and one hard plastic white. they go back on like a Oreo black white black, get this wrong and you will have a leak. when you go to put back the hoses it helps to have the hole orientated with the tabs at 1&7 and 5&11 your good when you hear the click. no click check your orientation.
The drivers side is the heater core input and the passenger is the output. so start with the passenger side. I tried without hose clamps first and it can be done but a pain and you need help because you are holding the hoses onto the heater core. so after I put clamps on I pulsed the water on and off to build pressure in the water hose. I did this for about 2 gallons and then switched sides and repeat. I did this 12 times on each side a lot came out at first then after 6 or 7 water was clear and very few pieces were coming out but every time all the way to the 12th time something came out.
Had I thought of it before hand I would have put a piece of plastic down over the engine to keep water and antifreeze off cylinders 3 and 4 but I did not and went for a hour and a 1/2 ride afterwards to evaporate any moisture that I could not clean up.
One more thing I learned was how easy it is to remove these hoses and how much space I have to work on cylinders 3 and 4. I wish I knew this when I put a Heli-coil on cylinder 3 it would have been so much easier.
 

dishgawd

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great description Yupster.. I want to do the flush on my 2000 Eddie Bauer. Did you have to remove any cowling to make the access easier? Also I' wondering it it's safe to blow some CLR or facsimile into the core to help with the job instead of 12x water. thanks.. DG
 

Yupster Dog

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great description Yupster.. I want to do the flush on my 2000 Eddie Bauer. Did you have to remove any cowling to make the access easier? Also I' wondering it it's safe to blow some CLR or facsimile into the core to help with the job instead of 12x water. thanks.. DG

No cowling removal.

I personally would only run water thru. I don't know what would react funny to the antifreeze environment.

My core got stopped up after i changed my radiator. little black plastic pieces from the manufacturing of the radiator I suspect.

NOTE: That being said be carful how much pressure you use because if your core about to go or have a weak spot. (I had replaced the core about a year before so I knew it was ok for a little more pressure)

What I used,
About 15' of 5/8 ID heater hose (cut in half)
2 hose clamps
garden hose end fix (i got brass one and worked great in the heater hose without clamp)
Water hose (with the ability to shut water off at the end)
Bucket to catch what is coming out.

No draining necessary since the heater core is the high spot of the coolant system. (mind the hose that you pull you will get some spillage) I secured them strait up to minimize the spillage.

I tried to use a busted garden hose I had but water just went everywhere. so I got the 15' of heater hose so I could concentrate on the task at hand.

Clamped the heater hose to both sides of the heater core (didn't have to be super tight either) then just switched the water hose end back and forth on the other end. super easy

Now that I have done the flush it literally would take longer to just get the stuff together, pull out water hose and open the hood than to actually do it.
 

Trainmaster

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Watch your pressure! These trucks have a bushing in one hose to reduce the pressure to the heater core. Like Yupster says, watch yer pressure.

Nothing will ruin your day worse than the sound of water trickling from the heater box onto your passenger side carpet.
 

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