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.