I’ve heard that you can use dexcool or that I can’t use the dex cool and have to use the green stuff. I have been putting dex cool in there. Or at least it’s what I think it is. But I’m unsure and don’t want to mess up my cooling system. I will do a drain and fill tonight. How would I do a flush? Where the car is is pretty far from the house. I would have to get a ton of water and pour it in the radiator and reservoir.

 

It's the green stuff. If you've put dexcool in with the green, you're in for a bad time.
get it flushed asap.

 

just finished the flush and out some green stuff in but I’ll get more from work in the morning luckily it wasn’t bad at all

 

do you think that the wrong coolant in the car would cause overheating issues? My fan doesn’t work so I know that’s a big part of it

 

No. Any type of engine coolant will provide sufficient cooling in a properly working system.


Yes. For sure....unless you're experiencing over heating at "highway speeds". In that case, there is another problem with your cooling system.

 

Yup. Green juice and distilled water. Deionized if you can get it. Or, the pre-mixed stuff, if you don't mind paying anti-freeze price for a half-gallon of water mixed in with a half-gallon of AF.

Don't forget to drain the block. Almost impossible to flush it without fully draining it. There are 2 plugs, one for each cyl bank. They retain about a gallon of coolant in the block which is why you can't "flush" it without removing them. They're in the center of the block front to rear, about an inch above the oil pan, kinda just behind the motor mounts, between cyls 3 & 5 on the driver's side and 4 & 6 on the pass. The pass side one is the knock sensor and the other one is exactly opposite it on the driver's side. The plug that's not the KS is probably steel with a 9/16" hex head; often it takes ALOT of effort to break that one loose. Use a 6-point impact socket and a LONG breaker bar. DO NOT try it with a 12-point or a wrench!!! You'll just end up destroying the hex and then you'll NEVER get it out without drilling it. Once you get it out, replace it with brass; you can get one at any hardware or plumbing store. ¼" NPT plug. Use about 6 wraps of Teflon tape or the PTFE thread sealer on the threads. Wouldn't be a bad idea to launch a pre-emptive first strike on the KS with the parts cannon while it's out.

Not unless you mixed it. Mixing pink juice and green juice makes sludge that's about the consistency of Jello. Don't use the pink kind, in any case; the gaskets in the old-skool SBC can't seal it. Its molecules are MUCH smaller than the ones in green juice, and it will seep out of EVERY gasket edge-wise. After a few months you'll have a nice buildup of pink powder all around EVERY joint that uses a gasket: intake manifold, thermostat, water pump, etc. etc. etc. Guess how I know this.

Fix your fan. Don't bother with making up "theories" about why the car won't stay cool. See my signature for a helpful mental guide to troubleshooting.

 

Not too sure about that part....I've been using ELC exclusively for over 25 years...both in the personal fleet, and professional fleet -which amounts to 1000's of vehicles, at this point in my career. Never seen any evidence that it leaks any more than other coolant. In fact, what we noticed in the late '90's/early '00's with one brand of equipment that had fabricated radiators that frequently leaked/weeped through welds was that the ELC would actually "Crust" and/or coagulate at those points and eventually stop leaking. Also (and this is kind of a joke) we ran it and Cummins and they didn't leak...so....

What it DOES do, is reduce the frequency or need to flush cooling systems. In a personal fleet, that probably doesn't matter much, but when you have 100's of vehicles to service every year...that is a sizable chunk of labor that is saved.

 

I use Prestone All Vehicles + distilled water at 50/50 solution. Been using Prestone for decades.
As for the block drain plugs - be carefull as u could apply to much strength & break off.

 

for an "easy" block flush,without having a pressurized supply of flushing agent, Get a bunch of distilled water gallons (they are cheap) remove the thermostat and one block plug at a time. (one plug and the knock sensor as sofakingdom describes above). Put pan under whichever side you are flushing first, Dump distilled water (squeezing the gallon can help get more flow/better flushing) into the thermostat housing, voila, watch all the crud come out of the bottom plug. flush each plug until until it starts coming out clean, same method with radiator. I got GREAT results using this method. Not professional flushing by any means but got my system very clean and all the deposits out.