Well, I can't believe it but I've forgotten how to change the anti-freeze. This must be the start of Oldtimers Disease.
It was warm in Baltimore yesterday, and a good day to flush the cooling system. Lebaron, ''95, 3.0L V6.
I ran the engine until it was hot or at least warm.
The petcock opens with no tools -- that's nice.
I drained the coolant into one of those rectangular bottles that lie in their side; I removed the thermostat and flushed for 5 minutes with a garden hose in the radiator neck until the water ran clear. Let it drain, put back the petcock, put back the thermostat, filled the radiator with 50/50, but it took less than a gallon.
Ran the engine a minute or two until I realized that maybe I had only filled the radiator.
Went to see if I could add more coolant, but I couldn't. Usually I can keep adding and adding, even when it starts way above empty.
I added about 3 quarts, when the capacity is 8. (That's right, isn't it?)
After sitting all night, today I could add a 3 or 4 ounces more.
Could it be I never drained the engine after all? How could that be when I removed the thermostat and the petcock and after flushing let it sit until nothing was coming out of the petcock hole.?
There's a big chuckhole in the road near here. Maybe I should go drive over that.
I found a lot of webpages about changing antifreeze, and all but one said nothing about the thermostat, not even to consider changing the thermostat when changing the antifreeze. Lots of webpages about flushing the engine and not a one about removing the thermostat to help this. Even though one page went into the fact that the thermostat closes when it's cold. -- They all seemed to talk about flushing the radiator and not about flushing the engine.
P.S. I also got a Felpro gasket for the thermostat and it has a brown plastic ring on the inside circumference on one side. But nothing on the card to say which side of the gasket goes up. Which does?
Thanks.
mm