2004 GMC 1500 coolant flush

[morefishplease]

I have a 2004 GMC sierra 1500 4x4 with 74,000 miles and its getting close to having the coolant flushed. Can anyone give me advise to as is this a do it yourself job or more complicated than it looks? Any input and tips would be very helpful.

[jeffreyd]

Well you can do it yourself, there is a petcock on the drivers side of the raditor at the bottom. It is plastic so use caution if you drain it that way, the other way if you have not replaced the hoses is to pull the bottom hose off and drain that way. It makes a heck of a mess tho. if you are going to replace the hose you can also cut a small slice in the hose to drain into pan or bucket and then pull the old hose. Make sure you get good quality hoses, check if your old bottom one has a spring in it or not. If it does make sure the replacement does too. Then refill with what ever the oem recommends, some require a special type of antifreeze too. good luck.

[Jeremy airjer W]

There's a difference between a flush and a drain and fill. What was described above is essentially a drain and fill. It will replace 50 to 75% of the coolant. A Good flush will require a flush machine. It will exchange almost all the old coolant with new.

There are kits that allow you to "flush" the system by spicing in a T and using a garden hose. These are messy, and the t's will eventually fail and start leaking or worse yet leave you stranded.

If you shop around you should find them starting at around $50 and go up from there. They will usually charge more if they use extended life coolant as the coolant costs more.

[morefishplease]

Thanks for the input airjer, yes it looks like I will have to do some shopping around and see who has the best price. Looks like the good ol days of using the garden hose and a bottle of flush are gone with the way these newer vehicles are set up now. Thanks again