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Generally how much antifreeze will a 2000 Dodge Dakota take for a flush?
- Thread starter BigBlue75
- Start date
sensible_man
New member
First, you do not flush with anti-freeze. Next, you need to know the capacity of the radiator and use a 50/50 mix. Straight anti-freeze will not be much better than straight water.
helpful bob
New member
What can do is this , use warm water , not ice cold water and if you've a lawn hose that would be okay if you already have some containers and you pre-fill them to use later and the water isn't too cold.I'd have 2 containers of anti-freeze handy but you shouldn't use it all up for this job.
On the rad there should be a valve that you can open by turning it , once it's open coolant will flow out of the rad so you need to have a proper oil etc pan so it can catch the anti-freeze and try not to spill it bec it's toxic to animals like your dog etc if they drink it etc.
What you'll need is some kind of big container or container to put the old coolant in , one reason I highly recommend the drain pan is bec the proper pan will have a basic funnel like molding built right into it that is designed to use to drain the pan out.
Once the rad stops draining coolant close the valve and add straight water to the rad either via the rad or over flow container and then keep adding water and start up the vehicle watch the level closely and keep adding water till the engine is warmed up and the over flow or rad is full.Then start again opening the valve to drain the coolant out , repeat this process until you notice only mainly clear water coming out of the rad.
What I do is then I make sure the level is up with water and start the vehicle and within a few mins the thermostat should open up again and allow the water to flow , once you know that has occurred , shut off the vehicle , open the valve up and drain water out.What is important is to try and get all the water you can out.So it might be wise to allow the rad to drain out all the water until it stops flowing , then close that valve and add just 100% factory recommended anti-freeze.
Trick here is to add enough anti-freeze to top it off and then with the cap off start the engine up allow the thermostat to open up so you can then top it off again but this time add a bit of distilled water if possible and then start it up run it do the same thing again but this time with engine off use a anti-freeze tester and test the coolant it shouldn't be mixed more then 50/50 and it should be indicating it's good for a good -40c.Just keep adding straight anti-freeze and distilled water until you have totally filled the rad , engine , over flow container up fully and have it mixed correctly.
There is another way I do that but if you've never done this job before I'd try using the rad drain valve otherwise it gets more messy lol and it can be dangerous too just you're disconnecting and reconnecting the lower rad hose instead.
Hope that helps and best of luck.By the way it be handy and very wise to have a Haynes etc owners manual that you can buy from places like walmart or parts stores for about 20 bucks or so so you can refer to it and to keep handy. One good habit is when ever you do any type of coolant system flush or change a water pump it's good to change the thermostat.What I also highly recommend is if you change any rad hose or hose clamps etc have new ones on handy and if you look around you can buy a whole set of assorted sizes in a kit form for fairly cheap.Another thing is when changing thermostats what I find the quickest and handiest is once you clean the two surfaces and dry them use a gasket maker , bec that helps to seal it better and to prevent leakage.
On the rad there should be a valve that you can open by turning it , once it's open coolant will flow out of the rad so you need to have a proper oil etc pan so it can catch the anti-freeze and try not to spill it bec it's toxic to animals like your dog etc if they drink it etc.
What you'll need is some kind of big container or container to put the old coolant in , one reason I highly recommend the drain pan is bec the proper pan will have a basic funnel like molding built right into it that is designed to use to drain the pan out.
Once the rad stops draining coolant close the valve and add straight water to the rad either via the rad or over flow container and then keep adding water and start up the vehicle watch the level closely and keep adding water till the engine is warmed up and the over flow or rad is full.Then start again opening the valve to drain the coolant out , repeat this process until you notice only mainly clear water coming out of the rad.
What I do is then I make sure the level is up with water and start the vehicle and within a few mins the thermostat should open up again and allow the water to flow , once you know that has occurred , shut off the vehicle , open the valve up and drain water out.What is important is to try and get all the water you can out.So it might be wise to allow the rad to drain out all the water until it stops flowing , then close that valve and add just 100% factory recommended anti-freeze.
Trick here is to add enough anti-freeze to top it off and then with the cap off start the engine up allow the thermostat to open up so you can then top it off again but this time add a bit of distilled water if possible and then start it up run it do the same thing again but this time with engine off use a anti-freeze tester and test the coolant it shouldn't be mixed more then 50/50 and it should be indicating it's good for a good -40c.Just keep adding straight anti-freeze and distilled water until you have totally filled the rad , engine , over flow container up fully and have it mixed correctly.
There is another way I do that but if you've never done this job before I'd try using the rad drain valve otherwise it gets more messy lol and it can be dangerous too just you're disconnecting and reconnecting the lower rad hose instead.
Hope that helps and best of luck.By the way it be handy and very wise to have a Haynes etc owners manual that you can buy from places like walmart or parts stores for about 20 bucks or so so you can refer to it and to keep handy. One good habit is when ever you do any type of coolant system flush or change a water pump it's good to change the thermostat.What I also highly recommend is if you change any rad hose or hose clamps etc have new ones on handy and if you look around you can buy a whole set of assorted sizes in a kit form for fairly cheap.Another thing is when changing thermostats what I find the quickest and handiest is once you clean the two surfaces and dry them use a gasket maker , bec that helps to seal it better and to prevent leakage.