Reply With QuoteThere is a drain plug in the bottom of the radiator.
Go buy a service manual it will defiantly help.
Coolant Flush on a 99 miata
Well I'm finally here... doing my absolute first mechanical thing to a car... other than changing a tire.
I noticed the coolant I had was very dirty... I pointed it out to my father... and he said I should flush it and put new coolant in. So I gave it a shot.
Here's where I'm at.... lol.... I found the lowest point I could get to (side of the engine, couldn't get to the one on the underside of the car through that little "door") I pulled the clamp off... and for about 30 minutes... I tried to get that hose off. It refuses to move. I've twisted, pulled, yanked, tried to jimmy it out with pliers... and risked breaking it... What should I do? Is there a method to get these off that doesnt involve me buying a new hose for 50 bucks or whatever they cost? Is there another method to flushing?
There is a drain plug in the bottom of the radiator.
Go buy a service manual it will defiantly help.
You need to take a pick and work it around the hose to break it loose.
You probably should buy all new hoses, just FYI. How many miles on the car? If the hoses are original, it's probably about time to replace them all, regardless of mileage.
But be careful you can inflict damage if you don't know what your doing. Especially if it is still the original 12 year old plastic radiator.Originally Posted by Titus
You need to take a pick and work it around the hose to break it loose.
You help me in every thread! Thanks lol.
I will be searching for this drain plug.
That manual thing is $300!!! Crazy!
80k miles... but I'd rather not replace all the hoses. That's a bit pricey. I was told they are around $50 each.
Yeah that tool looks like it's dying to destroy my hoses. Will the radiator plug do the same thing pulling this hose off will? It's a little hard to get under my car... though I've not tried to jack it up using the spare tire jack (I dont have any others) Also I'm a little worried about having the car slam down on my head and die.... lol.
You were told wrong on the prices. Who they hell is giving you all this misinformation? Is it your interweb friends?
Take a minute and review this please - http://www.techguys.ca/howto/coolant_flush.html
My dad. He hates Mazda though... so when he says things it's like this "Damn Mazda probably charged $50 a hose too." "A Mazda service manual? That's $300 for sure. Those cheap bastards." Perhaps I should stop listening to him..... he knows a lot though.... he could drain the coolant in 5 seconds but he wants me to learn.
This website is helpful though, I'm thinking of investing in those little rubber blocks.
Preventative maintenance sucks like that. At 80k miles and 12 years old, you should start thinking about replacing those all. Get silicone ones though, not factory rubber. You're looking at about $115 for the two silicone hoses.
Sounds like your dad isn't a fan of your new car.
You really need to stop this project now and review what you need to do before you screw up the car and/or yourself.
No he is not. Not at all. My car is unsafe, built by morons, doesn't last long, is expensive to repair, and I'm going to burn out 800 clutches in the next month. That is according to my father....
I think the car is unsafe, built like any other car, lasts incredibly long, is CHEAP to repair, and I'm hoping not to burn any clutches out anytime soon.
But yeah... I feel pretty lame not being able to do a simple coolant flush. I'm going to head down to Auto Zone and browse for things that might help me. Those little rubber car lift things look like a good idea, and probably not too expensive. I really just need 2 inches to fit under the car completely, I'm a small guy.
I know on my NA 1.6, there are about eight hoses to replace. If you replace your hoses, then make sure you get all of them.
Yeah I was going to say that. Looked like a lot more than 2 hoses.
Yes, there are more than two hoses. I was talking about the two main radiator hoses - the ones you are trying to remove. Instead of trying not to damage the 12 year old rubber factory lower hose, you should replace it. There is no point to replace the bottom radiator hose and not the top one, hence suggesting replacing both. If you can't figure out how to remove the lower hose, suggesting all the other little hoses is futile (which I actually did in my original reply).
All the other little hoses should be replaced as well, yes, but so should a lot of other things that I'm sure are still original on that car.
Well here's what my plan is.
Go to Autozone, buy 2 of those black rubber slanted things to drive the car up on, find this drain plug on the bottom of the radiator. Open it, open the top part so the coolant flows faster. Put the drain plug back in, fill it full of water, turn the car on for 5 minutes, turn it off, wait an hour, drain it again, fill it full of antifreeze + distilled water in a 50/50 mixture ratio, run it for 5 minutes see if it works, then job complete.
First thing I would do is get a set of Jack stands or ramps. They're a lot cheaper than the emergency room. If you're broke I have an extra set of jack stands you could borrow, but please for the love of God dont crawl under there with just the scissor jack supporting the car.
Oh and it's been said already, but be VERY careful getting the hose off. The outlet on the OEM radiator is plastic and after a few years gets more brittle than you would think.
Edit: my post seems a little late. I refreshed and there were half a page of responses I didn't see. Oh well.
Last edited by Jiggerachi; 09-15-2011 at 10:28 AM.
'94 C-Package Black & Tan | MS3x | exhintake | USDM Tein Monoflex 10/8k | My 8 year roadster evolution
Make sure that when you're running it during the final fill, that you turn the *heat* on full blast while it's running so you burp everything, including the heater core. You'll be there with jug in hand for more than 5 minutes, just FYI.
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