I'll let Andrul do the write up. My car came from Southern California where heaters are rarely used. To reverse flush it I put a garden hose up under the dash attached to the heater core and turned it on, scary! It made big improvement on my car. ps I DID NOT give it the full 40 lbs PSI of hose pressure.
Outlet is here. Follow the larger hose under your front right wheel where it merges into the main return pipe from the radiator back to the engine. Disconnect it along with your inlet. Connect proper hose adapters to your garden hose and back flush from outlet. Then reverse the flush back and forth a few times. Watch the pressure, your plumbing under pressure is only ~14psi, you don't want the full 30-40psi from the garden hose. Image Unavailable, Please Login
Has anyone actually ever changed out this heater hose? I have seen threads about the main coolant hoses, but never on this one.
My 3.2 Coupe also spent its entire life in California (until August) and I suspect the heater was never used. Here in Connecticut I have driven the car on some really cold days, and used the heater. It works great, but I have noticed a slight smell from the heater during use that I can’t describe. I don’t think it smells like antifreeze. I can also hear slight gurgling noises from the heater core/piping, especially after some spirited driving. There is no visible leaking from the core, or condensation on the windows to suggest a leaky core. It has amazed me how little I have felt I needed the heater. The natural greenhouse effect, plus coolant circulating from radiator to the engine seems to keep the cabin a very comfortable temperature.
I used my heater for the first time a week ago. Worked well but I heard like a click noise from the dash every 5-7 seconds when the heater was on.
Nice! IMHO you should not use tap water unless you "fully" drain your system afterwards, which is quite impossible and that immediately give you the issue on the longer run if tap water stays in. Although the tap water is absolutely drinkable it is the very opposite for your engine as it is not demineralized. One should use demineralized water. The minerals in tap water will have effect on your cylinder head, thermostat and head gasket and many more areas eventually. I think it is a very nice procedure btw if when you do not want to drain most of the system.
Yes, as a precaution, the heater core was completely rinsed out with coolant after flushed. However, compare to the nasty slush that came out of the heater core, a few oz. of tap water left after rinsing, if any, mixed in with a total of 5.2 Gallons of coolant won't matter much.