One of the problems with properly disposing of used anti-freeze is collecting
it. The
radiator drains on every vehicle I've owned have been those little wing nuts
with a slot
in the threaded shaft - as you open the tap you get this rotating spray of
coolant gushing
out, and then when you have it opened a sufficient amount to drain freely, the
downward
stream is usually directed right at a frame rail or other obstruction,
splattering coolant
all over. They always tell you to remove the block drain plug, too - usually
equally
inconveniently placed - to allow the block to be flushed, too.
Prestone makes a back flush kit that consists of a tee fitting with a screw-on
cap on the
single leg and an ell that fits into the mouth of the radiator opening. The tee
is
installed midspan in the return line from the heater core - you have to cut
the hose and
hose clamp the fitting in place. To flush the system you remove the cap from
the tee,
attach an adapter which comes with the kit, and attach your garden hose to the
adapter.
Remove the radiator cap and install the ell. What Prestone would have you do is
set the
heater to High ( to circulate coolant through the heater core), start the
engine and turn
on the tap, circulating fresh water through the entire cooling system.
Unfortunately this
results in water (and antifreeze and the crud that has settled at the bottom of
the
cooling passages) spouting out of the ell, down the driveway and eventually (in
my part of
the world) ending up in San Francisco Bay.
Here's a handy (and environmentally-friendly) way to deal with that
anti-freeze. Get a
length of hose that fits over the ell and run it to the clean-out fitting
sticking out of
the wall of the house next to the driveway. This allows that nasty ol'
antifreeze to be
flushed directly down the drain (and treated) instead of washing untreated in
the the
water supply, AND you don't have to tote a bucket of it into the house to dump
it down the
toilet.
This might not work out for a lot of folks, due either to inaccessibility of
the plumbing
clean-out or unwillingness to cut into a perfectly good heater hose and have
this
(admittedly) tacky-looking fitting hanging about in the engine compartment, but
it can be
a neat and tidy solution to a vexing problem.
Gary McCormick
San Jose, CA
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Thomas Walter wrote:
>
> [snip]
>
> Depending on where you live, and the hazardous collection, it
> will vary. NEVER POUR ANTI-FREEZE down a storm drain. Draining
> in the driveway, and letting it run down the street is not
> recommended. Used to be in Texas, they ask that you FLUSH the
> used antifreeze down the toilet, but now the recycle places will
> have a drum for it.
>
> [snip]
>
> Tom Walter
> Austin, TX.
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