AAA94
Enthusiast
Hello everyone, I think it’s time to flush the coolant in my 2016 GT. It has about 8600miles on it. Anyone have useful info for the steps in doing this? Thanks.
Coolant Flush Gen V
- Thread starter AAA94
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Phantomapollyon
Enthusiast
First off, I'm not a mechanic or fluid/lubrication engineer, but I'm fairly close to several mechanics and one fluid engineer, and I have worked on cars for about 20 years so that's where my opinions stem from. In my opinion there's almost no realistic situation in which coolant changes should go longer than even every ~5 years regardless of the mileage/use. While the coolant could/would be transferring heat just fine at 10 years, the lubricating and anti-corrosion additives in most coolants generally don't last anywhere near that long.(this part is not really an opinion statement, it's just science) If yours has never been changed over that 10 years, then I would say at minimum a drain/fill would be smart, but probably also a flush since it's waited that long. You will find people that tell you a coolant flush is just wasting coolant and throwing away money, and in some cases that can be true, but I have personally observed murky fluid that looked nothing like coolant come out of cars getting flushes enough times to know that it's cheap insurance and not a myth.
As to the method, while I'm sure you can do it or have it done the more traditional way, I would highly recommend looking into a vacuum fill to avoid any air pocket shenanigans. There are certainly times where air pockets can happen even with vacuum filling, but it's pretty uncommon in my experience vs. being nearly guaranteed to some extent with the traditional drain/fill method with no vacuum. If you've never seen this method before, HERE is a good video showing it with albeit an overly dramatic title. I don't know that a full flush is necessary when you're doing very regular changes, but if you went to a place that vacuum fills then they probably also can do a flush very easily with a fluid exchanger/flush machine. Hope this helps in some way and Happy New Year!
Steve M
Enthusiast
IMO and experience, vacuum assist filling the coolant on Gen 3/4/5 cars is way overthinking the problem. While there are some cars that require it due to a poorly designed system (and I've owned a car like that), the Viper isn't one of them. I've been following Royalty Auto Service for about the past year or so, and while a lot of their info is good, some of it is just click-bait and almost all of it is too long since that is how the YouTube/Facebook algorithms work.
A coolant drain/refill is a very DIY-friendly job on these cars with no special tools required (Gen 3/4/5 are all about the same). I've done it about every 6 years or so on mine and have never had an issue. As long as you use the correct type of coolant for your application along with distilled water (i.e., don't just grab your garden hose), you really can't screw it up.
Just dig in, get your hands a little dirty, and get 'er done.
A coolant drain/refill is a very DIY-friendly job on these cars with no special tools required (Gen 3/4/5 are all about the same). I've done it about every 6 years or so on mine and have never had an issue. As long as you use the correct type of coolant for your application along with distilled water (i.e., don't just grab your garden hose), you really can't screw it up.
Just dig in, get your hands a little dirty, and get 'er done.
I just use this on all my cars and works great.
Steve M
Enthusiast
I bought one after my last Viper coolant swap...would have helped tremendously to keep from making the mess I did. Ended up using it on one of the daily drivers, and it worked great. I will definitely be using it the next time I swap coolant on the Viper.
Ya the nice thing about it is you can fill up the funnel pretty high and because of this, the fluid level is higher than the block etc.. and no need for Burping. Just kick back and let it do its thing, cap it off when done, no spillage.
Old School
Enthusiast
I’ve had to fill my coolant several times, for various reasons, in my GEN 3. Never really had a burping or air pocket problem, just drive for 40 or 50 miles and top off the reservoir.
My method has been disconnect the upper radiator hose at the thermostat housing, pour 3 gallons of coolant directly into the upper hose, you can do this in about three minutes. Reconnect the hose and fill the reservoir. This method works well for people like me without much patience.
My method has been disconnect the upper radiator hose at the thermostat housing, pour 3 gallons of coolant directly into the upper hose, you can do this in about three minutes. Reconnect the hose and fill the reservoir. This method works well for people like me without much patience.
My first change I did that as well. Havant done that since buying the Funnel.
Phantomapollyon
Enthusiast
Yep, that's totally something you can do, but that alone won't give you the full picture.
If you're truly trying to test either before before changing or just because you're curious, you'd want to go with a 4 way test strip to validate nitrite, molybdate, glycol, and pH level. After that, or maybe even before that to save you from buying strips you might not need, you'd want to grab a multimeter to test for electrolysis too. With OP being at 10 years though, it'd be hardly worth the effort to bother testing since a lot of the additives are going to have been spent long ago.
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AAA94
Enthusiast
Thanks for all the replies. I looked into the funnel and purchased one from Amazon to make things easier when refilling.
Does anyone have a link to a step guide to draining the coolant? I’m sure I can find the radiator drain, just not sure where the block one would be or any additional ones.
Also since I am not doing a full flush, just drain and refill. I will be using the same OEM coolant from the dealer. Is the correct part number 68163848AB?
Lastly, this is up for discussion. Traditionally a 50/50 mix is what I have been used to doing. The car will never see cold (South Florida car). Do you think 50/50 is still a good mix?
Does anyone have a link to a step guide to draining the coolant? I’m sure I can find the radiator drain, just not sure where the block one would be or any additional ones.
Also since I am not doing a full flush, just drain and refill. I will be using the same OEM coolant from the dealer. Is the correct part number 68163848AB?
Lastly, this is up for discussion. Traditionally a 50/50 mix is what I have been used to doing. The car will never see cold (South Florida car). Do you think 50/50 is still a good mix?
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Steve M
Enthusiast
Don't bother with the block drains.
Phantomapollyon
Enthusiast
A 50/50 mix of coolant/distilled is what the FSM suggests is the correct procedure.
These are the listed steps for the drain process:
1.Remove the coolant bottle pressure cap.
2.Raise the vehicle on a hoist.
NOTE:
For access to the radiator draincock, it is necessary to remove the front extension belly pan
3.Open the radiator draincock located at the lower left side of radiator.
4.Remove the engine block drain plug(s).
These are the listed steps for the fill process:
1.Close the radiator draincock.
2.Install the engine block drain plugs.
3.Attach one end of a 6.35 mm (0.250 in.) ID clear hose that is approximately 1200 mm (48 in.) long, to the bleed screw.
4.Route the hose away from the accessory drive belt, drive pulleys and cooling fan. Place the other end of hose into a clean container. The hose will prevent coolant from contacting the accessory drive belt when bleeding the system during the refilling operation.
NOTE:
It is imperative that the cooling system air bleed screw be opened before any coolant is added to the cooling system. Failure to open the bleed screw first will result in an incomplete fill of the system.
5.Open the cooling system bleed screw.
6.Pour a 50/50 mix of Mopar® Antifreeze/Coolant, 5 Year/100,000 Mile Formula and distilled water into the coolant pressure bottle.
7.Slowly fill the cooling system until a steady stream of coolant flows from the hose attached to the bleed screw
8.Close the bleed screw and continue filling the system to the top of the COLD FILL RANGE .
9.Remove the hose from bleed screw.
10.Install the cap on the coolant pressure bottle.
11.Start and run the engine until it reaches operating temperature.
AAA94
Enthusiast
Thanks for this! Exactly what I was looking for.
I think my only last two questions is can someone verify that 68163848AB is the correct coolant?
And lastly for anyone who has done this, how much total fluid did you need to drain and fill? So I can buy the correct amount of distilled-coolant.
Thank you!!!!
Old School
Enthusiast
You will need a total of 4 gallons, 2 anti-freeze, 2 distilled water. If a Gen5 is like a Gen3, when you remove the left side block drain, it will drain directly on your starter.
AAA94
Enthusiast
I’m going to take a look at the bloc drains when under the car. If they are going to drain onto anything important I am just going to forgo that part.
I didn’t even notice that there is a small bleeder valve on the housing near the thermostat that needs to be open. (Thanks to Phantom for the instruction)
Way too much over-thinking here.
*open coolant reservoir and drain radiator
*fill coolant reservoir (buy 4 jugs of Zerex G05 pre-mixed ... gen 4/5 use HOAT)
*start it up and let it run for like 20 seconds, re-filling reservoir until it stops sucking it in
*restart and let it idle until radiator fans come on, then turn it off and let it cool down stone cold so all the coolant gets sucked in
*refill and start driving, keeping an eye on the coolant level for the first drive or two since it will likely need a top-up
This isn't a boat, you don't need to drain the block. Leaving a bit of old coolant behind that will get mixed with the new coolant isn't the end of world and is a hell of a lot better than going down the rabbit hole of 'is that plug going to strip out and force me to drill it out'
*open coolant reservoir and drain radiator
*fill coolant reservoir (buy 4 jugs of Zerex G05 pre-mixed ... gen 4/5 use HOAT)
*start it up and let it run for like 20 seconds, re-filling reservoir until it stops sucking it in
*restart and let it idle until radiator fans come on, then turn it off and let it cool down stone cold so all the coolant gets sucked in
*refill and start driving, keeping an eye on the coolant level for the first drive or two since it will likely need a top-up
This isn't a boat, you don't need to drain the block. Leaving a bit of old coolant behind that will get mixed with the new coolant isn't the end of world and is a hell of a lot better than going down the rabbit hole of 'is that plug going to strip out and force me to drill it out'
Steve M
Enthusiast
Bingo...stripped plugs and pouring coolant onto things you don't want coolant on are exactly why I suggested not bothering with the block drains.
