I know this has been posted in the past (sure did like that search function...) especially during the huge outbreak of leaks, but I finally broke down and had the new revised intercooler put in my '00 and noticed that the dealer had added new antifreeze, but the Bar's Leaks I added a while ago is still present in sludgy chunks in the reservoir.

How do I go about flushing the system out? Is there a drain or do I pull off a hose? I'm thinking about flushing with water until clean, then adding the antifreeze/water mix.

Thanks!

 

The intercooler radiator (behind the lower front bumper) has a drain spigot at the bottom. You can drain it there but it won't empty the intercooler (inside the intake manifold). You can keep refilling it with water, letting it pump for a minute or two, and drain again. Repeat until your satisfied. I wouldn't recommend using that in your intercooler system again. Don't forget, when the intercooler developes a leak it leaks into your intake system and may cause some damage inside the cylinders. Good luck.

 

I just got done doing this when the 30k mile services came up.

The drain valve is located directly below the reservoir, but this only drains the fluid in the reservoir itself. To get the fluid in the engine, I had to idle the engine a little bit so the pump would push some of it out. Without taking the supercharger off, I don't think you can drain ALL the fluid out. Once the pump didn't extract anymore coolant, I just filled the reservoir with distilled water to flush it out and drained it the same way. Then just fill it up with coolant/water mix + whatever additives you like.

After much discussion with SVT and several other industry professionals, I think that cooling system 'additives' are a bad idea in water-to-air intercoolers, but there are some folks who swear by them and have had no problems at all.

Hope this helps,

 

Because the hoses connect above the upper intercooler the only way to get most of it out is to use a compressor and blow it out and keep adding distilled water until you're satified it's flushed completely. I don't know about recommending running the pump with nothing in it as I don't know how much it relies on the antifreeze for cooling/lubrication of the pump seals.

 

Thanks guys for the replies!

You're right jackman I normally wouldn't do the Bar's Leaks but at the time early last year, amid the glycol sucking into the motor scare, I thought it would be the lesser of two evils so I added it. Won't do it again.