Hey Y'all

First post on this site! I recently acquired a 2004 Cavalier 2.2 Ecotech and I've been doing a lot of work to it, some maintenance items to bring everything up to date.
So far I've replaced both sides front brake hoses, pads and rotors, air & fuel filters, cleaned the throttle body, replaced the drive belt and serviced the trans.

At this point, everything is in good shape, I would like to replace spark plugs and I'm assuming go with AC delco whatever the OE replacement is, correct?

Also - I want to flush the cooling system but it looks like removing the thermostat is a real PITA on the EcoTech based on posts I've read.

The thermostat is working just fine, so I'm wondering is there any way to flush the block without removing the thermostat? If so, please let me know how I can flush the cooling system without removing the Thermostat. I understand for the radiator I can loosen the petcock or remove the lower hose and flush that and remove the expansion tank and flush that, but I don't know how to flush the block without removing the T-stat so any help would be much appreciated.

Thanks in advance,
Greg

Your over thinking a simple project.My suggestion is drain the cooling system,Next add water to bring the system back up to full.I then add 1 bottle of lime away OR a knock off brand like from dollar general (or otherwise) for a $1.00 or 2.Let the car idle for 15-20 minutes with the heat ON high and if you want(place cardboard in front of the radiator) this speeds up the heat up time.Once the temp comes up to normal in said time,let cool then drain.I would then add soley water and go back thru the 15-20minute idle time and then redrain.I recommend doing a water flush 2 times to remove any debris and or residue from the lime away.Then the final step is your final step add the coolant of your choice Green or dex and done.I recommend leaving the radiator cap or reservoir cap this allows the air bubbles to escape and do this on each step.I suggest the lime away for 2 reasons it is clears out debris and or gunk,build up ALOT better than the worthless prestone or off brand coolant flushes and this product removes gook that most of the typical brand cleaners will not.I will say I TRUST this method 100% as I do this on all of my own rides and others and have had zero problems using said product as a result.Btw the lime away will clear out the water ports or jackets a lot better and RUST hand over fist all day long.Easy and about a hour of time to do this clean,2 rinse cycles and last the real coolant and level off and done.

Not sure if this is the proper way but what I did was open up the drain valve on the rad and opened up the fill on the coolant reservoir and just ran water from a hose, let vehicle run while pumping water for a few mins to blow out everything from fill to exit. Make sure after turning the water off and shut the car off u empty remaining water from the rad to prevent corrosion


ReD RaiN

Thanks for the posts I appreciate them. My coolant is not dirty presently so I'm not interested in putting any flush chemicals through it. I would like to just flush with water. So if there's no way to flush the block with the themostast still in the car then it looks like I'm stuck with flushing multiple times with water and then filling with fresh dexcool in the end

Any other suggestions?

Thanks
Greg

Well If your going to have to drain the system why not just flush it with lime away?Water is not really going to clear the water jackets unlike a chemical will.The lime away will break down the deposits and clear things more effectively.Just my take as said the coolant flushes just do not make the better difference removing crud over lime away or even CLR.

I understand what you mean. My concern about using one of those chemicals is whether they will cause any damage to the head gasket or deposit any crud that gets broken loose in the heater core. But i do appreciate your thoughts and help

I can vouch 100% on using the lime away or knock off brands being safe! I have used this in multiple cars,mazda,honda and not one problem with the head gasket,heater core or cooling system period.I ran this product in my 87 mazda truck with a new radiator and wp and heater core and my gah the crap that got flushed out of the block was astounding.I did like two clean water flushes after the product and crystal clear water and this was 4 years ago.Truck is fine and as long you flush with clean water at least two times it clears the build up out.The benefit to the product I suggest is it removes more calcium and rust that does develop in a typical cooling system unlike the normal prestone products I used and trusted for years.I do not discount prestone products unless I find a better solution for removing MORE goo than what I have used for like the last 28 years.Just say'n