Draining Coolant

Question, one of the things I’m probably gonna start when I get back to America is buying junk cars and tearing them apart before I scrap them until I can get my compressor line going again. One of the things I was trying to figure out is how would one go about removing the majority of a cars coolant quickly with the least amount of mess possible? I’ve seen ways of just dropping a hose in the radiator and sucking it out from there but will that get enough out to rip the engine out without getting coolant everywhere? I also know you can hook up fittings to the heater lines and hook up garden hoses and flush it out till it’s just water, but I may not have access to a hose while doing this.

I used to to tear the cars apart at the yard for awhile, but if I start tearing them up on my own i’m Trying to do it with less pollution then we had at the yard. Also does anyone know if coolant has any recycling value or will I just have to take it to auto zone and get rid of it?

It is easy to cut the radiator line and drain it into a bucket. Using a funnel and gas can makes it more efficient. Taking the motor out does not seem time or labor efficient unless the engine runs and it is being moved to another vehicle. I just leave the antifreeze that is in the motor and sell it that way. As far as value, I have not found a market in my neck of the woods.

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Originally Posted by Patriot76

It is easy to cut the radiator line and drain it into a bucket. Using a funnel and gas can makes it more efficient. Taking the motor out does not seem time or labor efficient unless the engine runs and it is being moved to another vehicle. I just leave the antifreeze that is in the motor and sell it that way. As far as value, I have not found a market in my neck of the woods.

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Yeah I’ll probably just end up setting up some sorta system like that then. As far as the reason for taking the motor out if I can get them out quick enough aluminum block was paying twice what the price of cars were at the place I worked at. Transmissions were about 1.5 times as much as cars. Even more if you came in with a semi load of em. I think bulk engine block was 27 cents a pound when cars were 7. But most people just rip em out with an excavator so they sell the whole engine and tranny together for like 19-21 cents a pound at the time. Wholesale any way. Normal guys off the street we’re not getting that much. Steel engines I might not bother with. They were only a penny higher.

I don’t really like leaving as many fluids in as we did at the yard so I was gonna set up something to drain oil/trans, fuel, brake/steering fluid, coolant, Freon and wiper fluid. Possibly gear oil as well. We used to just hit the pans with an air hammer and drain into a bucket at the yard. Then hit the fuel tank with some fancy drill with a centrifuge attached to it. I was probably just gonna us a normal air drill and funnel system for that till I get more land to set up a drain rack.

I figure if i’m Taking the cars apart as much as we did at the yard I won’t have to move as many of them to get the same amount of profits. Just spend a little bit of extra time on each one as opposed to hauling In like 4 a day.

dont forget cores om the starters and alternators. might as well sell the harness separate too

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Originally Posted by MattInTheHat

dont forget cores om the starters and alternators. might as well sell the harness separate too

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Oh yeah. Definitely. Cats, rims, reasonable amounts of wire, battery, engine, trans, fords new aluminum body’s, alt. Starter and ac compressors, and rads. Plus what ever other usable stuff I can get off easy. Like I know these new cars have ballasts in the head light or something that one of the core buyers in Boyertown was looking for.