I have a tap water/coolant mix in my HHR currently.

Is there a way to get it all out on the first drain? Or will I have to run distilled water through it a few times to get the tap water out as much as possible?

I read on some other threads to drain from the pet**** and water pump drain plug with the t-stat out. Will this do this trick? Or will have to do this a few times with distilled water before filling with the mix?

 

Tap water is fine, unless you have really hard water. Just flush until clear T-stat out.

To answer the question; no, you can get close if you remove the plug on the bottom of the water pump first then the lower hose.

No need to get anal about it. Just the 50/50 Dexcool part.

 

FYI, the premixed coolant, all brands use deionized water for the mix.
Deionized water is one step cleaner than most distilled water.

 

How to drain 100% of the coolant ...

To be honest, I don't know if there is a drain hole in the HHR cylinder block. If there is, you need to take advantage of this. If this is not the case, simply disconnect the lower radiator hose.

After all the liquid has flowed out, its remains must be squeezed out by pressure. Some use a compressor (to inflate tires). But for this you need to figure out how to attach it to the pipes. Sometimes a cork is made from a piece of tire or something else that ensures tightness.

But they usually do it easier. Just start the engine for a SHORT time. The water pump drives out the remaining liquid. IMPORTANT!!! The engine without antifreeze will heat up very quickly, carefully monitor the devices and do not allow heating above normal minus 10%. In our case, 89C - 10% = 80C. The readings of the standard instrument on the dashboard are enough.

Of course, all work must be started on a COLD engine. This way you will not burn yourself and will have a lot of time for the water pump to run.

 

As previously said, the drain plug at the bottom back of the water pump will drain the block and the pet**** will drain the radiator.
You can run a gallon of water thru the block to rinse it if you wish.

Both the inlet and outlet of the radiator are near the top of the block and water doesn't run uphill so use the water pump plug.

And never run an engine with nothing in it, at least have water in it.
The cylinder wall will be too hot to touch within 15 seconds. Don't risk it.

 

this guy wants to kick water out of the engine

 

The reason I suggest removing the water pump plug first is that is the closest thing to a block plug. Get the water out of the head first, then pop the lower hose off to get the radiator and the transfer tube emptied.
Otherwise the water will get "air locked" in the head. Of course, remove the t-stat, then the hose

 

So this is a good way, thorough, risk-free. For work in the garage.
But you need to unscrew a lot of nuts. I think that many will not be confused and they will do just that.

My way for other cases, for example: there are no wrenches at hand, the lift is not available, you are in a bare field ... (although why would you urgently drain the liquid in an open field?) ...
Perfect for a lazy nihilist, too .

If this were my engine, I would not get rid of the remaining water. As the guys wrote above, I would just buy antifreeze concentrate and prepared water and mix all this without disassembling the cooling system right inside. The remainder of the water cannot be critical, no more than 1 liter. And even if it is tap water, its negative properties are largely neutralized by the properties of the cooling mixture. The resulting Antifreeze will not turn out to be ideal, but it will not be harmful even to a minimal extent, the more dangerous.

 

Yes, as I started with: K.I.S.S. Keep It Simple Silly.