A trip to the rad shop is usually the quick way, expect to spend ~ 45.00 for
a clean, pressure check and minor leak repair.
The other way is to buy some "Fernco plumbing caps" from the local home
center. These caps are rubber with a hose clamp attached. Find the proper
size by measuring the rad fittings and measure the caps as they are sized by
pipe ID rather than OD.
Next use a pump up rad tester, bicycle pump, or turn the air regulator down
on your air compressor. Look on your rad cap for a pressure limit and don't
go too far over when testing. A 15 PSI system should hold ~ 18 PSI safely.
DO NOT use too much pressure, the rad will pop! Install the rad cap and pump
the air into the overflow hose.
Dunk the rad in a pan of water and look for leaks.
As for flushing the rad, filling with water, shaking then running a garden
hose intot he fittings is usually enough for a mildly dirty rad. Heavy scale
requires tank removal and pushing thin metal strips through the tubes. (
Roding out a rad)
Harold
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