60K Mile Coolant Change

radensb

I just hit 64K miles and have done all the other 60K maintenance stuff except the coolant change. I have read the FSM and checked out many threads on the forum about this and *think* I have a good understanding on what to do.

First off, many of the user preformed coolant changes discuss flushing the system with DI water (or distilled) to remove all of the old coolant vs removing the drain plugs on the block. It seems accessing the drain plugs on the block is a PITA. Is the multi-flush with DI an equivalent procedure?

I also plan to stick with Nissan Coolant. It seems people insist of flushing the coolant if using something other than Nissan OEM to ensure compatibility. My car is an '09 and has the green coolant in it, but it seems like the Blue stuff replaced it at some point (maybe when they went to a pressurized reservoir system?). I assume the newer Blue coolant is compatible with the green? If so, does that make the flush less important?

Many have talked about vacuum bleeding, but the FSM doesn't mention this and there is no bleed valve in the back heater hose. Is this something that is model year specific?

Thanks for the clarification!

My plan is to jack up the front of the car and drain the radiator. Then, flush once with DI water (for good measure) and replace the radiator hoses and thermostat (since its fairly easy to get to at that point). Finally, fill the radiator from the neck using Nissan Blue coolant with the top radiator bleed seal removed until it spills out. I got a radiator fill kit from Amazon to preform the "burp" procedure to finish filling the system and remove any air pockets while the front of the car is elevated.

Seems pretty straight forward and inline with other videos and discussions I have reviewed. Am I missing anything?

Thanks!