A radiator flush is a fancy name for a radiator cleaning. It's how you clean out your radiator, and, thus, your entire cooling system. A radiator flush is easy to do - and it's also incredibly important to do.

A good radiator flush should be done about once a year. That way, you can get rid of any grime, debris, and corrosion that has started to accumulate. If you let all of that stuff sit inside your radiator, it can lead to clogs and leaks. Eventually, if the problem gets bad enough, coolant will not be able to make its way into the engine - and you will wind up with serious damage.

If you are going to do a radiator flush on your own, these steps should help you out.

1. Let the engine cool down completely. Trying to work with a hot engine can lead to serious burns from the hot coolant inside. If you've just turned off the engine, you will need to wait for at least 30 minutes while it cools off.

2. Drain the old coolant. Find the radiator drain plug, remove it, and let the old coolant spill out. Just be sure to have a container handy to catch it. Coolant can kill kids or pets if they drink it, so make sure there aren't any puddles of coolant lying around. Once all of the old coolant is gone, replace the drain plug.

3. Pour in the radiator flush solution. You can find a flush solution in virtually any auto parts store. Simply pour it into your radiator.

4. Add water. Once you've poured in the flush solution for your radiator, pour in enough water so that the radiator is full. However, just regular tap water isn't good enough. Tap water contains minerals and sediment that can leave deposits behind and clog your radiator. For the very best radiator flush, use distilled water.

5. Tighten the radiator cap, and start the car. Let the engine run until your thermometer reaches its normal operating temperature - or, the temperature that you normally see when you're driving around town.

6. Turn on your car's heater. Set your heater on the highest possible temperature, and let it run for about 10 minutes.

7. Turn the car off, and let the engine cool off. You're almost done - but you've still got a little bit of work left to do. To do it, you'll need a cool engine, so let your car sit for another 30 minutes so that it can cool off.

8. Drain the radiator flush solution. Just like you did with the old coolant, remove the drain cap and let the radiator flush solution run out.

9. And now the final step. Add new coolant replace the drain cap and pour in new coolant ... and you're done.

If you take good care of your car and help prevent future radiator repair, it will take good care of you. Treat yours the right way with a frequent and proper radiator flush.