i payed around $50 for the special locking tool for the hose clamps... nearly worth its weight in gold :lol:
just use the regular prestone green stuff and use only distilled water (if you didn't already...). it transfers heat much much better as it is 'wetter'. seems like you need a good flush. that prestone super rad flush stuff worked good for me. the water was really really brown! then i drained and filled with hose water, ran it again, and then drained that. the water came out nearly clear, and then i just drained and backflushed it a bit, making sure to get as much out as possible, then filled and everything was cool. i get soooo much heat out of my car now its amazing.
you must get the car up to temperature for the flushing agents to do their jobs properly... i'd say a good 30 mins of idling or even take a rip around the block (i didnt though, as putting the power steering pump on is a PITA). winter flushing sucks if you're doing it outside though. as stated above, with a good thermostat the rad barely gets any flow. you could always install a weak thermostat though just for flushing purposes...
I replaced my oil cooler secretly praying to the gasket Gods that it was comin' from there and not a smoked head gasket...no more oil in the coolant...for now...(touching wood)
You'll never really truly get all the oil out of the coolant passages anyway.
Before you put the ratching hose clamps on those hoses, take a real good look at the skin on your knuckles and decide if you like it or not; because you will lose some using that style of clamp when you get to the water pump. Young children nearby will learn "new" words. I'm sure the guy that designed that setup had 8 knuckles per finger and was a closet masochist.
That said (use the good ones with the special tool if you can); don't be tempted to use any copper-this or blue-that installing the new cooler because what squeezes in during the install will find its way elsewhere and cause serious problems.
Cheers,
Andy