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There are commercial radiator flushing products on the market that are safe, but I've never found them to do much more than flush your wallet. Pressure backflushing usually is outside the ability of the home mechanic, but is somewhat more effective. For the most part, simply draining the cooling system using the radiator cock, then running water from a hose into the radiator until the drained water runs clear is sufficient. If your radiator hoses are old, it is a good time to replace them. Allow the draining to complete, then add the appropriate amount of antifreeze. The specified cooling system capacity is about 17 quarts, a bit over 4 gallons. Not all coolant will be drained, so a normal refill is a bit less. We usually install two gallons of antifreeze, then add water until the radiator is full to the top. Start and run the engine until it is at operating temperature to allow the thermostats to open, and the coolant to be circulated, removing air pockets, including the heater, if you have one. Add water to bring the radiator level at least to the bottom of the filler tube. Recheck the level after driving the car some distance. Some use distilled water in the system. Softened water is also acceptable. If you are not installing antifreeze, be sure to add a container of anti rust, which is a good idea at the beginning of each year the whole system isn't flushed. Don't be surprised if some coolant escapes from the overflow, as glycol expands, and if it exceeds the pressure rating of the cap, some will be expelled until the amount reaches normal.
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along time ago i used to use oakite to clean cooling systems, now i would use duponts rad. flush, take out the thermostats first, and then when you flush out the engine and the radiator you can go top to botom , bottom to top until you see clean water coming out. put the thermos stats back in, use 50/50 antifreeze, it cools better, and get a good temp guage
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