coolant change??

[PaulMP3]

I am changing my coolant, and i followed every direction given by the service manual (thanks to linuxracer) and it will only take about 1.25 gallons. after it was totally drained i filled it with water just to make sure i got it all out, bc last time i didnt. and when i filled it, it still has the old green it it?? i have yet to put the antifreeze or water wetter in yet bc i dont want to waste 15$. i am assuming the extra coolant is in the engine, but how do i get ti out???

Im in the process now so any help would be great.

 

[PaulMP3]

im about to fill her back up, i have flushed with water about 4 times now. Everytime i fill it wont take 7.9 qts. anyone got any clues???

 

[PaulMP3]

I filled it up, once again it only took 1.25 gallons. (confused) the manual says 7.9qts. which is about 2 gallons.

 

[MacProtege5]

you are just draining the radiator i would assume. thats why it is not taking 7.9 quarts. the 7.9 quarts is for the whole entire cooling system which is more then just the radiator

 

[PaulMP3]

thats what i thought. Now how would i go about draining the whole engine and radiator. I dont want to mix brands/colors or antifreeze. Plus i bought some water wetter that i want ot add. So i want to drain it all. Im "assuming" my water pump needs to come on to get the water out of the engine.

 

[MacProtege5]

no, the water pump does NOT need to come out, the best way to do this at home would be to get a vacuum pump of some sort, that hooks up to your radiator or possibly your hoses that connect to the engine, or just avoid that hassle altogether and get it done by a shop who already has the machine to do it and i think it would cost a bit though somewhere from 50-100 bucks or maybe pep boys or autozone could do it cheaper, i don't know

 

[vindication]

I just changed mine to but i didn't get to flush the whole engine out. when i filled it, it only took about 1.25 gallons like paulmp3 said. Is this fine or should I take it to a shop so they cain drain the whole thing? I bought the prestone coolant(green stuff and was wondering if this is fine? I'm gonna have the extra antifreeze in my car just in case it starts to overheat. It only taking 1.25 gallons is worrying me

 

[twilightprotege]

that's why you change the coolant when hot....so the thermostat is open. all the water when then come out and you can do a complete change.

 

[DZnutz]

yea dude i dont know why your having such a problem with this. take the car for a spin and warm it up nicely... then stop and drain the coolant, with the thermostat open youll drain about 95% of all the coolant. if your still paranoid about it then fill the whole system up with distilled water, warm the car up again and drain again... this way youll have gotten rid of 99% of the old stuff and given the cooling system a good flush

 

[SuperSpud]

yeah, just fill it up with water.. then drain it again, then, just let a hose run in it for a while with the plug out.. get most of it out..

are you going for a coolant/water mix?

 

[vindication]

thnx .

 

[mspdfreak]

So, how did it go?

 

[vindication]

I still havn't changed the whole thing out. I figure it shouldn't matter because it is the same exact stuff and plus I decided to change it at 30k miles not at the scheduled 45k. I'll completely change it out at the 45K mark. I figured that I should have changed it out when the thermostat was open, I realized this right after my post. The antifreeze I changed out looked pretty clean anyways.

 

[KyRaceFan]

Theres a block coolant drain plug, i havent looked for it on my car, but i know its there...
Also, might i suggest replacing the thermostat as well.. might be a good idea.

 

[osudewd]

yea dude i dont know why your having such a problem with this. take the car for a spin and warm it up nicely... then stop and drain the coolant, with the thermostat open youll drain about 95% of all the coolant. if your still paranoid about it then fill the whole system up with distilled water, warm the car up again and drain again... this way youll have gotten rid of 99% of the old stuff and given the cooling system a good flush

My owners manuel says, Don't remove the cooling system cap or drain plug when the engine is running or warm. And stuff about scalding coolant and steam. It also says it could damage the cooling system and engine. What's up with that?

 

[SciFiMan]

Man, I wish I had the time you guys have to dick around with stuff like this. Take it to a shop for $60 every spring and they can do it in 15 minutes and you don't have to find a way to dispose of the old coolant.

 

[osudewd]

that's why you change the coolant when hot....so the thermostat is open. all the water when then come out and you can do a complete change.

So it is ok to do this? My only concern is that the manuel says to do it only if it cool.

 

[LinuxRacr]

1st of all, follow the directions in the shop manual. What you have to do is once you get it full the 1st time, start the engine, and let it cycle thru after the car gets up to temp (read: Thermostat opens). Turn the car off, and observe the level in the radiator. It should be a little lower. If not, try squeezing the hoses that connect to the readiator. That usually helps to pump out hidden air bubbles, and suck water out. Repeat this several times until you can't put any more in, go for a drive, and observe the level. if still good after squeezing the hoses, then you are good! (thumb)

 

[twilightprotege]

osudewd - yep, no problems at all

 

[osudewd]

osudewd - yep, no problems at all

Ok, thanks. I figured they were just covering their asses in case someone burned themself changing it when hot.