Imprezive

Hi Guys, I'm fitting a new rad tomorrow to a my97 (if it arrives),
any advice on best way to flush whole system - or is flushing no no?
I'm assuming, remove old rad, rad cap and thermostat and insert garden hose
in the tank???

Had to put some of that flakey rad sealant in the other evening as a stop gap so to speak, but in hindsight this was maybe a bad thing to do.
Also what is the water/antifreeze ratio and quantity needed for whole system?

Any advice greatly appreciated, as i'll just be telling the wife what to do!!

Thanks in advance,
Billy

Imprezive

Some one must have done this job before???

Thanks,
B

Jolly Green Monster

iTrader: (4)

remove the rad and most will come out when you remove the bottom hose..

no need to remove the thermostate as it never fully closes..

you can then run the hose in the header tank on the left and water should come out of the bottom hose.. or put the hose in the top hose.. top left connection from the rad etc..

Best way would be to fill with just water and run the car for a week with new rad and then drain and refill and do that a couple of times..

coolant mix varies from make to make but about a 1 to 5 parts coolant to water I think.. roughly 7litres in the system to just over half a litre of coolant etc..
from memory that though.

Imprezive

I posted this 2hrs ago and no one seem to be able to offer any advice,
do all you guys have this done at the dealership then?? Wonder how many
repies my wife would have got if she'd asked the question? Not to worry, looks like
i'll just have busk it,lol. I don't think it can be to hard, but was just asking for a little
of someones knowledge.

B

Imprezive

Jolly Green Monster - very much appreciated m8, thank you for the advise, sounds like what i was planning to do, Thanks for the clutch advice in the scottish forum a few evenings ago also.

Regards
Billy.

Jolly Green Monster

iTrader: (4)

Also once all connected back up pour water into the header tank very slowly and it will make lots of nice gurgle noises.. when it is full and you cannot get more in squeeze the bottom hose on the rad a couple of times and you should get some bubbles and the header tank level will drop.. repeat a few times.. once you cannot get the header tank to drop.. fill the over flow by the battery and take the car for a drive around the block, let it cool and top it up again.. should them be fine but worth getting the car fully warmed up and letting it cool and checking level etc..

The rad hoses will be stuck onto the rad rather well.. you can either level them carefully with a screwdriver, or sometime twisting them releases the grip once the clamp it removed etc.. the rad you are removing being no good means you can be fairly aggressive with the screwdriver

Imprezive

Thanks jolly, got the rad today after having to collect from the gyle - long story,
But new rad has only 1 union for the header tank, IIRC mine has 2 from the header going into the rad???
Hopfully i'm mistaken.
My heads gona be mess with stress tonight untill i know for sure that the new rad is the correct one.

Can you clarifie if its 1 or 2 unions that i should have on the new unit ( there is the 2 big ones obviously).
Is the fan switch on the block or should that be on the rad also.
Things are feeling quite bad just now.

Thanks in advance m8

Billy

scoobyboy

the thermostat never fully closes?? they do on all the cars i change the coolant on at work because i remove it to drain the system. and when refilling i fill through the top hose first and then the header tank afterwards. the newer ones are great with the 2 pressure caps you can fill the engine and the rad and it don't take half as long to get the air out.

Jolly Green Monster

iTrader: (4)

I didn't think the thermostate fully closed.. but could be wrong Scoobyboy..

scoobyboy

if it doesn't fully close you get a constant supply of cold water going around the engine and it can't heat up as quick. the thermostat blocks the flow allowing the engine to heat up until it gets to the preset temperature of the thermostat about 87 degrees then it opens and lets the water flow around the engine it then regulates the temp of the engine by opening an closing slightly as you drive i.e closes slightly on driving as the cold air going through the rad cools it down and opens more when stationary to allow a greater flow of water to keep the engine cool.

Jolly Green Monster

iTrader: (4)

Yes I understand what and how it worked just was thought the thermostate never fully closed, you still got a tiny flow of water around the rad but not like when it is fully open.. the scoob engine warms up fairly quicker water temp wise.

Believe the scoob thermostate is 78º.

911

Just found this thread.

I did this job myself about 4 weeks ago, and offer the following thoughts:

1 Remove rad. The hose clips will be rusty and best to cut the old, fit new.
2 I tried an sealant too, and you do need to get it all out. Almost all the fluid will come out upon relaese of the bottom hose (cold engine!) Note! open the heater **** to full heat.
3 I removed the stat to fit a new one. Only cost £12 with a new seal. The 2 screws that hold it to the engine can be very tight and they are stupidly small. The stat does close fully, it does open at 78C, and it must have the bleed valve at the top when re-fitting.
4 Stick a hose pipe into the top inlet casting where thr top pipe fits and turn-on AND get out of the way as it goes bloody everywhere(good job for the wife).
5 When done (flush for 5 mins) put it all back together.
6 Buy a good concentrate of Anti Freeze and follow the instructions on the tin!
7 As Golly says s l o w l y fill the car up from the header tank, 1 litre at a time. Lots of gurggling etc which is a good sign. It will swallow about 5 litres.
8 When full (no more will go into the tank) start the engine.
9 As the temp slowly rises the fluid will dissapear into the system as the stat opens.Keep slowly filling the header until the engine is hot, the top and bottom rad hoses are hot, and that the heater in the car is blasting out heat (turn the fan on full).
10 Stop engine, allow to cool. Top-up the header and replace the pressure cap.
11 Start engine and take for a drive to get it reving etc. Stop the car and check if the small header tube by the battery is showing something. If not you need to add more fluid until after a run it shows low/high DO NOT REMOVE THE HEADER CAP WITH THE ENGINE HOT!

This is a bit teedious, but it will work a treat.

Your wife will be very busy for about 3 hours it takes frigging about with this lot.

Have some flowers/chocs/lunch lined-up to help.....

911