Hi all:

Got a question for you. I am thinking about replacing my coolant and hoses. I would like to do this just to have the peace of mind that the stuff is new. Plus I would like to give the radiator a flush as a preventative action. I see how to drain the old coolant. My question is this, how do you refill the system? Is it through the overflow reservoir or do you pop the radiator shroud and fill directly to the radiator by removing the cap? (I have never had my shroud off so I am not even sure that this radiator has a cap in that case I think my question would be answered). Any help appreciated. Coolant recommendations?

Chris

 

the radiator is sealed, so you have to fill the system through the expansion tank, just do it while the enine is running and it will feed it through the system

 

Hey Chris,

The hawk is correct about no cap on the rad; just fill it via the expansion tank as he says.

But I would not recommend running the engine while you're filling it; ... exactly.

That is to say; do not start the engine and then start putting coolant in! You will risk burning up your H2O pump.

Once you have everything water tight, slowly pour in the new coolant; stop once the tank gets about halfway full. Let it sit there and gurgle a bit; once it stops gurgling (keep refilling to halfway point as you go..) then you can start the engine (leave the expansion tank cap off or loose) and let it warm up to operating temp (temp gauge at halfway point). Rev the engine slightly above idle to help circulate the coolant inside the engine/rad/etc. This should dissipate any trapped air in the system.

Then let the engine cool down; top off coolant level; now put on exp tank cap and tighten. Carefully ck the level over next few days and watch for any leaks.

BTW, this would be a good time to replace the thermostat too!

Regarding coolant recommendations: I would replace what you have with the same: Dexcool (the pink stuff) or regular (green) and remember 50/50 mix.

And please recycle the coolant; I wish every town had facilities to recycle coolant like they do motor oil. It's really bad to pour coolant down the drain.

 

I have done a coolant flush before on a GM car I have. I live in Portland, OR and it took me quite a while to find a place that would recycle old radiator fluid. Finally did though and it was free. I could not pour that stuff out with a clean conscience.

In terms of starting the car it seems like I would want to get a good amount of fluid through the system before firing up because of the wear and tear issues.

I think I will do the thermostat like you suggest. I have read the write up on it. Seems like that back bolt can be a PITA but if you drop some pb blaster on it and move those fuel lines the job is easier.

Okay so go with the dexcool -- and what about the water that I split it with? I have read that people say only use a certain type of water (distilled?). Does that really make a difference. In the olds I replaced the radiator and just filled it with coolant and water from the garden house.

 

Forget the Dexcool and go with good old Prestone or Peak. I have heard tell of too many issues down the road with cars t hat have had Dexcool put in them. Just my .02

 

I would go with Psaboic's suggestions, only because I have never used Dexcool. I've always used Prestone with good results.

Yes, try to go with distilled water. Distilled water is one of the purest forms of H2O with minimal impurities, especially compared to tap water. Distilled water is also used to fill lead-acid battery (90% of automotive batteries are of lead-acid, with the exception of maint-free batteries).

I do not remember removing a fuel line to replace the T-stat. You do not have to remove the lower housing, which is sort of rectangular shaped. You only need to remove two Torx screws and remove the round-shaped upper housing + large O-ring. The new O-ring usually comes with OEM T-stat (French Vernet or German Wharle-someone please verify spelling on this). I apply water-pump sealant between the upper & lower housings but this is not an absolute necessity.


JPN

 

All good advice from some Super Moderators,

but i would just re-iterate my suggestion, if your car has Dexcool (pink in color) in it now, then replace it with same. Same with the std green stuff.

Supposedly the Dexcool lasts longer (up to 5 yrs vs 2 yr for the green) but as some have said here, that claim may be hyped up. The wife's saturn came with it so i recently replaced/flushed with same. The reason is you don't want to mix the two kinds (not to mention green + pink makes an ugly brown), and unless you're doing a super thorough flush (e.g. removing the drain plugs on the engine block, etc.) you won't get all the old coolant out of there.

Here are some more good tips i found via google:
http://www.peakantifreeze.com/faq.html#B

Happy flushing..


BTW: Here's a question about coolant mix ratios most people don't know:

• What coolant to H2O ratio will "cool" (i.e. remove the most heat) your engine the most?

 

thanks folks. got the page bookmarked for future reference.

 

Gdog is correct. Most of the horror stories I have heard come from mixing the two types of coolant. You end up with a sludgy brown goo over time.

 

I am terrified every time I see that pink + green = brown equation.


JPN

 

Yep!!

 

I'm going to replace the two radiator hoses and drain the coolant on my 2001 V70 2.4T. My owners manual doesn't specify the coolant capacity..........how many quarts does the cooling system hold?

 

It will hold close to 2 gallons total.

 

Okay, thanks...........since I'm only doing a "drain" without the flush equipment, I know that will only drain five quarts or so. I'll have my new independent Volvo repair shop do the cooling system flush when he replaces my water pump during the 120,000 service point. My new Volvo mechanic noticed the water pump wasn't replaced at the 105,000 service when my Volvo Dealer replaced the timing belt, the serpentine belt and the thermosat.......he says that water pumps are not made to last 200,000 and will fail before then when the these items (timing belt/serpentine belt/thermosat) are due again for replacement again and recommends that he replace the water pump at the 120,000 service point. Guess I'm surprised my Volvo Dealer Service Dept didn't recommend replacing the water pump while "they're in there" and save me the labor or pump failure down the pike?

 

That is one thing they usually do not do. For a while they were not even trying to sell the tensioner and idler pulleys when they were doing the belts. They started to after seeing them fail alot.

 

My water pump nearly killed the motor. I was at my 210k timing belt change interval and the pump had just started to drip coolant from the seal.



I would suggest changing it before 200k.

...Lee

 

What coolant to H2O ratio will "cool" (i.e. remove the most heat) your engine the most?

I am not sure about the exact number ratio. The recommendation is a 50/50 mix of coolant and water. What I learned from my research is that water has good cooling ability and the coolant is more for anti-freeze than cooling. SO, the ratio would be more water than coolant will remove most heat. I will through out a guess of 70 water 30 coolant.

Am I right?

 

Everybody I know does 50/50

 

Hey thanks Chris for responding to my question!

It's really kind of an academic question since like Jim said, 50/50 is the recommended ratio and that is what you should use.

But if you're only concerned in removing the max heat from the engine then run straight H2O. Why? Because it's coefficient of heat (or ability to transfer heat) is considerably higher than antifreeze (as you found in your research).

So why is it better to mix antifreeze with water? Because it does 3 important things:

1. It raises the boiling point of your cooling system fluid. Once your fluid boils, game over; the cooling ability of air (steam actually) is way lower than fluid!
2. It lowers the freezing point (that's why they call it anti-freeze after all!) When your cooling system freezes, ice expands and your "freeze" plugs go pop!
3. Lastly it minimizes corrosion in your cooling system. That's why using distilled water is better (no minerals to corrode), but use of distilled water is less of an issue when using 50/50 mix, again because of the antifreeze's anti-corrosive qualities.

This is an interesting bit of automotive trivia because when i was a wrench, i often ran into people who used greater than 50% anti-freeze to water ratio; their logic went like "if a little is good, more must be better..."; some even ran up to 100% antifreeze thinking they were being good to their engine, when instead they were just removing considerable cooling capacity from their cooling system.

Hope this helps...

 

Preston now makes a 50/50 mixture product..........no mixing with water needed when refilling the cooling system. Also says it will mix properly with any antifreeze product already in your vehicle. I just bought it at AdvanceAutoParts for $10/gal.