Date: Tue, 18 Apr 2000 08:54:36 -0700
Reply-To: Stuart MacMillan <stuart@COBALTGROUP.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Stuart MacMillan <stuart@COBALTGROUP.COM>
Organization: The Cobalt Group
Subject: Re: Coolant again/flushing
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
William Greenamyer has the same idea I tried, my only modification was
to make a hose connector with a shut off valve, which didn't work, it
leaked. Just buy the Prestone "Flush and Fill" kit at your local FLAPS
and install the hose tee in one of the heater hoses, preferably the one
that comes from the head.
There are some problems however, I couldn't get all the old stuff out
without removing both radiator hoses at both ends! I tried to warm the
engine up after the water ran clear (water off) and then repeat the
flush a couple of times. It didn't look like enough water drained out
of the heater hose to allow for the correct amount of straight coolant,
so I disconnected the hoses at the radiator and sure enough, blue stuff
poured out! I then disconnected them at the engine and flushed water
through the hoses to get all the junk out. If my engine had not been
drained earlier, I would have also had to remove the plugs in the bottom
of the waterjackets to get the old coolant out.
After I drained everything out I added the straight coolant and turned
the hose on. Since I was pointed downhill, coolant came out the
radiator plug first, so I tightened that, then filled until the
expansion tank was full. Started the engine, opened the crossover bleed
screw, and reved up the engine to 2000 rpm and added more water. Then
buttoned it up and it was done.
This is a lot of work, but the only way to get all the old stuff
completely out. The flow through the thermostat is just too limited
unless you run the engine for a half hour each time you flush. And I am
sure you need to disconnect the radiatior hoses to get enough water out
to get the proper amount of coolant in.
This technique has worked great on my small MGB cooling systems, but not
so good with the Vanagon and its four and a half gallon cooling system!
I think it is worth the effort though, Dexcool is a genuine breakthrough
in coolant chemistry that came from the car manufacturers' goal of
creating nearly maintenance free cars, at least for 100,000 miles!
"Greenamyer, William L" wrote:
>
> How about this. Install a hose coupling in one of the heater hoses. Open
> the drain valve and hit the water. You can run the engine and not run the
> engine. Flush until the water is clear and has no coolent feeling. (If you
> have high calcium and other chemicals in the water in your area, use a line
> filter that will take these chemicals out of the water.) Now you have a
> system full of water. You know how much coolent it holds. Drain half of
> the water out of the system with the front of the fan raised slightly so the
> top of the radiator is definately the high point. Remove the bleed air plug
> in the radiator top and use an offset funnel or a bottle with a tube fitted
> to the cap (like a 2 liter bottle) and just fill with straight antifreeze
> (not pre-mixed). Almost all off the air should be gone and you should be
> able to get all of the antifreeze into the system. If there is still a
> little room, top it off with water. (If you do a total refill, put in the
> straight antifreeze and then distilled water to fill the system.) This
> works very well and is simple to do. You don't have to run the engine at
> all.
>
> William
--
Stuart MacMillan
Manager, Case Program
800-909-8244 ext. 8208
Fax: 206-269-6360
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