help needed please...........emergency

[dubweiser 0]

Tryin to change my coolant and as per instructions ive removed the top and bottom radiator hoses(at the radiatorends) but the only water that has drained out is what was in the radiator and a little bit that was in the pipes themselves.There has no where near the full amount come out.How do i drain the rest of it out?????????Emergency....need it sortin asap as i need car for tomorrow.Cheers in advance :roll:

[Jim 2]

Took the expansion tank cap off too?

[corradophil 3]

Remove the thermostat where the bottom hose joins the water pump. 2 bolts, you will need a 10mm socket.

Unfortunately its behind the power stearing pump, so that needs unbolting first.

[dubweiser 0]

yeah took the cap off mate

[dubweiser 0]

is that not a bit drastic?i got told it was as easy as draining it from the hoses.Plus i have no way of getting a new seal for the thermostat (or anything else!) at this time of night

[Flo 0]

Not sure about the specifics for a Corrado, but whenever we used to change coolant, we Made sure the heater controls are on full heat, so it frees up anything left in the matrix area.

 

I know it sounds stupid, but is the car on an incline at all, which might not free up the rest of the water.

 

Other than that, you may find a sticky air lock. Best thing to do is refill it, and run the engine, keeping a close eye on the water temperature and expansion tank level! Then when its cooled down, drain it again!

[dubweiser 0]

heater is on hot (but apparantly it doesnt matter) and the car is on the flat mate.Maybe it is an airlock?

[dubweiser 0]

HELLLLPPPPPPPPPPP!!!!!!!! :cry:

[Skimask 0]

Try removing one of the heater matrix hoses - from the engine end, see if that makes a difference?

[Supercharged 2]

Run a hose through it to force the old stuff out then start to put the hoses on and add the right amount of G12+, run it withou t the cap on and sqeeeze the pipes to force the coolant to mix and get the air out of the system, as the stat opens put the cap back on, turn the engine off, let it cool. Later top it up and take it for a drive taking a top up bottle with you.

[dubweiser 0]

cheers supercharged.Gonna try that as we speak.Fingers crossed.Just worried about getting the right mix back in cos dont really know how much has actually drained out and if there will always be a residual amount left in that cant be drained out.Im sure only about 2-2.5litre came out?

[Supercharged 2]

Yeah, you just need to replace whats there with water then make sure you add in the right amount of coolant, about 2 bottles should do it

[dubweiser 0]

thanks mate.I understand wot u mean.Only worries i have is that enough of the old stuff is out for me to be able to get my 2 bottles of the new stuff in.

[dubweiser 0]

:( i could only get about 2 litres of new coolant back in :(

[Supercharged 2]

That should be ok...

[corradophil 3]

dubweiser, is it sorted now, I had to go out so i've only just looked at the forum again this morning.

I suggested removing the thermostat, because if its shut which it probably was assuming the coolant was resonably cool, the coolant will still be trapped in the engine, therefore you only drain the radiator.

I've done it loads of times, you take the bottom hose off, the radiator drains, then when you remove the thermostat you get a similar amount of coolent come out again. You can actually do this pretty quickly once you are familiar with the power steering brackets.

[davidwort 0]

dubweiser, is it sorted now, I had to go out so i've only just looked at the forum again this morning.

I suggested removing the thermostat, because if its shut which it probably was assuming the coolant was resonably cool, the coolant will still be trapped in the engine, therefore you only drain the radiator.

I've done it loads of times, you take the bottom hose off, the radiator drains, then when you remove the thermostat you get a similar amount of coolent come out again. You can actually do this pretty quickly once you are familiar with the power steering brackets.

 

might be quicker and easier to remove one end of the metal water pipe to pump hose, rather than crawling under the car and getting very aggrovated from the PS brackets etc..

I'd fill the car up with just water and run it for a short while, then drain again and fill with the fresh distilled water and coolant. It's surprising how much more grotty water comes out on the second flush if it's not been keept in tip top condition.

 

David

[corradophil 3]

Even better if you don't need access to the thermostat.

Well worth flushing it all through with a hose too.

[dubweiser 0]

hi phil.Its sorted but i dont know if its proper or not.I think the problem was what u said ie the thermostat trapping the rest of the coolant in the engine.What i eventualy did was to run a hose pipe down the expansion tank until it ran clear from the bottom of the radiator then i put it all back together and poured in as much new coolant as i could.Then i ran it to get the air out.There still was no way i could get more new colant in so i drained out some of the mixture from the expansion tank and then topped up with even more new neat g12.Hopefully the mix will be somewhere about right now.But im now worried that i didnt get all the old stuff out.....as u said it will have been trapped by the thermostat being closed. :cry:

[exturbo2003 0]

a bit late now but for future reference,

i normally run car up with the expansion cap off and the heater on hot till the car is warm but not hot and then remove the top hose. restart the car and put a hose pipe on slow into the expansion pipe and run the car untill the water runs clear. now remove the bottom hose and flush the radiator out with the hose. refit the bottom hose and fit the top hose to the rad only. pour a bottle of coolant into the rad and reconnect the pipe to the engine. put second bottle into the expansion tank and top up with water. start car and top up as necessary as car warms up. once car is just below normal running temp and water level is fine refit cap and take for a drive of at least 5 miles. allow car to cool for a few hours and recheck level.

all should now be okay

as a note dont buy a antifreeze tester as only the refactor type work on g12+ properly and these cost £ 70 +

if your any wher near high wycombe i can check it for you

it should be a 50/50 mix if you wanna keep some pre mixed for top ups

hope this helps