Coolant issues again......
Submitted: Thursday, Jun 05, 2003 at 23:09
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Member - Martyn (WA)
Ok I've now changed from tap water to distilled water, just come back from a great weekend with my local club up at Mt Gibson
emu farm, great place but very flippin cold. 30 fourbys, big crowd and looked good in a convoy touring around the coutryside. Good facilities and a very friendly station owner, sold Emu related products, from heart tablets to an aphrodisiac tablet made from the
shell of the egg, ummmmmmmm not to sure about that.
Does anybody have any revolutionary way of removing the old water from the cooling system after doing the flush etc etc. After draining everything out, removing the rad etc and trying to remove as much water as possible, even tried blowing it out with air without much success I was till only able to get 8 litres of "new" coolant into the system. Tried putting the old girl on her roof and on lying it's side again without much success!! Any ground breaking ideas?Keep the shiny side up
Reply By: Member - Scotti - Thursday, Jun 05, 2003 at 23:32
Thursday, Jun 05, 2003 at 23:32
Martyn,
It sounds like you have done all you can and I would think whats been done is sufficient.
if your still concerned about the amount of coolant replaced I would run vehicle for a while then reflush and refill again.No need to remove radiator though.
Are you having cooling problems?live life to the full!!!!
AnswerID:
21967
Reply By: Truckster (Vic) - Thursday, Jun 05, 2003 at 23:51
Thursday, Jun 05, 2003 at 23:51
Take bottom radiator hose off and start engine.....
Water pump is your friend....
But you can end up with air locks in the system, this happened to me, thought it was all ok, got 1klm up road Temp gague was heading for HELP!!!!!!!!
AnswerID:
21970
Reply By: nugget - Friday, Jun 06, 2003 at 00:12
Friday, Jun 06, 2003 at 00:12
Martyn,
Did you remove the 'engine block drain' at the rear of the engine, exhaust side? This should drain the water totally from the engine one would hope, going by the description of said item.
AnswerID:
21971
Reply By: Rusty - Friday, Jun 06, 2003 at 08:11
Friday, Jun 06, 2003 at 08:11
Just curious Why are you doing this. Are you having problems with overheating?? Or some other reason. Having been a mechanic for a while I have never heard of anyone goning to so much trouble before.
Regards.
Rusty
AnswerID:
21973
Follow Up By: TonyH - Friday, Jun 06, 2003 at 09:01
Friday, Jun 06, 2003 at 09:01
Completely draining the system is not a stupid move as reactions can occur between 2 different type of coolant.
A while back I posted a question about blowing bubbles in the radiator, which was met with the general consensus that it was a blown head. Not the case. The coolant had reacted voilently with something in the system and the bubbles where from the slowly dossolving radiator (Aluminium). It only lasted a matter of weeks before the radiator fell to pieces. We replaced it with a copper core and a more trustworthy and proven coolant. Stopped blowing bubbles. The radiator repairer advised me to completely flush and drain
the block as there would likely be another reaction if the 2 coolants mixed. Since this I have heard similar stories . Distilled water is a good plan but rain water will suffice, tap water is a big no-no.
FollowupID:
14402
Follow Up By: Hilly - Sunday, Jun 08, 2003 at 03:17
Sunday, Jun 08, 2003 at 03:17
Why is tap water such a no-no? I've seen plenty of radiator paces flushing out with a hose from the tap.
FollowupID:
14491
Reply By: Allyn (Pilbara) - Friday, Jun 06, 2003 at 09:29
Friday, Jun 06, 2003 at 09:29
is there something that's required to be done with the heater ?
More for consideration than a response. I've not done my fourby but got caught out on the love of me life's Corolla.
We don't use the heater at all so completely forgot all about it.
AnswerID:
21974
Reply By: Member - Martyn (WA) - Friday, Jun 06, 2003 at 20:56
Friday, Jun 06, 2003 at 20:56
People,
Thanks for the replies, since reading some of the replies about my coolant issues in an earlier thread I've become a bit paranoid abot mixing coolants and tap water, I've cleaned everything out as
well as I can plus used rain water as a flush, then put the new coolant into the rad (concentrate) and topped up with distilled water, everything appears fine and I don't have any bubbling aluminium appearing. I was just asking if anybody had any better ways of draining & flushing to get a concencus. I didn't drain
the block off because it was really really difficult to get to
the block drain past the turbo casing, I gave up for fear of creating a leak when I couldn't tighten the plug up.
Anyway thanks for the help happy foruming............ Keep the shiny side up
AnswerID:
22001
Reply By: Member - David- Saturday, Jun 07, 2003 at 00:35
Saturday, Jun 07, 2003 at 00:35
Martyn & Others,
Dont get too confident with the rainwater. I used it exclusively on my
farm for 5 years and had to replace every radiator in that time. 2 tractors, truck, Rocky ute, Nissan, Mitsubishi car, and then woke up it was the water when 2 galvanised rainwater tanks rusted out in 5 and a half years from new. The problem all started when I built a new shed with zincalume cladding, and plain galvanised guttering and tanks. Apparently there is a reaction under these circumstances and it stuffs everything. (probably why I'm bald too). Interestingly, when I tried to claim a warranty on the tanks, I did receive a deal on 2 new ones which arrived lined with plastic film as Lysaght had sussed the problem.
The moral, not all rain water is good for radiators and engine blocks!!
Cheers
David
AnswerID:
22011
Follow Up By: Bob Y. - Qld - Saturday, Jun 07, 2003 at 14:32
Saturday, Jun 07, 2003 at 14:32
David,
I''ll agree with you on that score, was at a station in NT, where a lab technician tested all the rainwater tanks, and found the local creek water, had a better pH reading than the tanks. When you think of all the gunk that lands in guttering, and gets into tanks, it's a wonder we don't glow in the dark.
Hooroo...
FollowupID:
14474
Follow Up By: TonyH - Saturday, Jun 07, 2003 at 15:03
Saturday, Jun 07, 2003 at 15:03
Have just started using distilled water in my
farm vehicles instead of rainwater or using premixed for the big toys. New core for the Mitsubishi was $500 and $2 per 5lts is nothing when you look at it at preventative.
A Neighbour has just had his loader recored for the 4 yr in a row from just sticking
bore water in the old girl. The
bore water is high in lead and reactive iron which just loves copper.
Tony H
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