Discussion
Where do you live? Do you park inside or out? Does your car stand for several days between use? You may need to go for the maximum 50% mix, which means introducing 5 litres of antifreeze. This will mean pulling off one of the bottom hoses and draining down the system and re-filling.
Alternatively, have a garage do a check of the antifreeze for you and advise on the amount needed to return coolant back to optimum strength.
If in any doubt go for option one - you would not like to have to replace a block or heads cracked by frost.
Alternatively, have a garage do a check of the antifreeze for you and advise on the amount needed to return coolant back to optimum strength.
If in any doubt go for option one - you would not like to have to replace a block or heads cracked by frost.
Seems winter's about to decend this weekend so need to sort out some anti-freeze.
If you're not sure of the age and condition of the coolant, drain it (bottom rad hose) and refill. I use about 40% antifreeze to 60% water. It's also a good time to check the condition of the radiator and hoses.
Was wondering what the best approach to draining the system is? (any problems with trapping air?) Or should I just top up what's there and hope for the best?
Caps off and release bottom hose.
V6 S series cooling system does tend to get airlocks when refilling, so you'll need a bit of patience.
V6 S series cooling system does tend to get airlocks when refilling, so you'll need a bit of patience.
-fecking hell you're not joking are you! Took about an hour and a half of arsing about to get the coolant back in the system after fully draining. Tried the suggestions in the bible, but didn't seem to speed things up significantly.
I second the air-lock experience on S-series cars: On my TVR S3C i find that after draining and refilling the system, it is necessary to top up the swirl tank again after taking the car for a run. Each time with about 1-2 deciliters, and at least 3-4 times before the level has settled.
Cheers , John
Cheers , John
-discovered that you could fill the swirl tank, run the engine for about 20s, then switch off and re-fill.
Running the engine for 2-3 minutes between fillings as recommended made no difference whatsoever to the amount of fluid you could get in at any one time. It seems to suck in a fixed amount immediately after start-up and that's it.
Think the major hang-up is around the cabin heater matrix and associated piping. Didn't find any shortcuts to the problem...patience is the key. Just glad I didn't get a mechanic to sort it out. 10 bar anti-freeze, 90 bar labour
Running the engine for 2-3 minutes between fillings as recommended made no difference whatsoever to the amount of fluid you could get in at any one time. It seems to suck in a fixed amount immediately after start-up and that's it.
Think the major hang-up is around the cabin heater matrix and associated piping. Didn't find any shortcuts to the problem...patience is the key. Just glad I didn't get a mechanic to sort it out. 10 bar anti-freeze, 90 bar labour
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