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tips on flushing coolant.
Posted: Tue Apr 01, 2014 3:55 pm
by pasenah
Anything I should need to know?
Can I use a flush product?
Percentage of coolant/antifreeze?
Cheers
Re: tips on flushing coolant.
Posted: Tue Apr 01, 2014 4:03 pm
by marcus
Can't think of any benefit to using a flushing product, when I changed my water pump I flushed with a hose until the water ran clear.
Dilution is product-specific, so read the label, but typically around 33% ie 33% coolant, 67% water.
Re: tips on flushing coolant.
Posted: Tue Apr 01, 2014 4:27 pm
by james butler
Always flush one way then flush the other. I.e the heater matrix has 2 pipes disconnect both then flush one way then the other.
Re: tips on flushing coolant.
Posted: Tue Apr 01, 2014 5:53 pm
by Jack92
done it a few times with head gasket failures, dissolve a dishwasher tablet and flush it through and then water. It breaks up any oil which is in there.
Re: tips on flushing coolant.
Posted: Tue Apr 01, 2014 6:40 pm
by pasenah
Ideal, thanks guys.
Just need a dry day now :)
Re: tips on flushing coolant.
Posted: Tue Apr 01, 2014 9:08 pm
by Nate
Jack92 wrote:done it a few times with head gasket failures, dissolve a dishwasher tablet and flush it through and then water. It breaks up any oil which is in there.
or a decent squirt of biological washing liquid. same kind of idea. both are a hell of a lot cheaper than "proper" coolant flush, and you've probably got one or the other in the house already
Re: tips on flushing coolant.
Posted: Fri Apr 04, 2014 12:14 am
by Jack92
Nate wrote:Jack92 wrote:done it a few times with head gasket failures, dissolve a dishwasher tablet and flush it through and then water. It breaks up any oil which is in there.
or a decent squirt of biological washing liquid. same kind of idea. both are a hell of a lot cheaper than "proper" coolant flush, and you've probably got one or the other in the house already
for some reason i never thought of that would be alot easier than dissolving things lol
Re: tips on flushing coolant.
Posted: Fri Apr 04, 2014 12:45 am
by Nate
they both do the job. i just got into the habit of using washing liquid coz for years i didn't have a dishwasher! the person who originally told me about it advised the use of biological, as it's apparently better in a washing machine at shifting oily stains on clothes (doesn't get them out of my work kit though!)
Re: tips on flushing coolant.
Posted: Sat Apr 05, 2014 9:48 pm
by dozzum
Always go 50/50 on the coolant.
means your covered for as all temperatures a and also means you don't run the risk of running too weak.
Apparently coolant mixed too weak is actually more corrosive than plain water or so I was told.
Re: tips on flushing coolant.
Posted: Sun Apr 06, 2014 6:10 am
by pasenah
Great tips, thanks
Re: tips on flushing coolant.
Posted: Sun Apr 06, 2014 4:41 pm
by mark1gls
I use this stuff in my cars and it's already mixed so just pour it in.
http://www.eurocarparts.com/ecp/c/Volks ... &0&cc5_865
Re: tips on flushing coolant.
Posted: Mon Apr 14, 2014 7:55 pm
by Lukeh17
Do you have the Haynes manual? It should give you the percentages for the coolant
Re: tips on flushing coolant.
Posted: Mon Apr 14, 2014 9:07 pm
by pasenah
Yeah I do, 6.5lts with 40% - 50% antifreeze.
Re: tips on flushing coolant.
Posted: Mon Apr 14, 2014 9:27 pm
by Blueshark
I always use the coolant VW sells, it is a coolant but also protects the aluminum and metal parts from corrosion because it is some kind of 'greasy'.
It also cooles a lot better then anything with water and the boiling point is around 124 degrees Celsius.
Over here it is called G12++ and sold by VW only.
Joost
Re: tips on flushing coolant.
Posted: Tue Apr 15, 2014 6:49 pm
by james butler
you will find putting too much antifreeze into the system like 50-50 will cause overheating in the summer, this is why there is a recommended mix. i wondered for ages why my engine used to get so hot in summer and i found out it was because i was running the coolant concentration too high, to fix it i drained half of the coolant out and refilled with plain water. it never really gets cold enough in england to do damage so i dont worry so much and just have the mixture around 25% antifreeze. if you want to do it properly you can buy a hydrometer/refractor/antifreeze tester to see how low a temperature you are protected to.