Coolant flush

[Spaceman]

any bros here done coolant flush on thier ride? how much does it cost???

[Genie47]

You can very much DIY this. Just buy enough white household vinegar to mix with water to give you a 50/50 mix. Drain radiator, fill it with this mixture. Run the engine until the radiator gets to operating temperature. Cut the engine and allow to cool up to 4hrs or more. Drain. You can opt to flush with water or use new coolant right away. Vinegar is volatile and will evaporate off very fast.

[Spaceman]

going to ask a stupid question here... how do you drain the coolant????

[Genie47]

There is a plastic screw tap at the bottom of the radiator. You can find it. It is white but usually black from all the road dirt. Drain when cold.

 

BTW, this method is very mild. It is the same method you use for removing kettle fur. Acid is used. I did not recommend citric acid though it can be said it is not offensive in smell and available in crystals to dissolve. Vinegar is volatile and that is why I use it. I don't worry about having residual acid in the system.

Edited May 3, 2004 by Genie47

[Spaceman]

There is a plastic screw tap at the bottom of the radiator. You can find it. It is white but usually black from all the road dirt. Drain when cold.

 

ok, will go take a look at my engine bay... any good brand of coolan to recommend?

[Yeobh]

Draining the coolant system by gravity flow is NOT flushing. No way you can get rid of all the rust,foreign mattters and casting residues/sands just by gravity flow. All the foreign residues, rusts etc can only be removed by either a coolant flushing /exchange equipment or by using a simple air water flushing gun

Cars with aerodynamic design, the engine tends to site slightly higher than the radiator.Due to design , air bubbles tend to move up to the highest point when coolant is introduced into the system. Bubbles locked in the system must be removed if not they being poor conductor of heat will cause the system to overheat.

 

Distill water is the best coolant.

[Gendut]

Some engines need to be vented off from th etop of the engine casing. Some engines dont as their expansion tank sits higher and coolant passageways designed to vent naturally.

 

You are right distilled water is best as it contains minimal impurities. But on an efficiency view, the higher the cooling water temp, the better efficiency/power from the unit.

 

Wonder where that research by those Japs to have ceramic pistons/linings went to. Understand they didn't need cooling water.

[Yeobh]

Yes, you can release the air bubbles via the venting point, but it's time consuming as you have to run the engine until the thermomstate is fully open. You also have to repeat the filling and venting process many times before the all the bubbbles are out of the system. Can be very frustrating.

 

The quickest way is to completely drain the coolant and use a special vacuum device to remove all the air in the cooiling system. Use the vacuum in the system to draw in the coolant. This method will ensure bubble free cooling system.

 

Over cooling and undercooling either way will cause the engine to loose it combustion efficiency. Over cooling will take alway to much heat energy that are require to creat crankshaft rotation. Undercooling will allow excess heat built-up that will cause engine oil to break down and in spark-ignite combustion engine may cause pre-igintion combustion (combustion conmence before the spark plug fires) and dieseling ( engine continue to run even when the ignition is swtich off.

 

Well, air cool engine was first develop by the VW people.Without water cooling system, air cool engine are more very noisy to run. The Japanes ( some ceramic maker) are trying to develop extreme temp piston and etc for burnt-lead engine that still require water cooling system . The idea behind burnt-lead engine development is to meet enviroment strict requiremnts - burnt-lead engine wil have less toxic combustion by-products. On the operation safety, cars powered by burnt-lean engine are very dangerous in the event of accident.

[Laser]

any bros here done coolant flush on thier ride? how much does it cost???

 

 

You can try Stamford, cost $30 for Jap car and $40 for Conti car.

 

Laser

[Gendut]

What I meant was that the higher the temps, the higher the efficiency on the thermodynamic cycle. Of course it should not be so high as to melt cylinder, destroy gaskets and burn oil.

 

Our normal thermostat control is usually at 90C. I understand in some countries, there are thermostat that go as high as 95C. It would not surprise me if some guys mod their ride thermostat to more. Of course associated issues like fuel RON has to be looked into.

 

I was imagining 105C should still be Ok as it won't melt cylinders, burn oil, only issue are gaskets and o-rings. Coolant additive should be able to take the water up to that temp without boiling.

[Yeobh]

OK click for discussion on coolant & boiling point

http://www.mycarforum.com/forum/gforum.cgi...g=yeobh;#454357

Edited May 4, 2004 by Yeobh

[Gendut]

It would be of great interest to hear from others who have modded their engines to run at higher temp settings.

[Yeobh]

Most the cars cooling system can take pressure built up to about 2kg/cm2. If you want to run at higher temp and pressure change your standard radiator or head tank cap to a high pressure type design for street racing.

[Gendut]

That will only enable us to operate at higher pressure, thus higher temperatures. But the thermostat is the regulator that determines temperature in the engine. So without changing to a higher setting thermostat, higher venting cap pressures will not translate to higher temps.

[Yeobh]

The thermostat is normally close when the coolant is cold. Its function is to block flow of cold coolant( allowing only a partial flow)when the engine start up.The slow flow cold coolant can then quickly absorde the heat from the engine combustion heat. Once the coolant temp reaches the thermostat preset opening temp, the coolant is allowed to have a full flow. The thermostat has no upper limit temp cut out and therefore will remain open even the coolant starts to boil

[No_regret]

Yes, you can release the air bubbles via the venting point, but it's time consuming as you have to run the engine until the thermomstate is fully open. You also have to repeat the filling and venting process many times before the all the bubbbles are out of the system. Can be very frustrating.

 

The quickest way is to completely drain the coolant and use a special vacuum device to remove all the air in the cooiling system. Use the vacuum in the system to draw in the coolant. This method will ensure bubble free cooling system.

 

Wont the bubbles escapes onces the coolant moves round the cooling system? Then the coolant from the spare tank will start to flow in to take up the space previously took up by those bubbles.

[Gendut]

Yes you're right. The thermostat is an open/shut device.

 

The temp sensor is the one regulating the temps on the engine. Temp high, fans cut in, low, cuts out.

 

Any way to set this temperature higher?

[No_regret]

Why want to set higher? Higher temperature, running hotter means more wear and tear for ur engine leh.