D.i.y Changing Radiator Coolant

[Acralyn]

Hello everyone. Am thinking to change the radiator coolant myself but i need to make sure what are the basics before i start. First of all can you guys recommend me what kind of coolant is suitable. Is buying a bottle of coolant enough? or must i buy 2 more bottle? I got myself a cheap coolant and months later after i open my radiotar cap, i saw the whole cap full of rust.

I can't seem to find the correct screw underneath my car cause there are a few screws there. Dunno which one. :P if i release the screw and the coolant all flush out, can i use tap water to spary inside the radiator just to clean inside and let all the rust flush out? hmm..i guess i'm asking too much and better if i let you sifus to teach me how. :P thanx yah. :)

 

[johnsonlam]

Hi.. The screw should be easy to find. It is a screw with 'Butterfly' for you to twist it with your fingers. Shoulc be made out of plastic. White colour if I am not wrong.

Take of the screw and water will flush out.. YES, you can use tap water to clean the radiator..

Note : If you are crazy enuf, switch on the engine and keep filling in water into the radiator will flushing it even better.

When you are done.. Make sure all water is drained off... then.. If you want better effect.. Fill the radiator with BOILED water / Air Suling... (Expensive leh)... Then add in your coolant.. :)

all the best !

 

[Acralyn]

Thank you very much for ur reply johnsonlam :) ok..can i refill RO water instead of boiled water? and buying a bottle of coolant is enough? well, hopefully you can advise me which coolant should i get? or best if i get the..what brand if i'm not mistaken....Redline Waterwetter? the red color bottle if i'm not mistaken. :P Finally is it advisable if i pour the whole coolant in to the radiator after i refill water? tq once again. :D

 

[johnsonlam]

Originally posted by Acralyn@Mar 8 2004, 12:54 PM
Thank you very much for ur reply johnsonlam :) ok..can i refill RO water instead of boiled water? and buying a bottle of coolant is enough? well, hopefully you can advise me which coolant should i get? or best if i get the..what brand if i'm not mistaken....Redline Waterwetter? the red color bottle if i'm not mistaken. :P Finally is it advisable if i pour the whole coolant in to the radiator after i refill water? tq once again. :D

RO.. Hmm.. is it the one got a lot of Mineral ones ? I don't think so.. Those water with lot's of minerals, might cause the engine capilaries to jam up.. with Mineral Residue + rust.

Brand ... I dunno much about them.

The matter of filling coolant is subjective. Any way will do, since the radiator water is pump round and round.. they will mixed up as soon as you start your engine.

 

[Acralyn]

If i'm not mistaken RO water is actually filtered water.

o its ok cause the reason why i wan to find a better one is that some shops sell really cheap coolants like Rm5.00/bottle. Bought a few bottles cause cheap ma. :D then after few months added the cheap coolant, i saw my radiotor cap full of rust and i was like "Damn! must be i bought cheap coolant" so now i must choose the correct coolant for my radiator.

Anyway i got the idea of how to change my coolant and that is good enough. Really thanx a lot man. :)

 

[headache]

RO is Reverse Osmosis. If I'm not mistaken, it's pure water, without the minerals that's harmful to the radiator.
Adviseable to get a flushing chemical from your friendly spare part shop. Read and follow the instruction carefully.
BTW, if the radiator is already rusting, it's almost impossible to completely remove it all. Happy DIY, anyway.

 

[netmatrix]

For the most effective cooling and heat dissipation use DISTILLED water. RO water is also good. In my case i use filtered water straight from tap which is also good. So long the water is not yellowing from hidden rust particles and mud!

When buying coolant, use Orange or Red colored coolant. I use TOYOTA long life COOLANT RM19 for 1 litre bottle. Prestone DEXcool is even better. But very hard to get.

U should use approximate 50/50 water and coolant.

In this case a normal radiator should be around 4 litres capacity. Mine is 4.5 liters. So i use 2 litres of coolant and 2.5 litres of water. Close enough. So use 2 litres of coolant and 2 litres of water. If u have no idea how many liters ur radiator is. But 2 litres of 1 litre coolant or 2 litre bottle then fill up empty bottle with water and u can know easily.

DON'T USE GREEN CHEAP COOLANT! I will tell u last time i use this it turned my rust to white deposits and that nearly cause blockage in my block! Not to mention busted my radiator cap in the process!

Do not flush your radiator if it is above 10 years old. U need to get a full external radiator flush from shops.

Remember Coolant doens't prevent from overheating. It prevents water from boiling easily that cause air to form and reduce radiator efficiancy.

Change the overflow tank water too!

After filling, run the engine and remember to squeeze the top radiator hose and you can see some trapped air pockets coming out. Run until the radiator water is almost overflowing continiously, then cap it.

Enjoy radiatore comfort. :lol:

 

[NiCkY7]

wow, this topic come out ngam ngam when i wanna flush my radiator too...

but my radiator now already got rush liow... so spraying the water into the radiator will help to "wash" out those rust?
and just now i refer to my car manual, it require me to remove the Drain Bolt at the engine block there, what is this Drain Bolt for? any problem if i didnt remove Drain Bolt when i flushing my radiator?
so far i know need to loosen the Drain Plug under the radiator only... :P

and my car manual also says need to loosen the Bleeder Bolt, what is this again ar? cause it says this is for the coolant come out until no bubble then tight it back again...

i also asking too much liow i think.... :P

thanks for reply... ;)

 

[muzani]

which shops sell the red line water wetter? please tell ...

 

[AndyDemarco]

n1 selling it for RM48...

 

[Acralyn]

Wow this is very informative. Thanx guys.

netmatrix, Can Toyota long life coolant be use on a Proton Wira? so that means best if i buy 2 bottles?

I can't seem to find the screw to flush the coolant out. I know it's hidden somewhere at the corner but damn! touch here touch there until my hand also became black liow.

muzani, I know Autobags is selling redline water wetter. Forgot how much is the price though. <_<

 

[netmatrix]

Acralyn, yes toyota coolant can be used for any car. Because most coolants have the same boil resisting component. But somehow, my mechanic, who specializes in BMW, like to use this coolant. He uses this for the BMW that he services and some of better paying customers! :lol: :lol: Thats is why don't pay your mechanic late! :lol:

At first i used this cheap RM3.50 per litre coolant from TESCO. The effects after 1 week is very scary. The rust really turn to white deposits. It seems that cheap quality ethyll glycol is very active compound to combat rust. And the effects are white deposits and coating that is bad for radiator if it is dislodged.

It is better to remove the drain nut completely just in case there is a big chunk of metal or stone that resides down the radiator.

Actually i'm no sifu in this issue. But i can lay claim to flushing my radiator 6 times last year and 2 times this year. All for the sake of trying to see how far i can keep my engine temp down. But in this process, i can also say, i learned a few things. :P

 

[Acralyn]

netmatrix, thanx man, i finally found the butterfly nut and get to flush out the coolant. I also took out the reserve tank and clean it inside. I noticed a thick layer of like rust mud tingie in the reserve tank. Damn! it was so thick!.

Actually i have a bit green coolant left in my store room. So i used it cause no $$$ ma :( so dun wan to waste lor.
Am gonna save up for a better coolant soon and meanwhile i have to stick with the green ones. I actually read form a website saying that if ur coolant is green, stick to green and red, stick to red coolant. Dont mix green with red coolant. But if you flush out the green coolant and later add red coolant in to the radiator then its ok am i right?

 

[netmatrix]

Yes, you can use the red coolant after u flush out the green one. I did that. But if u must usde green coolant, make sure u have at least 2 litres. 1 litre is not enough for the anti boil function.

I flush my radiator so many times, because i was experimenting with something. :lol:

Actually its good that u change the water every year. RM40 per year is not that bad right? But actually 100000km is more accurate.

 

[Cow]

there were a few times when I noticed that my overflow tank was empty after being parked overnight.

is this normal?

 

[netmatrix]

The overflow tank should be above full when the engine is running and on full or lower than full when engine is cool.

IF there is no water after overnight, whcih is very fast, then probbaly u got a leaking bottle. or the water vent hose is suking off water!! But it is strange. When the radiator is cooling, water get sucked back to tank.hmmm.... Maybe ur radiator is leaking and the water shortage is offset by the tank?

 

[Acralyn]

Went to Shell today and saw Shell coolant. I think its green color, 1 liter for Rm22++. Dont know whether Shell coolant is good or not? actually was wondering not all coolants that are green is not good right? or is it? :P cause my uncle said he bought green coolant and he bought it not cheap, so must be good coolant gua?

Maybe i'm gonna flush out the coolant again for the fun of playing water and also experimenting my radiator. hahaha :lol: crazy!

 

[netmatrix]

Yes u are right. I did ask the same question before. And basically the auto industry denotes color as the versions. Green is old and Red or Orange is new. So which would you use? Products like Prestone DEX Cool rated is new because it has features that does not turn rust into deposits. These deposits like what i have seen with my 2 eyes are scary.
So in this case u can get RM20 red (new) coolant or RM22 green (old) coolant, which would u use? :lol: I mean its something like eating a RM100 lunch and RM10 lunch. Both also fills the stomach. :lol: :lol:

I also notice All perodua cars uses the red coolant (from factory) which i suspect is shared component with Toyota. :rolleyes:

 

[old_junkie]

i like to flush my radiator also
last year my radiator don't have rust but when i use the cheapo coolant... it made my radiator rust.. sigh :(

from dat day onwards.. i did not use any coolant till i changed my engine...

asked my dad to get one coolant for me... top1.. it was a bad mistake... instead of lowering down the temp, it raised the temp to about 90 C.
at first i tot it will go down.... and i drove from sban to ipoh and back... nothing changed....
later got a bottle of coolant in jusco... duno wat brand about 40 bucks.. whola... it really bring downs the temp

anyone have been thru this incident?

 

[netmatrix]

Yup the RM3.50 el cheapo coolant i bought from TESCO. Some more i stock up 6 tins of those stuff. hahaha. After using 1 tin, i donate the other 5 to my local lalang playground. All mati. hahaha! :lol:

Later i bought Toyota long life coolant RM19. I found temp running about 10c lower i guess. My ndicator never rise up more than half nowdays in jams. :) Worth paying RM19 i guess.