flushing a coolant system

blacky33

Girlfriend drives a Rover 200, piece of ****e but just wondering how much it cost to flush the coolant system as she drove it when it was low, motor was smoking and when i checked it, it looked all sludgy inside it.

Just wondering the price before i bring it to a machanic

Cheers

listermint

Do it yourself, not a huge amount of skill involved. http://automechanics.wordpress.com/2008/06/20/car-maintenance-101-flushing-your-vehicle’s-cooling-system/

Muckie

Have you thought of doing this your self. Park up your car.

Let the engine cool down. Pop the bonnet. Take off the raditor cap.

Now down near the bottom of the radiator theres a valve or "petcock"

as its called. Undo this, your raditor should completely empty.

If you like if you have a garden hose add a jet of water into the top of the

radiator(clear out any sticking gunk). Now close the valve. Top up radiator

with the proper engine coolant to water mixture. Hope that helps.

leitrim lad

you can also buy stuff called rad flush , i used it a few times , does the job and leaves no gue behind either,

more or less same as muchie says but empty this stuff in drive for a few hours and then empty out again,

Mycroft H

Some rads dont have a drain plug, in that case just undo the bottom hose. Make sure the heater is turned to hot aswell.


I'd flush the engine too while i was at it

colm_mcm

chances of the head gasket being knackered?

tommmy1979

If you want to flush the engine side of the cooling circuit you'll have to remove the thermostat cos it'll be closed... starts to get a bit complicated then.

T

tommmy1979

colm_mcm wrote: »

chances of the head gasket being knackered?

I was thinking that too, with the sludge in the coolant.. not a good sign like.

T

colm_mcm

Rover 200...not a good sign either.

Stoned Hippy

Don't know if this is applicable in your car but if you have a seperate radiator for the heating system you should turn your heating to the 'hot' setting before emptying or refilling the cooling system.

If you don't you stand a chance of not draining the other radiator or even causing an air lock somewhere.

I acquired a car that had never had the cooling system cleaned, resulted in a cracked head in the car and a major headache for me!

tommmy1979

colm_mcm wrote: »

Rover 200...not a good sign either.

+1

Buddy of mine was in the motortrade a few years ago, got a text off him one day.. it read "Just sold a Rover 75, where's the nearest confession box"

T

gman2k

colm_mcm wrote: »

chances of the head gasket being knackered?

Well it is a Rover, so if it's not now, it will be some day.

Check the coolant rad/ engine rubber pipes when engine is hot and running.
Give em a squeeze, there should be some give. If they are rock hard, the gasket is gone and is pressurizing the cooling system.

fletch

Flushed the coolant in the other half's MG ZR (similar engine to the 200), theres no screw at the bottom of the radiator to drain it so you have to pull off the pipe, the clamps they use are very tight and snap back into place. Be careful when filling the coolant back up, pour it in very slowly otherwise you get an airlock.

skyhighflyer

To be honest it's not as easy a job as just opening the rad and letting the coolant drain out and refill it. Sometimes it is, you might get lucky. But bear in mind some cars have a few bleed screws that have to be opened in sequence or you get an airlock which can be an absolute bastard to get out. Also some cars need a header tank to attach to the coolant reservoir in order to stop airlocks when filling. Don't forget to have the heater on full so you refill the heater matrix when putting in the new coolant.

My advice is to at least consult a Haynes manual or owner's forum before embarking on this, or maybe just get a mechanic to do it if you're not at all familiar with cars yourself.

Guy:Incognito

tommmy1979 wrote: »

+1

Buddy of mine was in the motortrade a few years ago, got a text off him one day.. it read "Just sold a Rover 75, where's the nearest confession box"

T

Proof you dont need to know much about cars to sell them.

tommmy1979

Stekelly wrote: »

Proof you dont need to know much about cars to sell them.

i don't get it??

Guy:Incognito

tommmy1979 wrote: »

i don't get it??

Rover 75 is a great car.

Voodoomelon

skyhighflyer wrote: »

To be honest it's not as easy a job as just opening the rad and letting the coolant drain out and refill it. Sometimes it is, you might get lucky. But bear in mind some cars have a few bleed screws that have to be opened in sequence or you get an airlock which can be an absolute bastard to get out. Also some cars need a header tank to attach to the coolant reservoir in order to stop airlocks when filling. Don't forget to have the heater on full so you refill the heater matrix when putting in the new coolant.

My advice is to at least consult a Haynes manual or owner's forum before embarking on this, or maybe just get a mechanic to do it if you're not at all familiar with cars yourself.

This is very true, air will form in most cooling systems and you have to know how to bleed them properly.