Quick question.

I'm doing my 90,000k service tomorrow, DIY.

Basically oil & filter change (piece of cake) plus coolant replacement.

Two methods of draining the old coolant (on top of opening the bottom radiator tap!):

1. Remove the coolant drain plugs from each bank (underneath)

2. Don't remove the drain plugs, just run tap water through from the top of the radiator with the engine running until it runs clear

In the past I have used method 2 on my old TE without a problem, but where I am now at Mawson Lakes the external tap water is recycled water and it is literally full of crap.

I'm worried that if I go the 'easy' method 2 I'll be leaving a bit of shitty water in the block, no matter how long I let it drain, and that shitty water will do some damage.

So is method 2 still OK or should I go with the 'harder' method 1?????

Maate if your external tap water is "literally full of crap" then you have to ask yourself what problems is this likely to cause for the water pump, radiator / heater core etc further down the track. I suppose you could try running a hose from a tap inside the house or try filling a watering can from an inside tap. Personally I'd be draining the block so as to ensure only a minimal amount of the old coolant remains.

Cheers

yeah there are drain plugs on the rear of the block, empty coolent with them. ontop of draining thru the radiator drain plug with the filler cap open. and the reserve bottlle too
be sure to collect the old coolent rather than putting it down the drain

All done, thanks guys.

Could not for the life of me undo the front bank drain plug, really really tight mofo with no room for leverage. Stuffed around with it for an hour before I gave up.

Couldn't even find the rear bank plug!

So instead I flushed through three buckets of internally sourced tapwater, not the recycled stuff, with the motor running.

And removed & cleaned out the reserve bottle (which of course means taking off the undertray/splashguard which in turn means stuffing about with those effing scrivets).

What coolant did you use? At least it doesn't need redoing for a couple of years.

What coolant did you use? At least it doesn't need redoing for a couple of years.

I used Nulon Long Life, was going on 'special' at SCA for $37 for 5 litres. Not sure if that really is a 'cheap' price though.

The bottle says "lasts for four years or 250,000k", but I'll be changing it every 2 years or 90,000k, whichever comes first.

Distilled water is cheap enough so that is what I have been using. It costs about $1 per litre from SCA or IGA. No tap water in my car! I drain and refill with distilled water then drive around a little, let it cool down and repeat. If I have taken out the drain plug at the front of the engine then I figure that two rinses with distilled water will have taken out over 90% of the old coolant. On the third fill I add around 3.5L (about 40%) of concentrate and top up with distilled water. This process involves removing and replacing the front drain plug three times and is a lot of fun but I cant reach the rear plug at all. Doing the same plug three times is not much more than doing two plugs once each, I guess.

Last time I tried a new method. I bought a few bottles of distilled water from SCA and drained only the radiator using the little tap, the lazy mans way. Takes quite a while tho as you need a lot of rinses. I think 6 or 7. Wouldnt leave the car too long with only water in it. If I was doing this every morning before I left for work I would add 500ml of the Nulon from about the third rinse onwards, around 20%, as insurance, then add less concentrate at the end. With this method, the radiator holds only about 2.5L so you have to add some concentrate on the second last change. This method cost me almost $20 more so I dont know if I will use it again.