by Guest » Wed Aug 18, 2004 11:57 am
Third response today,
I've drained and refilled the coolant on my GTA Turbo a number of times.
Easiest way is to remove the front radiator hose clip on the radiator end on the nearside ( cold/cool engine!) I can easily do this by lying at the side of the car then remove the expansion tank cap and flush the system through. To do this throughly you really need to remove the thermostat although this can be a bit of a pain.
Refilling replace front hose and tighten securely and start to fill expansion bottle with the recommended mix of water/anti freeze-summer coolant.
There are two points to bleed the system,
1) There is a hose with a bleed valve located on the top right hand side of the radiator.
The first time I tried to bleed this I couldnt get any water out let alone air as it was blocked with crud. Solution I pushed a thin fibreglass rod that I had to hand ( from an old kite of my sons) up the pipe and hey presto water and air came out. The guy I bought my car off only used it on sunny days & Sundays and it hadnt been drained in years and so I guess that the deposits had gradually built up in the bleed tube efectively blocking it.
2) The second bleed point is on the thermostst housing. This is a standard bleed valve that takes a 10mm ? spanner to undo.
Once you've filled and bled the systen I find that it's best to go for a run, let the engine cool down bleed the system of any air remaining and top up the expansion tank.Soerted.
Regards, Barry.