I have found bits and pieces of helpful information in various threads concerning coolant flushing/changing, however, is there one comprehensive diy type thread with step by step information? I would like to do this at home with my son, but it sounds like it is a bit more difficult than it should be. I would really like to flush as much of the old stuff out as possible, even if it means a repetitive and time-consuming process, and set up a 70/30 mix with Water Wetter.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Len

 

Sorry, I don't understand what you mean.

Do you mean:
> 35% water, 35% anti-freeze, 30% Water Wetter? Or,
> 70% anti-freeze, 30% water, plus Water Wetter? Or,
> 70% water, 30% anti-freeze, plus Water Wetter?

 

70% water/30% antifreeze/one bottle of Water Water

 

Just looked at a bottle of Mini coolant. Mini recommends a 60/40 mix of coolant to water for temperatures as low as -64 degrees F and a 50/50 mix for temperatures down to -32 degrees F. Mini makes no mention of water wetter

 

How about some pointers on how to drain/flush/refill the coolant without trapping air in the system? Anyone?

 

You might check, but I don't think Water-Wetter is recommended for use with anti-freeze solution. It's for reducing the surface tension of water to promote better heat transfer and aid cooling.

 

Not a problem with anti-freeze. Read the label and you will see that a full bottle is not required for the mini sized Mini coolant system.

 

ive also thought about doing this just for piece of mind ! it would be nice to know that all fluids are fresh !!

 

+1

 

Draining is a PIA and no real good way to get coolant out of block.

I first sucked out as much fluid as I could from the catch tank. I then (per the service manual removed the lower rad. hose. You can guess that coolant went everywhere. (Because of the location of the lower rad. outlet, there is probably a good 3/4 inch of coolant left in the rad.) I then remover the hose from the catch/fill tank and removed the tank in order to better clean it. Actually, that did very little good but at least it wasn't difficult and made me feel better. When I re-installed the lower rad. hose, I didn't use the OEM hose clamp because it was easier to use a conventional stainless clamp. Be careful when tightening the hose clamp because the outlet is plastic and you could crush or crack it.

 

Having had the opportunity to remove the Supercharger on my MCS I can tell you that you left more then 30% of your coolant in the block. I hate to say it but if you really want to remove every last bit of old coolant, you will have to go to a service center that has a closed loop system that flushes out the old coolant. I don't think you can access the heater core hoses and place a "T" fitting in them such that you could use a garden hose to accomplish the above, damn.

 

miminut is correct. I just drop the lower hose yearly, figure a 30% change works. By the 3rd year it would be 90% or less and then be done again. I use wetter water in everything. Works with antifreeze but is known at race tracks for water mix only. Will drop temp 20 deg in an all aluminum V-12 or V-8.

 

Thanks for the responses guys. I think for the immediate future(tomorrow), I am going to go ahead to a local shop and have them do the vacuum/closed loop method of flush and fill, as this is the one area (coolant) of my car that has been neglected a bit (4 years since any change except for occasional topping off), and I really want to clean the system out. $57.00 for the job.

I think for the longer term, I will do as Larry suggests and drop the lower rad hose annually to get a bit of freshening little by little, although removing the bumper cover, etc., is not all that attractive.

Any other thoughts about a 70% water/30% coolant/Water Wetter combination? The car is a daily driver, autocrossed regularly (at least once a month), and tracked occasionally - with the hopes for more track work this year.

Len

 

Everyone has an opinion and since your asking mine it is yes, use the Water Wetter.

I currently use it in my car, I track it occasionally also, and my friend who tracks his Porsche swears by it.

It can't hurt, use it.

Hope this helps...

 

70/30 w/ water wetter has worked on a lot of my cars that get tracked. Just make sure the effective temp ranges of a 70/30 mix fit your climate.

I just did this on my RX7. Very time consuming. Thankfully, the RX7 has a drain plug at the bottom of the rad. Unscrew that drain plug, unscrew the drain plug on the block, let the coolant flow out. Refill, warm up car, repeat.

That closed loop method sounds pretty cool. I would recommend the factory coolant though fwiw

Good luck

 

I drained mine today, and jeez, I didn't get near enough out to put in the recommended 6quarts to replace it!

I bought 50/50 mix because that is what the Bentley's says...
and I plan to add water wetter.

I'm a daily driver, it does get over 100F (max about 110 rarely)

any reason I should put in a different coolant ratio? ( 60/40 etc)???

 

Couldn't you drain the coolant out, fill it with distilled water, let the motor run a few minutes, drain it again and do this 3 or 4 times to flush everything out? Then fill with coolant and water.

 

That works, but assuming you aren't draining the old coolant onto the ground, the multiple fills/flushes leaves you with a LOT of contaminated water/coolant to dispose of properly.

 

Would anyone know if the MINI shop does a decent flush as per some MINI-recommended method, or do they allow that bit of coolant to remain during a coolant change? Thanks.

 

I just took mine to the MINI dealer for a coolant flush/fill. It was the first time I have taken the MINI to a dealer (I bought it used from a Ford dealer), I normally do all my own work/maintenance but didnt see the point of me fumbling with the coolant knowing I wouldnt get it all out.

The MINI dealer used a closed loop suck/flush system, they run a bunch of excess fluid through to clean it all out. Cost me about $130, which is pretty pricey but coolant is pretty important.

 

Great! Thanks for the info.

 

I'm not sure how MINI dealers do it. I'd hope they hook it up to a machine that sucks and replenishes everything as it goes. I've settled on replacing it often (once a year or so) to get most of the old crap out by the time it starts going bad. Not having a drain that's accessible is a real PITA.

As for coolant, I use Zerex G05 which is as close to factory fill as you can get without going to a dealer. Old coolant gets dumped down the bathtub or toilet as the water treatment plant can get the bad stuff out.

 

You are mistaken; used antifreeze should never be poured down the drain. http://www.iwrc.org/SBPPC/antifreeze.cfm The contaminants coolant picks up during its time in the engine cannot be removed by waste water treatments.

 

Not to bring back a dead thread, but could you just jack the car up on the one side to help drain the other 30% putting the car on jacks on one side?

Just a thought.

 

That might help some. Would be interesting to try it.