Search didn't come up with much- just want to do some routine maintenance on my wife's '03 MCS with about 36K miles. Figured it's time- no problems, just preventive...

 

Get safety goggles. Flushing your eyes for the full 15 minutes is not fun...

 

There is not much to say. Drain via the lower hose and refill.
MINI did not make it easy to do an actual flush.

 

If all you do is drain the fluid through the lower hose, you will only get half the fluid out. The other half is hiding inside the block waiting to be released by locating and finding drain plug(s). I know this because that is how I did it. This was using the Bently Workshop Manual as well. There are threads on the site that better explain where the mystery plug(s) is/are. I'm not even sure how many because the threads have conflicting information. Perhaps someone knowledgeable can do a proper DIY with photos to eliminate the confusion/conflicts.

 

There are plugs but even the manual says to drain and fill. That is why I say you can't really do a flush. I usually just drain, fill and run a couple of times to get the old fluid out. Then I drain and fill with the correct coolant and water wetter.
Not the same as a flush but if done correctly it should be very close.

 

Prestone makes a Reverse Flush kit ( Tees, garden hose connector, etc.) for about $5-6. It requires cutting one of the heater hoses to insert the correct tee.
Hook the garden hose up, remove upper radiator hose at radiator, turn on water. If you've installed tee on the correct heater hose, the water flows thru the system backwards (heater temp control on high), which is supposed to do a better job of getting accumulated junk out of the block.
Haven't done it yet, so I'm not sure which heater hose needs the tee.
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The problem with that is your introducing all the junk in tap water to the system and you can't get it out. I think the best way to keep the cooling system in top shape is to simply change the fluid often.

 

Which is a great idea. The problem being that there is already 36,000 miles on it and the sediment has already built up. Needs to come out.
If you use the flush tee, after the flushing is done you pour in the antifreeze through the upper rad hose, and it forces the water out through the tee. If you use 50/50 mix, it's a done deal. Clean water jacket, clean radiator, fresh fluid. Voila! Gotta love easy.
-s-

 

I've started a thread with the same subject but never came up with an idea. I thought of sending it to the dealer but then I'll pay so much $$$. Also, how could you be sure that the dealer did a full professional flush? The best way is to do it yourself.

 

Been a few years since using the Prestone flush kit, but when I mixed it up I always used plain "Tap" water in a 50/50 mix of Prestone. Never thought of using bottled water.....

I thought the old Prestone Kits was taken off the shelves some time ago due to Federal Mandates and all used auto antifreez must be "reclaimed" and filtered by a federally licensed mechanic and dealer ?

 

Nope. Still available at major autoparts boxes. Autozone, Advance, Schuck's, Checker, Kragen, etc. $6. Recycle containers for AF available there, too.

 

Technically you should be using Distilled, not bottled water, but most people don't really do that...

 

Ja, you can use distilled water, but high quality antifreeze has rust and corrosion inhibitors in it. This means tap water in most locales is OK to use. In my motorcycles, I used distilled water. In my racing motorcycles I used ONLY distilled water, which was required by the rule book until Water Wetter was approved. But, you could not use conventional antifreeze because when spilled on the track it made slippery surfaces.

Oh, don't forget: Do NOT use more than 50% glycol in aluminum blocks. It will corrode them and also leave deposits. Aluminum blocks are not like the old cast iron blocks in which some people, especially on farms and northern central US, ran 100% antifreeze.

 

How can you use Distilled water to flush the coolant system ? The process includes hooking up the garden hose to the Prestone t connector, putting the hose on full blast and running your car for a few seconds...... But I do like the idea That will be my next project in about 5,000 miles. Thanks guys.

 

I bought one of thoese Prestone kits with the flush tee for another car I had, but I could never get myself to cut the heater hose....so I just drained, ran water through the system, and refilled.

 

yeah, that first cut on the heater hose is a scary one. "Is this the right one? Will the 'T' fit? What's a new hose cost and how much trouble is it gonna be to replace it?" Cutter's remorse can be hard to deal with.
Eurothrasher: you can (have to) flush with the garden hose, but use distilled water to mix with the AF. Heck, it's under a buck a gallon at the soopermarket. Or do it the easy way and buy pre-mixed. That way, if you have to add some down the road, you have some on the self already mixed at the correct percentage.
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"Search didn't come up with much- just want to do some routine maintenance on my wife's '03 MCS with about 36K miles. Figured it's time- no problems, just preventive..."

I just did a flush on my 03S. Instead of going through all of the hassle (crawling underneath, removing the lower radiator hose, letting it gush on the floor of my garage as I move a bucket around....) I stood there staring at my engine for about a minute while I debated with myself. Then, as I glanced around the garage, my eyes fixated on my shopvac.......Ahhhhhaaa! I knew there was a way of doing this easier than what I have read! So, I opened the overflow tank, attached my shopvac and voila! the radiator and block was fully drained!
It took about 3 gallons of distilled H2o as well to run through the system before I got back somewhat clear[ish] H2o. Refilled with 50 parts G05 and 50 parts H2o with a squeeze of Water Wetter (stirred...not shaken).

There was some tan colored fragments attached to the inside of my overflow tank that I dislodged. I am curious to find out what it actually was. Other than that, everything is fine.

Now I need to find tires. The kind that last LONG in a very dry and high temperature climate....Anyone have any ideas?

 

That's clever.

Unless the coolant-pump is failing, the fragments inside the overflow tank is residual machining debris from the block and cylinder head.

 

Overall time spent on the coolant flush was somewhere around 30-45 minutes. I took my time and fiddled around a bit inside the engine (looking for leaks, checking hoses, etc.) while vacuuming the tank. I drove it around today and it drove smoooooooth. The temp. stayed a hair under the half mark. I don't have an aftermarket temp. gauge to tell you exactly what the temp stayed at (---thats another weekend project---) but as I drove it around, I would recheck the level when I got home. Everything seems fine.

 

I too think that the vacuum extraction is a cleaver idea. Is there any way to tell how much actually came out?

Thanks for the great idea and hopefully someone will get a fix on how much comes out this way before I get a chance to play.

Rich

 

DMBFan2

Cool idea, couple of questions.
What did you open to let air in as the water was sucked out? Or did you just suck from the expansion tank?
How much did you get out? I assume it was in your vac, did you measure it before adding back to make sure you had enough?
Thanks

 

I opened the air bleed point above the radiator, then when I had removed enough fluid w/ the vacuum, I took the canister (reservoir canister) off and washed it out. I then alternated between the two hoses with the vacuum. Oh, and closed the bleed point.

Overall, I think I got out about half a gallon of straight coolant, although I wasn't measuring. After you put the canister back on, refill with distilled H2O and repeat as many times as you need too. I flushed about 3 gallons of distilled H2o through and have a total of 4 gallons of coolant to recycle.

400 miles later and a few small refills to top off, my Mini is keeping cool in 100+ degree weather.

 

The shop-vac idea worked well but it did not remove all of the coolant from my system. I also removed the small radiator house closest to the radiator and beside the bleeder-valve. I attached my 2 HP shop-vac and left the cap off of the reservoir. This allowed me to remove another quart + from the system after flushing the system twice with 2 gals of distilled water. Thanks for the great idea.

 

Glad to see it worked No more messy radiator flushing

I could not find anything online about a shopvac & rad. flush. I thought that maybe I was missing some"key" element as far as Mini's go and flushing the system. 600 miles later, my Mini is doing really good in the AZ. heat

 

I know this is an old thread but I have a question: When flushing the system, do you need to remove the thermostat? Seems to me that if it remains closed (engine cold), that you won't get any flow. I have never done a flush on mine so I'm just curious.