Is this recommended on a rotary? I noticed when fitting my BOV that a few of the pipes were filled with brown sludgy stuff, I\'m sure this isn\'t so good especially in a place as hot as Cyprus. I\'m wondering if my stock rad is also in need of a flush. Is it advised or dangerous to do this on a RE? I don\'t want to damage anything and there are no RX specialists out here so I\'ve only got you guys!! Obviously any garage can do an engine flush but as mentioned it\'s weather or not it could damage the engine I\'m worried about, talking to someone in Cyprus said it could damage the \'o rings\' or something? I forget what he said.
As always appreciate any helpfull advice that can be given! :D
You should be alright flushing the water system out with water - or even water mixed with a bit of bicarb of soda (it works - get\'s rid of quite a bit of crud actually).
I\'ve put the Haynes rad flush 2 part system in one of my old engines - and that didn\'t seem to do the water passages any damage. The O rings are in the oil passage ways, not the water jacket - it\'s the water seals in that area - as long as you don\'t leave the stuff sat in the engine for ages, it should be fine to run it through and flush it through with a hose before refilling with proper coolant mix.
If you want to fully drain the engine - there\'s a longer bolt head on the passenger side engine mount - that\'s the coolant drain plug for the engine block.
Make sure that any flush or indeed coolent is \'suitable for aluminium engines\' else it will start eating away at stuff lol.
I flushed mine round Prof\'s with some bicarb, works really well and the coolent has stayed the correct coolent colour lol.
When you do drain it, don\'t panic if the coolent buzzer goes off when you first drive it (although don\'t carry on driving!) It will probably be an air bubble in the block, happened with mine, just needed to be topped up :D
Should be no reason that the oil pathways are blocked. RXmotors say they\'ve looked after it for last few years and was rebuild 20k ago, but I think it\'s a good idea to flush the water system and rad with the heat out here. There was a small thin pipe on the left of the engine connects to the BOV and 2 other similar sized hoses, the 3 are connected by a \'t\' peice connected. This bit was filled with brown stuff too, how would I clear that one? Just push a screw driver through or something or is that a bad plan?
Edit - I\'ve heard the buzzer go off as I lost most of the water from the system when I tried to change the coolant pipes. Should hopefully have that fixed tomorrow and will buy some coolant from somewhere as well, or do you think just water will be okay out here? I\'m not so great with this stuff as previously I\'ve only really had hot hatches which are more or less indestructible!
Yeah the rad can block up with rubbish, might be an idea to upgrade at some point if you start boosting more etc, coolent flush sounds like a good idea though :)
You got a photo of the other pipes you mean?
Yeah, that should be just a minor air pocket in the block, how much coolent did you use? Although im pretty sure its not going to freeze!
I\'ve not used any coolant for that reason, but then I thought maybe coolant stuff had chemicals in it to raise the boiling point of the water? I\'ll take a pic of the blocked pipe tomorrow for you. Rad and fan upgrade is next after coilovers and wheels, maybe even before wheels?
As far as I know the coolant does all this:
- Lowers freezing point - so much less chance of it icing up (subject to mix ratio ;) )
- Increases boiling point - although the pressurized system does that
- Has a \'wetting\' function to reduce surface tension and help the coolant get into all the small pockets of the coolant jacket
- Has a corrosion inhibiting function
- And by way of a bonus, some of them also flouresce under uv light - so you can see where leaks have been happening :)
I\'d run it where you are - hell I\'d like to be where you are !! :Giggle
Perhaps just top up with some concentrated coolent :)
Right brought a new jubilee clip this morning and some coolant. Finally fitted that bloody lower rad hose, as always it\'s never simple! I\'ve taken a pic of the small pipe that was filled with brown sludge pix below.
(http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc23/BenNova/f5d3ade1.jpg)
It\'s the metal part that was partially blocked. A black pipe comes out either side.
Final question today, is it okay to hose down the engine where I have been fitting the lower pipe or can I cause harm? Ive pictured below where I mean. I thought in theory as long as I don\'t wet the filter, which is covered by stock air box, the BOV or the intercooler etc I\'d be okay? Is this right?
(http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc23/BenNova/6ef2ca53.jpg)
(http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc23/BenNova/a9d07d7b.jpg)
Many thanks for all the help!!
Ben,
The only thing I\'d say is be careful of getting water in the OMP or wiring for it - that could play havoc and may even put the car in limp mode if the wrong readings go back to the ECU.
I find a damp rag and some elbow grease does the job.
As for that metal pipe - that\'s only attached to the side of the BAC valve and is just there to warm it up (I can only presume that the BAC valve can get sticky when cold, so the water flows past the side of it to warm it). Given where it\'s mounted, it\'s going to get a fair bit of engine heat anyway - but shoving a pipe cleaner or needle through the metal tube won\'t hurt any. If you can get them undone, that warmer pipe is only screwed on by 2 screws, and can be removed for cleaning if that helps.
Thanks a lot proof, you\'ve been a great help. :)
I don\'t suppose you happen to know exactly how much water the rad and coolant system takes do you?
Quote from: B.Martin;780759Thanks a lot proof, you\'ve been a great help. :)
I don\'t suppose you happen to know exactly how much water the rad and coolant system takes do you?
According to the Service Manual Technical section the Turbo is 8.7L (that\'s with a stock radiator etc.)
Your a very good person to know Prof, can\'t thank you enough for your info. However...
Quote from: Prof;780631If you want to fully drain the engine - there\'s a longer bolt head on the passenger side engine mount - that\'s the coolant drain plug for the engine block.
I was looking for this earlier, i don\'t know if its me but i\'m sure my old egi didn\'t have a large bit of plastic that ran under the engine bay? I can\'t seem to get to anything underneath, further more i don\'t have a socket set or anything out there! Don\'t suppose there is another way to flush out the rad and system is there?
Such a pain moving abroad can be, you leave all your tools behind and to buy a socket set over here is â,¬40!!! Yes â,¬40!!!
You can get to it from the front - leaning into the engine bay - should be able to get your hand under the power stearing pump at the front of the engine - and onto the longest \'bolt\' that sticks up out of the 4 on the side of the engine - it\'s 14mm - a spanner would get on it easy - and it won\'t be uber tight - bolt only has about 4 threads before it falls out :)
On this pic (upside down) it\'s the blackest looking bolt of the 4 on the centre iron (no engine bracket on this pic) - the one that\'s top right:
http://www.mazdarotaryclub.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=46417&d=1267794587
So in the real world in the car it\'s bottom left :)
Right, just to be sure its the one with the yellow circle round it? And once its removed if i stick a hose pipe in the top of the radiator and turn it on, that will be okay right?
Apologies for my n00b-ness! Also aplogies for the fact photobucket resizes every pic to a crap size, but you can just make out the yellow circle!
(http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc23/BenNova/front_cover_on.jpg)
That\'s the one :):Thumbs-up
Oh - and if you leave the bottom hose on, and have that drain undone, it should fill to the level of the water pump and come out the drain - you\'ll get most of the engine sluiced that way.
Yeah i don\'t want to remove that frickin\' hose ever again in my life... Or at least until i get a new rad!
Im still running the OEM hoses for my radiator, didn\'t touch the rad hoses on the engine lol
Great stuff, if i can get the clearance from the PFO then i\'ll flush the system tonight and then re-fill it with 50:50 coolant/water.