Coolant change for dummies - help

[JP825]

I will planning to attemp my first coolant change this weekend.  And after a bit of reading and researching, it seems everyone has a slight different method.  

I am planning to follow this guide below:

Start with a stone cold engine

- Start by relieving the pressure by opening the coolant cap on the engine.

-  Then put the cap back on to minimize the amount of fluid that will drain onto your hand when you remove the plug. Remove both coolant caps to help the system drain.

- Flush out the system by filling it back with distilled water, replace the radiator cap and run the engine for about 3 minutes with the heater on full hot and then drain it again. If you do the double flush you will need another 2 gallons of water.  

- Add the water and antifreeze to get between 35% - 55% antifreeze. You can minimize the air bubbles in the system by gently squeezing and pulsing the large diameter coolant hose that runs by the right side of the intercooler.

- Check the fluid level in your overflow tank (white tank near the front right
wheel). The only way to replace it\'s fuel is to suck the fluid out or remove the fender wheel liner and take out the tank. I just added some water and coolant to get the level close to the F line on the dipstick.

IMPORTANT: You must "burp" the coolant system. Run the car for a about three minutes (don\'t drive it yet because you may be low on coolant) and shut it down. Put a rag over the engine coolant cap and open it up, pulse the big coolant hose, and top it off. You will need to do this several times.



have I miss anything or is there anything else I need to be aware of??

Your helps are much appreciated:)

[ashc]

thats pretty much it, but i always pull the coolant hose off the back of the plenum on the passenger side and fill it up until it starts running out of there; also running it for three minutes actually means running it until the thermostat opens, so the water is just below 80 degrees and so i don\'t bother opening the cap again until it is cool. if you overfill it, it dumps excess from the overflow tank drivers wheelarch side when the fluid expands. i always drive around for a few days with a bottle of top-up in the back as the low coolant buzzer is scary, and sometimes the level drops a bit in the first few days!!

[ro284]

If you want to completely empty the system, there is a drain plug for the Block/housings/engine, it is just above the sump on passenger side below the spark plugs.

[nikp]

Remember, if you are using the standard rad, there is a drain plug at the bottom. Also, there\'s a drain plug on the base of the engine, spark plug side on the centre housing. Both those drain plugs are about as low as you can get, so will help get as much coolant out the system as possible.

EDIT: Seen this has been mentioned already! :p

[JP825]

Thanks guys,

I presume everything I need can be bought from Halfords (coolant and distill water)

Do I need like any new washers or anything from mazda if I undo the drain plugs on the engine block??

Have also seen people in US uses these special funnel to fill the coolant so it minimise the air bubble, do I need that?

[Bobbit]

If going to halford, get the blue coolant, i was advise to do this and works great. could not find distilled water tho, used battery water in the end.
You dont need any new washers etc bud.

[JP825]

yep made note of the blue coolant already...  seen it mentioned on many threads the importance of that.

Is it 50:50 mix still or 70:30 coolant??

[SmbFD3S]

If you wanted to protect the engine from overheating or never have to do a coolant change again you could always use NPG+  I\'m serously thinking about it as it dont matter if the pressure goes in your system as it never boils or freezes so would be a hell of a lot more protection for the rotary.
 
http://www.evanscooling.com/catalog/C_npg1.htm
 
I know they were raving on about it a while ago on rx7club...

[Johnerz]

i did a bit of reading on that site as im planning to do all the fluids soon and noticed this:

:Evans NPG+ waterless coolant is a blend of glycols. Evans NPG Coolant is 100% inhibited Propylene Glycol. Both can maintain a substantially vapor-free, liquid-to-metal contact at all coolant temperatures and engine loads."


with it being a mix of glycols would that still be ok given all the talk about the different colours/types of coolant to use and/or anti freeze?

just wanna make sure itll be safe as it looks the business!

[David Nock (RIP)]

yep made note of the blue coolant already...  seen it mentioned on many threads the importance of that.

Is it 50:50 mix still or 70:30 coolant??

I use \'Bluecol\' at 40% antifreeze to 60% water.
I don\'t think you need to bother with distilled water for the flushing part. Just tap water will be fine here because it\'s straight in, straight out.. When finally filling you really should use distilled water.

[SmbFD3S]

this was the thread on rx7club:-
 
The main thing is cooling. The stock radiator plastic end tanks often start leaking at 70-80K, which is obviously a bad thing. Upgrading the radiator is a good idea, but even a good stock radiator with Evans NPG+ will be a huge improvement. NPG is waterless coolant with a boiling point of 375ºF at ZERO pressure. Unlike conventional coolant, it does not nucleate boil (little tiny bubbles that insulate the engine hotspots from the coolant), so heat transfers better. Because there is no water, it doesn\'t need all the additives to prevent corossion that only have a limited life, so you don\'t have to change the coolant periodically; it is "lifetime" coolant, provided you don\'t contaminate it. This is not the bad orange stuff that is perportedly "lifetime" but causes a lot of problems...that stuff uses tons of additives to make it last longer and whatever they use seems to attack soft seals. We have been using NPG for many years with great success. The downside is cost. At $34.50 per gallon, the initial cost is not cheap, but you never need to change it and the benefits to the engine are significant, in our opinion. You also have to factor in that you can\'t top it off with water and you can\'t find NPG just anywhere, so you have to keep some with you. On the other hand, you can run your cooling system at zero PSI so there is less stress on the hoses and water seals. Overall, we think these are good trade-offs.
 
and the link :- http://www.rx7club.com/showthread.php?t=575631&page=4

[JP825]

thats pretty much it, but i always pull the coolant hose off the back of the plenum on the passenger side and fill it up until it starts running out of there; also running it for three minutes actually means running it until the thermostat opens, so the water is just below 80 degrees and so i don\'t bother opening the cap again until it is cool. if you overfill it, it dumps excess from the overflow tank drivers wheelarch side when the fluid expands. i always drive around for a few days with a bottle of top-up in the back as the low coolant buzzer is scary, and sometimes the level drops a bit in the first few days!!

I cant locate the hose at the back of plenum for sure?? :xconfused Can someone please help or show a picture if possible.

Thanks

[m4drx]

its nor on the plenum its on the throttle body and its between it and the firewall.

[SmbFD3S]

This is the pipe you want to pull off chap
 
If you pull this off and then fill up (slowly) then you shouldn\'t have any air lock. I actually made a "timed" funnel from a coke/pepsi bottle, cut in in half and then put the lid on and drilled a 4mm hole in it, this way you can guarantee not to fill it too quickly :D
 

[FD3UK]

I\'ve had Evans NPG R in my FD for a year now. I run with a zero pressure cap and have not had any problems so far.

As you can see my setup is far from standard though...