FTO AUSTRALIA

well looks like i will be changing the coolant myself, what is the best type to use in our beasts?

As far as I am aware coolant is coolant, just buy a reputable brand like Nulon or something. I used the long life green Nulon stuff and made sure it was mixed to the correct ratio.

Good idea to use some Nulon radiator flush first before draining the coolant.

Don't know if there is an easier way but I just disconnected the bottom radiator hose to drain it out.

Cheers

Chris

Any you drain it out, fill the radiator with just distill water & then run it for 5mins, then just drain it out again.

By doing that you also flash the old radiator water that was remained in the pipes. Unless you decided to disconnect all the water pipes & drain them one by one.

theres also a plug at the back of the block that should be taken out to drain cos theres a lot of coolant in the block

youll have to get under the car and use a 14mm spanner on it (i think) ... but be ready to get out of the way when you take it out cos coolant will go everywhere....

im pretty sure youre meant to dispose of coolant in a special way too... i dont think its meant to go down the drain...

anyone know how many litres it holds, i just unscrewed my little plug and only 3 litres came out

i think its around 6L...

i had a 5L bottle of coolant and it wasnt enough....

if you want to get all or most of it out, dont forget to take your radiator cap off, drain your overflow tank and unscrew the 14mm bolt on the back of the block

simon

sorry , whats the back of the block. is that the plastic thing that turns

the block is the bottom of the engine... to get the the plug, youll need to jack the car up, make sure its supported by stands or something, crawl underneathe and unscrew the bolt.... its on the back of the engine facing the firewall.... im pretty sure you cant get to it from the top...

if it sounds like too much trouble, then dont do it.... but when my mate and I did a radiator flush, heaps of coolant came out of that plug when it was taken out...

if the coolant youve drained so far looks new then you probly dont have to drain the block... if it looks rusty or murky, then id take the time to drain the block....

simon

the bolt your after is on the back of the block, as in, the rear side of the engine.

imagine if u sit in the passenger seat, then point your legs straight ahead of you, your right foot should be pointing in the approximate direction of the bolt

if the coolant was full to the radiator cap, does that mean if was definitely full? i thought it just had water in there coz thats all i could see whenm i lifted the radiator cap, however coolant did come out, and the overflow thing had water in.

well if you took the cap off and it was filled to the top, then yes it was full...

which means theres still a couple of litres of coolant in your car...

you should probly download the manual and read the part on radiator flushing... it tells you exactly what to do

i bought the manual and couldnt find anything

its in there somewhere.... or maybe its in one of the other manuals... there are 2 workshop manuals, a technical manual and an engine manual...

thats where i got my info from...

simon

u wouldnt happen to know what heading it is under? or if they call a radiator something else?

debbie
i have no idea... ill try and find it again when i get home from work...

do you have car ramps, or a medium sized jack and pin stands? if you dont have a way of jacking the car up high enough for you to get right under there, then theres probly no other way of getting to the bolt....

if the coolant youve drained looks pretty new then i wouldnt worry about it until next time.... but if its murky and dirty then youll need to find a way to get your car up in the air...

plus the manual says to use sealant on the block drain plug....so if you dont have sealant then you probly shouldnt attempt it or the plug might start leaking at some point.... you can get sealant from supercheap auto or any auto shop....its like gasket sealant or gasket maker stuff...

simon

ok then thankyou, i will just put the new coolant in and do it properly the next time, after i do some research. thankyou heaps for all your help

I only did one radiator flush, and that was in my old car, so I'm not sure if this method applies to the fto,

First you must take out the thermostat, and screw the part that holds the thermostat back on, you might need a new gasket after your done.

Then you simply, undo you top hose that runs into the radiator, and leave it hanging, over the ground. Undo you radiator cap, and get a hose down it, one that you can adjust the flow of.

Turn your engine, and the water should be flowing out from the top hose that you undid, the garden hose should be filling up the radiator.

Once no more crap is coming out from the top hose, then stop engine, and refill radiator with proper water & coolant, and put the thermostat back in.

Well, that's just my idea of a flush, the above methods sound more like refills to me

what i did was i undid the block plug and the radiator drain plug and put a hose in the radiator filler... then i let the water flush through the block plug and the radiator drain plug until the water was crystal...

btw debbie the info is in workshop manual 1 under engine cooling ... section 14-3

yay i found it! the pics are still a bit hard to follow, will just have to put my car on ramps next time and try a few bolts. thanks heaps, by the looks of it, i drained the left half. there is meant to be 6.5 litres in there.

when filling up make sure you fill from thermostat.

Also air locks are a common problem, so an easy way to eliminate this is to run the car for 10-15 mintues with the radiator cap off. You may require a top up.

make sure the heater is on as well.