Coolant flush?

[PaliPrincess]

Hello, does anyone know how to flush coolant? I had an emergency and my car heated up and a guy who helped me on the side of the road opened up my coolant tank before I could yell NO!!! So I had to put the yellow kind I use for my Honda Pilot. How do I flush it so I can put G-12?
(2002 2.0 GLS 126,000)

[JP]

The drain plug is on the bottom of driver side of the radiator twist the valve it should come out, then re-fill with G-12 coolant you can get it at you're dealer or napa auto parts just remember to mix it (50/50) with distilled water

[PaliPrincess]

Ok cool thank you. Just to get this clear, the plug to drain it is on the bottom of my radiator of the drivers' side? And just out of curiousity why do I fill half with distilled what? THANKS AGAIN!!

[PaliPrincess]

Do I have to make sure my old coolant is all gone?

[Supercharged98]

Drain out coolant, as stated above. Then refill with water only. Start up the engine and circulate for a few minutes. Drain again. Then refill with 50/50 mix G12 collant and water (doesn't have to be distilled, the dealers use regular water, I asked them).

[2004NBTURBOS]

Yes. Drain the system. Fill with water drain again. I would do this twice maybe 3 times. Lastly, fill with the g12 and distilled water. Distilled is better for the system then regular tap water, regular tap water has iron deposits which react negatively with the all aluminum cooling system. You can buy it cheap at the supermarket or Walmart.

[Phil C55]

To get to the drain outlet you have to remove both the center belly pan and the drivers side plastic pan. You will see the outlet pointing straight down and a knob with grooves on it. Twist the knob counterclockwise and pull back on it. I too would run water through it at least a couple times and then use VW G12 (@ $25 a gallon)with distilled water at a 50/50 mix. There is no reason to put minerals from tap water into it. The dealers might use tap water, but they also don't replace the motor mount stretch bolts when they do a water pump.

[PaliPrincess]

THANKS A LOT! You guys rock! I would totally be lost for like 20 mins. Like when I first bought my Beetle, I orginally had a Jetta, so I was looking for my transmission dip stick for a good 20mins. My dad came out laughing (as he was the one who told me to look for it) saying there is no dip stick on the Beetle! Loool I know I rant. THANKS AGAIN!!

[Palmettoguy]

Pictures are nice...
Now you'll know what it looks like

[simonsi]

A 1/2" hose push-fits over the drain stub for you to lead the outflow to a bucket or bottle...

[PaliPrincess]

Originally Posted by Palmettoguy

Pictures are nice...
Now you'll know what it looks like

THANKS PALMETTOGUY! YOU ROCK! Now it makes sense! I'm just waiting for the weather to get a little better. Thanks again!

[PaliPrincess]

Originally Posted by simonsi

A 1/2" hose push-fits over the drain stub for you to lead the outflow to a bucket or bottle...

THANKS SIMONSI! Good idea. So kinda like the radiator hose?

[simonsi]

Originally Posted by PaliPrincess

THANKS SIMONSI! Good idea. So kinda like the radiator hose?

Use garden hose

[Phil C55]

I used an empty one gallon washer fluid jug and a funnel, turned out to be the perfect height, didn't spill a drop..............not there anyway.

[mlt]

Originally Posted by 2004NBTURBOS

Yes. Drain the system. Fill with water drain again. I would do this twice maybe 3 times. Lastly, fill with the g12 and distilled water. Distilled is better for the system then regular tap water, regular tap water has iron deposits which react negatively with the all aluminum cooling system. You can buy it cheap at the supermarket or Walmart.

I'm still pondering about future timing belt job and I came across this PDF http://www.blauparts.com/audi_water_...e_bulletin.pdf that says that simply draining the cooling system is not enough.

I wonder if some concentration correction factor is needed when mixing G12 after coolant flush. AFAIK there is no way to drain all fluid from the system. Thus if we diluted the leftover with water few time and then fill with 50/50 mixture, the total G12 concentration will be lower than 50%. Is it already taken into account when 50/50 is recommended? For instance, IIRC there is 5L of coolant in total, and only about 4L (i.e. 1 gal) can be drained. If we top it off with 50/50 mixture after a single flush, we will get about 42% mixture. Needless to say if we ran water several times or even from the hose, the concentration will drop a bit further till 40% (2L of G12 from refill mixture vs total 5L).

[gamefoo21]

If you do a proper flush, the system will be pure water, when you drain, you remove that much water from the system.

When refilling, you have to account for all the water still in the system, so you mix what you are adding in to bring the ratio up to 50/50 or 60/40 depending on climate.

This is easy when using a jug as a drain basin, so you know how much you have to readd.

If we run with a 5L cooling system.

3L of water comes out, leaving 2L of uncut water in it.

You want to add 2.5L of coolant and 500ml of water to make the system 50/50 or 3L of coolant is 60/40. If you add 50/50 pre-diluted mix you'll end up with 30/70 so in a really warm climate it'll be fine but the 'coolant life' will be adversely affected.

Oh and the 2L bugs have generally a 5L coolant system capacity.

[Tonyx]

I did this less than a month ago. The system capacity is 6.7L for 2.0L engine. Each drain is 3.7L worth including taking out oil cooler hose to let that part drain the engine(per Bentley instructions). So after the last drain with distilled water, you will have 3L of water in the car. You will need to add 3.7L of 100 G12 to get 55/45 mix. Exact value is not critical.

[mlt]

Thanks! I doubt I'll try to get rid of old G12 completely, but I'll just drain as much as I can and I'll add nanopure water once to dilute all contaminant that accumulated in cooling system over 10 years.

[simonsi]

Originally Posted by Tonyx

I did this less than a month ago. The system capacity is 6.7L for 2.0L engine.

You want to double-check that, I did and still came up with 5L.

(5.7L for the diesels)

[kwalla73]

Anyone have an issue with the coolant drain valve leaking even after fully closed after a coolant flush and refill? I did. I have a '99 Beetle w/ a 2.0 engine.