N00B - Changing the coolant - how?

[pzorb]

OK so after looking at vadis, here and bay13 i've still managed to b*gger it up!! Lol I never touch the cooling system for this very reason (plus a bad experience a few years back...)

Help please for someone who doesn't know what he's doing!

I undid the tap underneath the radiator and also on the cylinder block and waited for them to drain. I ran a hose pipe into the tank and waitied until i saw only clear water coming out from both holes. I waited for this water to stop flowing once I switched off the tap. The car was on a slight 5% incline, with nose higher. Then I did them back up and started to put in one litre of coolant, followed by one litre of water, expecting this to happen three times for each as it takes 7.2 litres and i have a 1 litre jug. But it only took 3 jugs! So i've put 2 litres of coolant and 1 litre of water in it! What? How's this happened? What obvious thing haven't I done? Anyway i started her up and let her get to 3oclock temp, and the reservior level stays the same.
I don't dare drive it yet for obvious reasons, but I need to get moving tomorrow!


Helpless as ever and grateful for any assistance,
Martin

[The Flying Banana]

ou have to bleed the system to rid any air locks....is the bottom hose warm and the top hose cold? I fso easy way to do it if undo the top hose and start car up ... ( leave the resovior cap off first of all any air lock will be gone one the water starts to flow ( it may need cap on to force through )...connect back up and put heater on full blast to the floor on hot..the thermostat will be open by now and hot air should be coming from the vents...make sur eyou fill up with the required amount...

[nikgallagher]

Mine takes a while to settle down too. Give all the reachable hoses a good squeezing and let it sit overnight. You'll be surprised how much the level drops!

[nikgallagher]

Did you measure how much fluid came out when you drained it? Probably quite difficult to get all 7.2 litres out I would have thought.

[pzorb]

Took it round the block on three litres, sucked it all up PDQ so the tank was empty stuck another litre in and repeated - no change now. I'll have to let it settle overnight then i guess?
I was impressed how hot the car got too with the heaters on full at my feet! Had to open up everything just to breathe!
I drained it straight into the gutter, so didn't get a chance to see the volume that came out in the first place. I'm using this red stuff atm whereas before it was greyish/blue and it's still all nice and red so i don't think there was too much of the old stuff left in.

What gets me is how come this may well take me 12 hours to fully complete whilst a garage can do it in under an hour (VT changed over my thermostat and replaced the coolant just like that)? The reason for all this is that the people who changed my clutch said to watch the coolant level and top it up as they had to drain it to do the job. But i didn't have what my previous garage put in it, so I decided not to mix but to start again with this rather pricey neon red stuff from my local motorists discount.

Anyway i'm still 2 litres off target....

Cheers for the continued help!
Martin

[TangoDeltaSierra3]

Sounds like the kinda luck i get often, if in doubt shout help...

[Wobbly Dave]

After the first fill, you will always need to run the engine to allow the water pump to get going and remove any air - plus you need to run it until the Tstat opens. Squeezin the hoses as you go - to make sure you rid the system of any air, topping up as necessary. Did you replace the Tstat? or have you done that recently? For £6 - it is worth doing.

[nikgallagher]

I'm using this red stuff atm whereas before it was greyish/blue and it's still all nice and red so i don't think there was too much of the old stuff left in.


I only use the volvo concentrated green coolant, as I've heard the ally rad can get gunked up if you use the wrong stuff. Think it's something to do with glycol-dinitrophenylhydrazine or something?!?!?!

[pzorb]

Hmmn well it's stopped after taking 5 litres now. Drove it 100 miles today and I wasn't hanging around, checked the filler tank at every stop and it's fine. Hmmn. Anyway i'm carrying the rest as a surrogate child just in case!!
http://www.pzorb.com/albums/Volvo/dsc00011.thumb.jpg (http://www.pzorb.com/gallery/view_photo.php?set_albumName=Volvo&id=dsc00011)
One thing I hate about having an estate is that it's so difficult to carry anything small! Why I bother putting the Tesco's in bags still I don't know... always rearranged by the time I'm home!

So still two litres to go! Any other ideas?

Cheers
Martin