Coolant Drain

[Xcentric]

I've always paid somebody to do all of the fluid changes. This time I decided to do it myself. Shout outs to @Sinovac, @Howard, and @thegtguy for their advice and friendship.

You start by removing countless belly pan and air dam/splitter screws, and breaking two splitter push pins. T27 and 8mm. Actually, this is more than needed for just the coolant drain. You only need to remove the splitter and the front pan. Unless you want to remove the block drains. I did not, but more on that later.




The naked plumbing. Battery box in the middle.




Optima!



The radiator drains are easily accessible. This is the engine radiator (driver side). Supercharger coolant is the passenger side. Gravity drain only produced a disappointing ~2 gal from the engine rad and ~1 gal from the supercharger rad. I raised the rear of the car and got another 1-2 qts.

The manual claims you can drain 80% of the coolant. Engine coolant capacity is 8.2 gal and supercharger coolant capacity is 4.0 gal. So, I only got about 25% using gravity. Not good.




I decided to see if I could vacuum out more using my Harbor Freight vacuum brake bleeder. $26 after 20% off any one item coupon plus a free flashlight! Made in Taiwan. They're the good guys, right?



At image limit, continued next post...

 

[Xcentric]

I swapped tubing, attached it to the drains and sucked out another three gallons total. Open bottle caps. Leave bleeder bottle on to start the flow. Once flow starts, unscrew bleeder bottle and continue draining into bucket. After a while, you'll start sucking air and coolant. You can stop then, because you won't get much more. Up to 50% now. Much better.



I thought I would pull the block drains to extract more coolant. However, I found they have red (permanent) thread locker. I was not too excited about trying to get a torch in there. After consultation with Rich Brooks, my ace local GT tech Rick Wiedenroth, and my pals, I decided to leave these alone. Rich and Rick say they never remove the block drains. They said 50% is good, assuming the coolant is not discolored or otherwise contaminated. I know that Kendall has removed the block drains. Your call. I ain't going there. Here is one of the block drain plugs. The allen wrench is just there for reference. You will not budge this plug with an allen wrench. Or possibly any wrench that you can fit in there, unless you add heat.




After draining as much as you can, you get yourself one of these Airlifts to refill the systems. This is the Rotunda/Snapon RadKitPlus at about half the price on Amazon.




The Airlift is an awesome tool. Made in Canada, eh? So, by definition, it is very nice. You hook up your compressor at 90 psi min and it sucks all the air from the system. This is essential to prevent air locks. If you don't use an Airlift, you have to access the radiator bleeders, which as far as I can tell means removing the entire front end of the car (or close enough). Get this tool instead. The pleasure of using it is worth the cost.

After evacuating the system, the Airlift sucks in fresh coolant. When the gauge reads zero, the system is full. Actually, overfull. It fills the bottles. You'll spend some time with a turkey baster sucking out the overfill. Alternatively, you can shut the valve before the gauge reads zero. For the supercharger bottle (nearest the body), you can see when the coolant reaches the sight glass and shut the valve then. For the engine coolant bottle, the sight glass is out of sight. So unless you get in there with a mirror it's hard to see what's happening. No big deal in any case. Run the engine up to temp, check level in the bottles and you are done. Now you have six gallons of old coolant to dispose of.



The brake bleeder as a cooling system bleeder in action.

 

[Howard]

I know where I'm going for my next coolant change. Meanwhile, I need to buy more printer ink. Great write-up, Gary. Thank you.

 

[Specracer]

If for what ever reason you do go back and want to get the block drains out, get your hands on an inductive heater (http://www.theinductor.com/induction-heating-products/mini-ductor/models/md-venom) . Will do the job with out having to use a torch. I did not touch ours, only providing the info if someone really wanted to get them out.

Great write up, I have done this job as well. Not so bad.

 

[soroush]

very thorough write up and excellent job indeed. thank you for sharing
we need more posts like this on the forum...

 

[soroush]

If for what ever reason you do go back and want to get the block drains out, get your hands on an inductive heater (http://www.theinductor.com/induction-heating-products/mini-ductor/models/md-venom) . Will do the job with out having to use a torch. I did not touch ours, only providing the info if someone really wanted to get them out.

Great write up, I have done this job as well. Not so bad.

Andy I may have to try this inductive heat thingy on my firebirds tie rod sleeves that are stuck
they kicked my butt last time we met.

 

[Xcentric]

If for what ever reason you do go back and want to get the block drains out, get your hands on an inductive heater (http://www.theinductor.com/induction-heating-products/mini-ductor/models/md-venom) . Will do the job with out having to use a torch. I did not touch ours, only providing the info if someone really wanted to get them out.

Great write up, I have done this job as well. Not so bad.

Couple of possible issues with the induction heater method. One, there is not room to get the coils flat against the block. Two, the induction is inside the coils and the plug is essentially flush with the block. If you watch the video, the bolt head is inside the coils. So, most of the heat is not where it is needed. I don't know if it would generate much heat though. The induction heater needs a metal object inside the magnetic fields to generate heat. Maybe just getting the coil near the plug is enough to melt the thread locker though.

A heat gun may also work. This was going to be my first try, before I said forget it. It would probably take quite a while, but no open flame.

 

[AJK]

Thank you for sharing this.
A few questions. 1)What ID tubing did you use to connect to the radiators
2) It appears that you had the handle end of the pump connected to a compressor that was pushing compressed air creating the vacuum to draw out the coolant all the while it was draining. Could you have used the UV instead just like drawing out the air before filling the system it would draw the coolant via the radiators.

AJK

 

[fjpikul]

Aren't there petcocks in the front radiators?

 

[Specracer]

You can bend the coils all over the place, various lengths. even open them up. I got one of these several months ago, Assuming the hardware isnt large, I have been VERY impressed. Have even used it on brake lines.

Was just an idea for the plugs if anyone was interested.

 

[Xcentric]

Thank you for sharing this.
A few questions. 1)What ID tubing did you use to connect to the radiators
2) It appears that you had the handle end of the pump connected to a compressor that was pushing compressed air creating the vacuum to draw out the coolant all the while it was draining. Could you have used the UV instead just like drawing out the air before filling the system it would draw the coolant via the radiators.

AJK

I had 1/4" ID tubing, which is a bit too small for the radiator drain. I softened the end with a heat gun and it stretched enough for a good fit. The other end was a bit too large for the brake bleeder, but a small hose clamp took care of that.

The Airlift works by the same principle as the brake bleeder. Compressed air passing over a venturi creates the vacuum. In theory the Airlift would do the same thing as the brake bleeder, perhaps more efficiently too. However, I had no way to connect the Airlift to the radiator drains.

 

[Xcentric]

Aren't there petcocks in the front radiators?

Catch up, Frank. You can see the one of the petcocks draining in the 4th photo.

 

[Sinovac]

Great write up buddy.

 

[PeteK]

Thanks for that detailed write-up. I'll use it myself someday soon.

 

[Kingman]

Thank you for the detailed instructions Gary.

I'm assuming you refilled with OEM recommended coolant.

Question: Did you consider - Evans Waterless, Water Wetter, etc....

Thank you

 

[Xcentric]

Thank you for the detailed instructions Gary.

I'm assuming you refilled with OEM recommended coolant.

Question: Did you consider - Evans Waterless, Water Wetter, etc....

Thank you

Yes to the OEM coolant. The manual calls for suffix A, which is no longer made. Suffix B contains a bittering agent (denatonium benzoate - "one of the most bitter substances known to man"), intended to discourage anything or anyone from drinking sweet coolant.

No to any other additives. I've never had an overheating issue.

 

[fjpikul]

Sorry Gary. Yes I see it now. Thanks for pointing it out. I haven't had mine done in quite some time and my Ford tech pretty much did it your way. He had proper equipment though.

 

[Specracer]

Not sure I would want to go this route, 2 possible issues, 1st maybe not an issue for most, water wetter does not have an anti freeze component. 2nd, also doesnt have a rust inhibitor (hope my memory is correct). One very nice advantage of water wetter, its not as slippery as anti freeze (when littered on a track surface).

Did you consider - Evans Waterless, Water Wetter, etc....

 

[Kingman]

Not sure I would want to go this route, 2 possible issues, 1st maybe not an issue for most, water wetter does not have an anti freeze component. 2nd, also doesnt have a rust inhibitor (hope my memory is correct). One very nice advantage of water wetter, its not as slippery as anti freeze (when littered on a track surface).

You're correct Spec, an anti-freeze component rates low on my particular 'Gotta Have' list as I hail from SoCal. I assume my list is somewhat commensurate with Gary's Florida list.

My temp gauge can climb fast during the summer months here, especially in traffic, and was wondering if the Evans product might provide a solution.

I didn't think Gary would venture outside OEM-spec boundaries, based on inclination of his past posts, though I had to ask.

 

[Kingman]

Oh yeah......Evans advertises that their product prevents water-caused corrosion.