coolant flush...step by step with pics

[djomlas]

i flushed my coolant today for the 2nd time, used prestone the 1st time, well not a good idea turns out so i redid it, some people asked me to take some pics along the way so here they are, hopefully they help someone out when they are doing this.
this time i went with Zerex

put the car on ramps

if you dont know by now, this is what youre dealing with, in rear trunk

make sure that your cap is ending with this number, this is the updated cap

take both caps off and take the plastic cover off

lift the bleeder valve up

get under the car and take this cover off, beat up from road debree

use allen wrench to remove the bolt to coolant. make sure u are flushing the right stuff out, if you are unsure make sure its either greenish color, or just give it a little taste and if its sugary then youre good it will all just pour right out

there is a lot of it in there, i had another bucket underneath there when i took this pic, this coolant is lke month old. what a waste lol

[djomlas]

this is the Zerex used

then after its all out, close it and top off with coolant/distilled water mix to MAX

turn the car on, and let the engine get to the operating temerature, and every minute or so rev it up to about 4200RPM, this will take about 10 minutes or so.
shut engine off, let cool off, then top off to MAX again, put the bleeder valve down, replace the plastic cover, tighten both caps on.
some people like to drive w bleeder valve open for a day or 2, this will not hurt the car

[blinkwatt]

Originally Posted by djomlas

turn the car on, and let the engine get to the operating temerature, and every minute or so rev it up to about 4200RPM, this will take about 10 minutes or so.
shut engine off, let cool off, then top off to MAX again, put the bleeder valve down, replace the plastic cover, tighten both caps on.
some people like to drive w bleeder valve open for a day or 2, this will not hurt the car

Just a couple of questions as I'm gonna do the coolant system flush soon. In the Bentley manual it says the car has a coolant holding capacity of 4.5 gallons,now that's 100% coolant right? Now as I let the car idle and the coolant needs to be filled the mixture that you put in at that time should be 50/50 coolant/distilled right?

Is this the right coolant?
http://www.partsamerica.com/ProductDetail.aspx?categorycode=3219&mfrcode=HAV&mfrpartnumber=7994

[dcporsche99]

Thanks for the info with the pics. Very helpful! Nice job!

[djomlas]

well depending on the temperature, on the bottle it said if you will have your car in up to -34 degree temeratures mix 50/50 coolant and distilled water, which is what i did.
if you will be in even colder cinditions it will show different mixture conbinations.

so you need certain capacity, now whichever way yo want to mix up your coolant/distilled water mixture is up to you, or better said the conditions you live in.

hope this helps

[MNBoxster]

Originally Posted by djomlas

well depending on the temperature, on the bottle it said if you will have your car in up to -34 degree temeratures mix 50/50 coolant and distilled water, which is what i did.
if you will be in even colder cinditions it will show different mixture conbinations.

so you need certain capacity, now whichever way yo want to mix up your coolant/distilled water mixture is up to you, or better said the conditions you live in.

hope this helps

Hi,

A couple of things. Water is the best heat conductor available, so the more water you have the better for this purpose alone.

But, the Coolant also provides corrosion and lubrication protection, so you need a certain amount of this in the mix as well. 50/50 (distilled water/Coolant) works fine, but 60/40 is better for heat management while still providing adequate corrosion and lubrication protection.

So, check the Coolant and use the smallest concentration of Coolant to distilled water your area's avg. temps call for. Hope this helps...

Happy Motoring!... Jim'99

What was wrong with the prestone?

[djomlas]

to quote Jim:

Hi,

That was probably not the best thing. The coolant you describe contains silicates and these can form a gel reducing/blocking Coolant Flow, this problem has come up on several Boxsters.

In addition, this type of Coolant insulates the metal of the engine (read below) and causes a reduced heat transfer (not a good thing on an alloy engine). If it were me, I'd drain it and flush it ASAP and use the proper Extended-Life Coolant...

Happy Motoring!... Jim'99


hope you dont mind Jim, just good info

[Rodger]

Exactly where is the plug for the coolant? Kind of hard to tell from the pic, but is that the engine you're removing the plug from?

[ddb]

djomlas:

Thanks very much for documenting this procedure. I need to change my coolant sooner rather than later.

Did you or have you changed the hoses that run from the front radiators to the rear of the car?

Thanks,

ddb

[MNBoxster]

Hi,

@djomlas:

Good Job! Btw, which Zerex did you use? The Green? G-05? DexCool?

Happy Motoring!... Jim'99

[djomlas]

Jim, i will take a picture of the bottle itself and add it to the original post.
but it was Zerex Extreme Life 5/150.

funny thing was when i was going to get it in the first time, guy asked me if id like prestone or zerex, i was liek ummm i dont know what zerex is, and ive heard of prestone, and it does say for every car. damn it, but now there wouldnt be any of these pictures or this discusion so its all good

[idheaton]

for those of you that have an air compressor...

i'm not sure about how it cost but my mechanic has this tool that you screw in place of the coolant cap and use the air compressor to pressurize the system....

after its all pressurized you open a valve and the coolant is flushed out thru an attached hose ....

filling it up was just as easy....all the air was sucked out of the system...a hose was put into the coolant and the valve opened and all the coolant was sucked right into the system...pretty cool i thought...

my mechanic sd this was the best (and easiest) way to make sure that the system was totally flushed or filled correctly.

[lombo]

Cannot seem to find the instructions & pics for changing the coolant.

can someone direct me to them?

thanks