I've seen this referred to many times in this forum , where do I find it?
Also I've seen a coolant additive "water wetter" referred to as well. it apparently it aids heat transfer from the motor to the coolant, but cant find it in Sydney, does any one know of a product available here?

 

There are several variations of this basic theme. I'm sure Greg and Grant, for example, have their own twists on the task. But, here's my method:



Elevate the front of the car about 8" and then elevate the left front another 2-3" beyond that. Set the climate control for max heat so the heater valve opens.

Remove the bleeder plug from the left radiator tank. You'll see an access hole in the radiator upper mounting panel. The plug is some arcane size but you'll find something in your toolbox that fits.

Remove the caps from the expansion/header tank and from the filler pipe at the front of the engine....up there by the A/C compressor.

Add coolant/water to via the filler pipe until it reaches the bottom of the pipe. Start engine, set heater control to max heat. Let it run at idle until it warms up. Peek inside the filler pipe every minute or so and top up as needed.

When the engine gets warm increase the idle to about 1000-1200 rpm (a helper is helpful here...or just wedge a little something in the throttle linkage to hold it slightly open for a high idle.

Let 'er run and run. Give the upper radiator hoses a few squeezes now and again. Keep checking your coolant level in the filler pipe and top off as needed. Eventually you'll see some coolant coming out of the bleeder. That's good. Wait a while longer and (hopefully) you'll see coolant *really* pouring out of the bleeder. (How much? It's one of those "you'll know it when you see it" things..very messy)

When it's *really* pouring out of the bleeder hole, put the plug back in. Wear some gloves so you don't get scalded. If you can't get the plug back in thru all the gushing, shut off the engine and do it....but I like to leave the engine running if I can. Not worth getting burned, though.

Top off the coolant in the filler pipe...I go right to the top but some fill just to the bottom of the neck... add a quart or so to the expansion tank if you suspect it might be low, button everything up, and yer off to the races. If you've overfilled the excess will be pushed into the atmospheric tank mounted inside the fenderwell. If you've *really* overfilled the excess will exit the atmospheric tank and end up on the ground.

Lower the car and clean the driveway :-)

Cheers
DD

 

Did you miss out "replace the wing tank cap" after this sentence?
"Add coolant/water to via the filler pipe until it reaches the bottom of the pipe."
Otherwise exactly what I do!
Greg

 

ok thanks guys Will try this tomorrow, just flushed out the system back flush with water and air after running some flushing fluid through it. reconnected all hoses and filled with 50/50 distilled water and Nulon long life coolant. tomorrow the engine electrics will be dry and the cooling system ready to bleed....

 

As I recall the proper level (at the middle cap) should be 4 inches below the cap when up to temperature.

 

Ok I have the ideal driveway for this, unfortunately forgot the bit about filling to the bottom of the pipe and filled it right to the top. Managed to cover my pristine engine bay and front of the car in coolant on start up - bugger!


anyway all cleaned up now an managed to get 3litres more after the initial fill yesterday.
some pics for the hell of it