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5.3L v12 capacities have coolant listed as 21 quarts or 42 US pints or 5.25 gallons.
Indeed. So as a 50% mix of water and anti-freeze is specified, you need 21 US pints of anti-freeze to make up the 42 total pints. If you buy ready-mixed, you must be certain it is a 50/50 mix.
Indeed. So as a 50% mix of water and anti-freeze is specified, you need 21 US pints of anti-freeze to make up the 42 total pints. If you buy ready-mixed, you must be certain it is a 50/50 mix.
that’s all good but how many litres
and how much to waste
You got away light, as I got Shamed! (Yes I really did!)
Into mixing my Antifreeze 50/50% with De-Ionised Water!
As the Waters so hard round my way that when you turn the tap on, I hear a Voice say 'What you lookin at!'
I just hope the Neighbours weren't watching this display of Decadence or I don't think I'll ever live it down
But then as 'Greg' has said to me 'Only The Best For My Baby'
So De-Ionised Water it is!
I always get 25 Litres as it comes in handy for my daily driver and I change the Antifreeze every year, regardless of whether it ever needs doing or not
OK - how the hell do you get that bottom hose off...... the sway bar is in the road!
Got the hose clamp off fine...
Might be easier to remove the bottom thing of the front spoiler to gain access.
So change of plan....
Going to order new hoses and do the thermostats at the same time.
Maybe pull the radiator and have it flushed....
You drill the 4 mm hole in the rim, at a distance from the edge about where the bottom of the 5 is on the 54 mm in the pic. BUT I always position it so the hole is equidistant between the bridging arch arms.
If you're really desperate to Change the Antifreeze (You did say it was urgent!) there is another way, which only took me an hour!
As you look down from under the Bonnet/Hood, you can see the Big Radiator Hose that is attached to the Big Stub which is on the Bottom Left of the Radiator (UK) Car
Where you will also see a Smaller Hose attached to the Smaller Stub on the side of the Big Stub of the Radiator, held on by a Hose Clip
If you undo the Hose Clip on this Smaller Stub, then its not too difficult to pull this Smaller Hose off the Smaller Stub and when you do then all the Water will drain out and so you better have a lot of Buckets handy to catch all that Water as it's going to make a heck of a mess but it does do the job
Then either you can Flush the Rad out, or simply put the Small Hose Back (Not forgetting to tighten the Small Hose Clip) and then Refill with Antifreeze and then Bleed all the Air out, as you were planning to do
Though If you are going to change the Bottom Hose for a New One, there are 3 ways I know of doing this and all of which I have tried myself
(1) You might get very lucky and manage to 'Jiggle' it off (Easier Climbing Mount Everest in a pair of Carpet Slippers!)
(2) Get yourself a Strap Wrench and put it round the Big Hose where it goes onto the Big Stub that sticks out of the Bottom of the Rad, then using the Strap Wrench try and get the Rubber Hose to turn Back and Forth a little bit
The reason being the Bottom hose seems to Glue itself onto that Stub and so it helps to try and turn it, in order to break the Seal, so that you can Wrangle it off and if you thought that removing that Bottom Hose was hard, then really Duke 'You ain't seen nothing yet'
As just wait until you try and put the New one back! as you'll need another Bucket to catch all the Tears you will be Crying! including a Bottle of JD and a Box of Sticking Plasters!
(3) If you are going to renew the Bottom Rad Hose anyway then one of the favored options is to cut it through with a Bread knife, although you still might need the Strap Wrench to Break the Seal and Un-Stick the Hose from the Stubs
Hard to get good Photos because it's dark down there, although they may help you a bit
Thanks OB - that looks like a good way to drain the radiator and change the coolant.
I am thinking of using a couple of hoses with 90deg elbows on them to put the ends in to once I separate them, to reduce the mess.
Can you see this working?
The reason for the URGENT call - was I was going to the shop that afternoon and needed to know how much to buy.
Stil have not done the job yet.
So I am thinking of accumulating parts to do the hoses, cam cover gaskets etc etc all at the same time.
So I will change the fluid while i do this...
Remove the Banjo bolt, SO NOT drop the spacers, from the RH top of the radiator.
Get a length of clear PVC tubing, and thread it down that radiator hole until it bottoms out, raiise it 2mm o so, DONT measure that, just lift it off bottom a tad.
Suck on that hose and start a syphon going.
BEER O'CLOCK.
I do this at near end of day, and let it syphon overnight.
Has NO affect on the ease of removing that bottom hose, but a lot less mess for sure.
I'm always surprised that more owners don't change the coolant that way. On the 4 litre cars, there's a similar capping bolt on the top right hand corner of the rad. Removing that enables a thin tube to be inserted to the bottom of the right hand tank of the rad and the coolant siphoned out.
Remember to wait a few minutes after the siphoning has appeared to finish, as more coolant will make its way into that right hand tank as space is created. So I do it 2 or 3 times to ensure you remove the maximum amount.
IMO, it's a much easier and less messy method than trying to remove that bottom hose whether on V12 or 6-cylinder.
I'm always surprised that more owners don't change the coolant that way. On the 4 litre cars, there's a similar capping bolt on the top right hand corner of the rad. Removing that enables a thin tube to be inserted to the bottom of the right hand tank of the rad and the coolant siphoned out.
Remember to wait a few minutes after the siphoning has appeared to finish, as more coolant will make its way into that right hand tank as space is created. So I do it 2 or 3 times to ensure you remove the maximum amount.
IMO, it's a much easier and less messy method than trying to remove that bottom hose whether on V12 or 6-cylinder.
Paul
Agreed.
It just made sense to me way back before computers and Forums.
Same with the TH400 trans, if you are not blessed with a drain plug.
Down the filler tube, start the syphon, it will be SLOW, so when I wake up next morning, all done. Still messy, but 1/2ltr or so is better than 5+ in the face.
Not tried that idea myself so can't really say, although it sounds as if it might and might also be a Good (make that Great Idea!) to incorporate a Drain Plug in the Joiner, where an ordinary plumbing fitting might do it
Not over keen on the Siphon idea, as you can't get any accumulated 'crud' out (if only they'd put a drain tap on the bottom of the Rad!) and ethylene glycol is poisonous, so if you decide to Siphon it, I would rather use one of those big plastic Syringes to get the Siphon started
You take ALL the fun out of life Alex.
I learnt to syphon before I could drive.
Dad had 44gal drums of petrol, we lived rural, and I was tasked with topping the car/truck/tractor up with fuel whenever needed.
VERY VERY quickly, you get the feel of where that petrol is, and stop the sucking. I got a few tastes of petrol, but I am a QUICK learner.
The rad syphon, with the clear PVC hose, you can SEE the stuff coming, no danger at all.
A garden hose in the same hole, once the bottom hose is off will flush the crud. Duke is removing teh radiator anyway for teh Pro's to do.
Mine all had a drain plug, bottom of the RH tank, engine side, but there was NO WAY of getting a spanner on it, and then if you did manage to get it out, replacing it with radiator in the car was a NO NO, Jaguar did away with that drain in about?? 1987, saved them $2 per car I reckon.
Like you, syphoning petrol was a part of my upbringing! At the age of 18, I worked for a well-known car auction company. One of the unofficial jobs I was given was to syphon petrol out of the fleet company cars that had been submitted for sale. No reserve meant they would sell and therefore no comebacks. With the petrol then stored in 5gallon jerrycans, we would then sell a gallon to new owners whose cars might run out before they'd even left the site. (If I slightly misjudged it, it might even be the same cars from which I'd syphoned the petrol originally!)
Once you'd had a few mouthfuls of leaded 4-star, one became quite skilful, knowing just how to "pull" the level over the high-point and then use your tongue to hold the vacuum on the end of the pipe whilst then quickly inserting the pipe into the empty jerrycan. It's a skill that doesn't leave you! And I still have to do it regularly to get petrol out of my car for the lawnmower!
I've never really seen the benefit in rad drain taps. As with block drain taps, they always seem to become seized, and the narrow bore means you get even less sediment out than siphoning from a larger tube.
URGENT - How many liters of coolant should i buy to change the antifreeze?
