Coolant flush

[rob151515]

Hi,

I've just finished flushing the coolant in my car following the instructions from this post:

How To Flush A V6 Cooling System

One point i'm not sure of is point 12 where he says to watch for the 'rise and fall' of the temp guage as being a normal indicator that everything is working ok. I've started the car and driven around for a while but haven't noticed the guage falling until I switch off the car. When I first start the car the guage slowly rises over time till it sits just below the half way mark, but seems to stay there until I switch the car off. Is this normal, or should I see it falling a bit as well? The car was only running for 20 - 30 minutes, should I have done a longer test?

I'm a bit worried I may have done something wrong particularly when replacing the thermostat, though it seemed pretty straight forward and hard to stuff up.

It's the first time I've done this and I want to make sure I got it right.

[dufus]

It will rise and fall during idle from the fan kicking in when the coolant gets to hot, not while driving.

[pablo]

I have never seen mine 'rise and fall', it just goes up to the same spot and stays there, does not matter if in stop start traffic on a hot day, or on the open road, always steady!

[dufus]

I have never seen mine 'rise and fall', it just goes up to the same spot and stays there, does not matter if in stop start traffic on a hot day, or on the open road, always steady!

You have a one of a kind car then . A radiator works a a heat exchange, cool air passes through hot radiator fins, exchanging heat from the coolant to the air. When you are stationary, there is very little air flow, hence the temperature rises. When the temperature reaches a certin point (think its 3/4 in VTs), the thermo fan kicks in, pulling cool air through the radiator, dropping the temperature.

EDIT: I should add that it wont happen instantly, iy will happen over the course of a few minutes

[rob151515]

I have never seen mine 'rise and fall', it just goes up to the same spot and stays there, does not matter if in stop start traffic on a hot day, or on the open road, always steady!

You don't know how good that is to hear, it had me a little worried. I'll keep an eye on it over the next couple of days and see how it goes.

Thanks for replying so quickly.

[vt s]

If you switch it too the digital display you will notice how it rises and fall but you wont see it on the gauge
Before you start the car hold the mode and up arrow buttons, switch the car to reds then let go of the buttons.
You should get display of temp, speed, fuel and few other things.
Then start the car and press mode till the temp reading comes up

[rob151515]

If you switch it too the digital display you will notice how it rises and fall but you wont see it on the gauge
Before you start the car hold the mode and up arrow buttons, switch the car to reds then let go of the buttons.
You should get display of temp, speed, fuel and few other things.
Then start the car and press mode till the temp reading comes up

Thanks, I've read on these forums about the digital display but wasn't sure how to do it.

I'll give it a go.

[ausedawg]

Does anyone know a knack for removing the knock sensors on the cyl block to perform a complete drain/flush. Im finding theres not enough clearance to get a socket on??

This is a VX v6

[VT Owner]

What do people recommend using as the flushing agent when the radiator has a lot of scale deposits and the water always seems to have a rusty look to it even when new anti-freeze is put in? I'm looking for something that would remove the sludge and rust. I thought about running some CLR cleaner (Calcium, Lime and Rust) through the radiator for 10 or so minutes but I don't know if it would do any good. Ideas?

[dufus]

What do people recommend using as the flushing agent when the radiator has a lot of scale deposits and the water always seems to have a rusty look to it even when new anti-freeze is put in? I'm looking for something that would remove the sludge and rust. I thought about running some CLR cleaner (Calcium, Lime and Rust) through the radiator for 10 or so minutes but I don't know if it would do any good. Ideas?

Radiator flush

[VT Owner]

Any one particular brand better than the others?