Coolant Flush bugger up

[antpalmer]

G'day,

So with the service manual in hand and a quick flick thru this site I went out to flush out the coolant on my VX wagon today.
I followed all the steps in the service guide except for removing the knock sensors because honestly, I couldnt be bothered mucking around with the tricky bugger and I was happy enough with the state of the cooling system that I was prepared to accept that I wouldnt get all the old coolant out.
Removed the thermostat, flushed it all out to it ran clear then hooked everything back up. I was expecting to that I would need at least 10lt of coolant so I started by pouring in 5lt of concentrate with the idea that I would then add 5lt of water to get the right mix.
HOWEVER..
I didnt even get the full 5lt of concentrate into thru the radiator cap before that was full. I then followed the steps in the holden manual and poured the remaining coolant in thru the upper hose until water (it was water to not coolant... perhaps this is where i went wrong) ran from the coolant outlet. By the time this happened though I still wasnt thru the entire 5lt of concentrated coolant.
I ran the engine for about 10-20 minutes and it got up to normal temperature. I was expecting to get the drop in fluid once the thermostat opened up but had no luck. The dip stick in the reservoir showed the next mark up above full the entire time.

So now I'm concerned that I havent got the right ratio of coolant. Now as I'm writing this I realised I havent checked the dipstick since turning the engine off and letting it cool down as I ran out of day light. But is there anything else I should do/have done?
Should I just pull the upper hose off and add 5lt of water, letting it run out to get the right ratio?
Any advice would be appreciated
Promise next time I wont cut corners and mix my coolant first!

[VYMAD]

You should have mixed it first as you won't get more than six litres in without draining the block. Also, when filling the system up with the fresh coolant, you should disconnect the overflow tube and block the outlet.
Don't drain the lot out yet, another member may have an idea.

[accentstencil]

If you mixed the coolant first you would have an even weaker mix. You should at least get 6 litres of coolant concentrate in there and a few litres of water. Did you disconnect the bottom radiator hose and set the heater to hot? I usually disconnect the heater hoses at the engine and whack the hose up them when flushing as well.The cooling system holds 12 litres, so that's 6 litres of coolant and 6 litres of water.

[VYMAD]

Yeah, come to think of it I get most of a ten litre bucket of fifty-fifty mix in. That's with heater flushed, and refilled too.
I don't drain the block though, so I've never got twelve litres in.

[bad_vn]

You can run purely coolant dude the ratio mix thing is just for expensive purpose what's extra coolant do? protect your engine even more for boiling and freezing? Haha you'll be right mate learned about this stuff in my apprenticship

[antpalmer]

Yeah, I disconnected the upper hose and the bottom. Flushed thru from the top to start with, then from the bottom, then reversed the flush.
Damn it. You just reminded me. I forgot set the heater on when I flushed it, only turned it on when I turned the engine over. That would account for some of fluid I guess but I still only managed to get 5lt of coolant in.

[antpalmer]

You can run purely coolant dude the ratio mix thing is just for expensive purpose what's extra coolant do? protect your engine even more for boiling and freezing? Haha you'll be right mate learned about this stuff in my apprenticship

Thanks. I was under the impression that pure coolant isnt as effective with heat transfer as opposed to when mixed with water? is that right? Either way, I guess I'll just watch the temp gauge for now and see how it goes.

[Brett_jjj]

Using 100% ethylene glycol in the cooling system will give better heat protection,and it wont boil as easily,100% coolant boils at around 197 degrees C, but it wont have as much anti freeze protection at 100% ,it actually freezes at -12 degrees C at 100%...It can however handle lower temperatures way better when mixed at 50% to 60% ethylene glycol and water.At 60%,it gives the coolant a freezing point of -51 degrees C,and gives the coolant a boiling point of 112 degrees C.

[VYMAD]

I would NOT deviate away from as close as a 50-50 mix as posssible. I have read somewhere what the reason for this is, but definately don't use straight coolant.

[bricat]

V6 has air bleed valve I think. I will check when daughter pops around later in week. Not sure if yours is 6 or 8...

[bad_vn]

nothing to be piccy about doing my mechanical apprenticeship you can run %100 no hassles 50/50 yeah you can do thats fine recommended by the manufacturer. but %100 aint gonna freeze your car or demolish your engine.

[Vee-ard]

You can run purely coolant dude the ratio mix thing is just for expensive purpose what's extra coolant do? protect your engine even more for boiling and freezing? Haha you'll be right mate learned about this stuff in my apprenticship

looks like you didn't pay attention in your apprenticeship then you monkey because not only does pure coolant concentrate not work effectively due to it being a poor conductor of heat, you'll ruin your water pump because of how thick and heavy glycol is. Why do you think people mix it? not because its expensive mate, i guarantee you.

Sure, you'll raise the boiling point, but you'll lose cooling efficiency overall. And end up with localized boiling spots. 100% glycol will boil at 197 deg C, you shouldn't even think that's cool because your head gasket will blow and your engine will seize long before you boil the glycol at 197 degrees.. The whole point of a cooling system is not to stop it from boiling, but to keep the engine at the most efficient operating temperature.

Learned that in MY apprenticeship that I was paying attention in. Either that or you're getting taught by retards.

[undar8ed1]

So overall I think the OP has enough water in there to be safe, just use this as a lesson for nxt tym.

edit. by the way op did you use tap water cause de-mineralised or distilled (soft) water is much better for your car.

[Brett_jjj]

Ive heard before that some race cars run up to 90% coolant to water mix. I always stick to the recommended ratio for the best corrosion,antifreeze and boiling protection.I also buy bottles of distilled water to pre mix the coolant with.

[antpalmer]

Thanks everyone for your replies.
I'm feeling confident that although the mix isnt 50/50, it will still be diluted (worst case 70/30 I'd say) enough with what was left in the system to be okay for now. I'm not feeling the need for a redo straight away but I'm planning to do it again at the next 10k. I used the diagnostic mode of the trip computer to monitor the temp on the way to and from work this morning and it steadily rose up to 91 degrees and fell again to around 85 and just continued on this cyclic pattern all the way. the hottest it got was 92.
I do realise of course this is coolant temp and the engine itself could be hotter given the heat transfer/cooling efficiency being discussed.

As you said Undar*ed, a lesson for next time!

If anyone could suggest some things to look for just case the system inst handling the concentration I'd appreciate it.

[antpalmer]

So overall I think the OP has enough water in there to be safe, just use this as a lesson for nxt tym.

edit. by the way op did you use tap water cause de-mineralised or distilled (soft) water is much better for your car.

Yeah, I know distilled is better....... but I went with my "She'll be" instinct this time. :P

[bonfield]

i was once told that if you mix coolants of different brands it can become acidic and eat the core of the radiator, is this right ir completely wrong, i cant see this being right but i thought i would post here

[undar8ed1]

Yeah, I know distilled is better....... but I went with my "She'll be" instinct this time. :P

long as you know :P