coolant change method question

[slowandlow]

ive just been doing the coolant change. i bought the 6 litres of coolant concentrate and 6 litres of distilled water as i wanted to do it the way as described in the workshop manual. after crawling under the car and seeing the knock sensors i decided i would do it the way described in most threads here and just drop the hoses and get about 5 litres out, flush the put in as much straight coolant as i could. as i could only get 4 litres of coolant in and realising that wouldnt be a 50/50 mix, i went for a drive to get another 5 litre coolant, waited for the car to cool off, then dropped the hoses again, and added another 4 litres of coolant to get the ratio higher. so my question is i guess, do most people think its ok to do it this way, as it seems to me thats saying its ok to use tap water in the cooling system. wouldnt that cause corrosion? (the last thing i want is for the heater core to let go as this is a MASSIVE job to fix or $1000+ to pay to be fixed). i realise removing the knock sensors is a fair effort, but is it worth going the extra mile and doing it, or will the tap water in the cooling system be ok with proper ratios of coolant added? also it would seem that anyone putting a flush additive in the radiator before draining would be left with radiator flush additive still in the block without removing the knock sensors. how bad could that be in the long run also?
im just wondering this because it seems the majority of posters in other threads seem pretty insistant we should not use tap water and only distilled, but on the other hand, they recommend leaving a heap of it in the block after flushing the system. so what is really the way to go? it cant be both

 

[Brett_jjj]

Its better to mix up the coolant and distilled water seperate in a container or bucket etc first up, then fill the engine and the recovery bottle, and put the rest of the coolant (if any), in a used coolant bottle to carry for topups. As long as the coolant/water mix is over 50% and under 65%, it will be fine. I always mix mine slightly stronger than 50% and it never does any harm, I find the cooling systems stay heaps clean for ages with it mixed slightly stronger..
I always use nulon brand long life concentrate coolant. I also use distilled water in my cooling systems and my batteries. When you use nomal tap water, the coolant has to start neutralising any impurities as soon as its mixed with the tap water, whereas the distilled water has no impurities, so the coolant stays cleaner and lasts a lot longer and fights corrosion etc for longer.. Some people will say to just throw tap water in it and it'll be fine, it all comes down to how much you like to care for your vehicle.
A handy tip is to use the interior heater on full hot for 15 minutes or so, once every couple of weeks, this keeps fresh coolant circulating through the heater core and this helps stop sludge building up in the core, which then causes the core to corrode and leak.

 

[krylothe]

ive just been doing the coolant change. i bought the 6 litres of coolant concentrate and 6 litres of distilled water as i wanted to do it the way as described in the workshop manual. after crawling under the car and seeing the knock sensors i decided i would do it the way described in most threads here and just drop the hoses and get about 5 litres out, flush the put in as much straight coolant as i could. as i could only get 4 litres of coolant in and realising that wouldnt be a 50/50 mix, i went for a drive to get another 5 litre coolant, waited for the car to cool off, then dropped the hoses again, and added another 4 litres of coolant to get the ratio higher. so my question is i guess, do most people think its ok to do it this way, as it seems to me thats saying its ok to use tap water in the cooling system. wouldnt that cause corrosion? (the last thing i want is for the heater core to let go as this is a MASSIVE job to fix or $1000+ to pay to be fixed). i realise removing the knock sensors is a fair effort, but is it worth going the extra mile and doing it, or will the tap water in the cooling system be ok with proper ratios of coolant added? also it would seem that anyone putting a flush additive in the radiator before draining would be left with radiator flush additive still in the block without removing the knock sensors. how bad could that be in the long run also?
im just wondering this because it seems the majority of posters in other threads seem pretty insistant we should not use tap water and only distilled, but on the other hand, they recommend leaving a heap of it in the block after flushing the system. so what is really the way to go? it cant be both

Using tap water is fine, rain water is about as good as distilled but steer clear of bore water. Also it's the inhibitor in the coolant that stops the corrosion not the coolant itself you will probably find a 50/50 mix of coolant will be overkill, at most maybe 20% concentrate and add an inhibitor if your concerned about corrosion! Or you could just run distilled/demineralised water and redline water wetter (that's what I'm running and got no issues of corrosion or overheating)

 

[uniacidz]

When i did mine (LS1), easiest way to flush was to chuck a hose in the reservoir, remove top radiator hose and start car.
Ran for like 20mins with heater on and water became clear.

Then remove lower radiator hose and it all came out. (i did a few more unrelevant things as well like pulleys)

Then put it all together, added 5litres coolant, added 5litres distilled water which made it full.
Ran car again for 20mins with heater on, LS1 have auto bleed, and basically is fine.

 

[slowandlow]

Its better to mix up the coolant and distilled water seperate in a container or bucket etc first up, then fill the engine and the recovery bottle, and put the rest of the coolant (if any), in a used coolant bottle to carry for topups. As long as the coolant/water mix is over 50% and under 65%, it will be fine. I always mix mine slightly stronger than 50% and it never does any harm, I find the cooling systems stay heaps clean for ages with it mixed slightly stronger..
I always use nulon brand long life concentrate coolant. I also use distilled water in my cooling systems and my batteries. When you use nomal tap water, the coolant has to start neutralising any impurities as soon as its mixed with the tap water, whereas the distilled water has no impurities, so the coolant stays cleaner and lasts a lot longer and fights corrosion etc for longer.. Some people will say to just throw tap water in it and it'll be fine, it all comes down to how much you like to care for your vehicle.
A handy tip is to use the interior heater on full hot for 15 minutes or so, once every couple of weeks, this keeps fresh coolant circulating through the heater core and this helps stop sludge building up in the core, which then causes the core to corrode and leak.

thanks for the quick reply. sorry i forgot to mention it was for an ecotec VY. just wondering brett, do you actually remove the knock sensor when you use the method you stated? (i'm not sure if the VS has the knock sensors as drain plugs) i can only see the premixing the concentrate method you mentioned working out if you get all of the coolant or water or whatever may be left in the block out so its completely dry before adding the coolant mixture is all. good idea about turning on the heater for a few minutes every few weeks. ill start doing that one (as well as the air conditioner every few weeks to keep the air conditioner seals lubed as well). thanks for the input. i have read most of the other threads on this, but i just found a lot of the info to either be conflicting, or a bit confusing due to different peoples different opinions.
cheers mate

 

[slowandlow]

Using tap water is fine, rain water is about as good as distilled but steer clear of bore water. Also it's the inhibitor in the coolant that stops the corrosion not the coolant itself you will probably find a 50/50 mix of coolant will be overkill, at most maybe 20% concentrate and add an inhibitor if your concerned about corrosion! Or you could just run distilled/demineralised water and redline water wetter (that's what I'm running and got no issues of corrosion or overheating)

thanks krylothe. im kind of hoping the melbourne tap water will be ok. i was really wanting to use the demineralised water i had bought for the job, but getting those knock sensor out and draining the block fully seemed like it could pose more problems if i got it wrong, either from breaking the wiring plug, or even not reinstalling the knock sensor to the right torque setting as i dont have a torque wrench. apparently that can cause dramas also.
i wonder if any problems could arise from people running a radiator flush additive through the system first and not really getting all of the flush additive out by draining the block fully via the drain plugs. eg. doing a hose flush and leaving some additive in the block still, then adding the coolant. i think a few people might have done that before going on previous threads on this subject. i wouldnt think it would be to good of an idea to leave traces of a flush additive in the system, but who knows. probably me just over worrying about small things, but you never know i guess....

 

[slowandlow]

When i did mine (LS1), easiest way to flush was to chuck a hose in the reservoir, remove top radiator hose and start car.
Ran for like 20mins with heater on and water became clear.

Then remove lower radiator hose and it all came out. (i did a few more unrelevant things as well like pulleys)

Then put it all together, added 5litres coolant, added 5litres distilled water which made it full.
Ran car again for 20mins with heater on, LS1 have auto bleed, and basically is fine.

thanks uniacidz. sounds like the ls1 is the easiest engine to do a thorough coolant change of all the commodore motors. i wish i had one how many litres of coolant is the ls1 supposed to hold according to the workshop manual do you know? i know the ecotec VY takes 12 litres, but can only get about 4 litres out via removing the hoses unfortunately which is a real pain. cant really do a flush that way on the ecotec as far as i can tell unless you remove the thermostat, which i didnt really feel like doing this time either due to dollars constraints, plus it still would have left me in the position of having tap water in the block anyway (which i guess is fine, but my main goal was to use 6 litres of distilled water and 6 litres of coolant, so why bother with the extra effort if i couldnt achieve that)

 

[slowandlow]

well, at least i've got the 6 litres of distilled water in my cupboard for next time i do a coolant change, maybee i'll buy a torque wrench and have a crack at the knock sensor removal next time. at least i feel a little bit less concerned about the tap water in the system with the coolant at the moment.

 

[uniacidz]

thanks uniacidz. sounds like the ls1 is the easiest engine to do a thorough coolant change of all the commodore motors. i wish i had one how many litres of coolant is the ls1 supposed to hold according to the workshop manual do you know? i know the ecotec VY takes 12 litres, but can only get about 4 litres out via removing the hoses unfortunately which is a real pain. cant really do a flush that way on the ecotec as far as i can tell unless you remove the thermostat, which i didnt really feel like doing this time either due to dollars constraints, plus it still would have left me in the position of having tap water in the block anyway (which i guess is fine, but my main goal was to use 6 litres of distilled water and 6 litres of coolant, so why bother with the extra effort if i couldnt achieve that)

Holds 12litres i think
In reality, was prob 5.5 litres each coolant and distilled i used so about right.

Litre tap water mixed with the rest aint gonna do much anyway.

If you car is the 5.0L, then basically 'i think' is similar to flush like these threads
http://forums.justcommodores.com.au/vr-vs-holden-commodore-1993-1997/127718-coolant-change.html

http://forums.justcommodores.com.au...4-how-do-you-flush-out-cooling-system-5l.html

 

[slowandlow]

Holds 12litres i think
In reality, was prob 5.5 litres each coolant and distilled i used so about right.

Litre tap water mixed with the rest aint gonna do much anyway.

If you car is the 5.0L, then basically 'i think' is similar to flush like these threads
http://forums.justcommodores.com.au/vr-vs-holden-commodore-1993-1997/127718-coolant-change.html

http://forums.justcommodores.com.au...4-how-do-you-flush-out-cooling-system-5l.html

nah, a litre of tap water is bugger all. oh, my current car has the v6. i recently got rid of the 5 litre. i got tired of the manual gearbox in the city traffic so got something a bit more practical for a daily driver