VX V6 - Coolant drain only giving 2.5L fluid.. what gives?

[Rooney69]

Hi guys I have a VX V6 Supercharged Commodore and I recently found a little crack in the radiator and ordered a new one and just need to whack her in.

Now I've drained the bottom hose (with the top radiator cap off first) and after measuring I have a maximum of 2.5L of fluid in the tray underneath..

Book says 12L coolant capacity.. I've read that 1/3 of that (4L) will stay in the block unless a full flush is done, but I'm just looking to do a basic flush and fit the new radiator and top it up.

So I expected 8L to pour into the tray.. 2.5L doesn't feel right?

I topped the radiator up with 2.5L of water three more times and repeated the drain process once the car had cooled for 20-30 minutes and the same thing keeps happening.. 2.5L in tray.

It's got me stumped and I don't know what to do about it. I replaced the radiator 5 years ago and have had zero issues with temperature.

Any help or questions is appreciated, thanks.

 

[Juice3]

I don't remember how much drained out of mine but I do remember it taking at least 5 liters to fill it back up and that 5 liters won't just pour straight in i think like 3 liters poured straight in and it was showing full but as air came out i could fit the other 2 liters

 

[Trevor loves holden.]

 

[greenacc]

It's normal. Removing both hoses will help. I've heard dealers use compressed air to blow in the top to push more coolant out the bottom but I wouldn't want to do that myself. If you really want to you could try to syphon some more out.
But if you only got that much out I'd be pouring concentrate coolant in to get close to the right ratio with all the water in there.

 

[Trevor loves holden.]

Long as its all flushed out you cant go wrong, have your heater on when removing the air from the line you want the system to flow all round, if you want to remove the remainder in the engine just leave the top hose off to stop the water going back into radiator, once it looks greener reconnect the hose. But I never hade that issue, just get 2 bottles of premix coolant.

 

[Immortality]

Yep, this is fairly typical. most of the coolant is in the engine and then a you have to factor in the heater circuit for the HVAC.

If it was me, I'd drop the coolant, refill with water, run the engine (make sure to have the heater on full hot), drop the coolant again and do this a time or 2 this way you have flushed the system fairly thoroughly and is now mostly just water. Do your repairs and then fill the system with concentrate of what ever flavour coolant tickles your fancy which once mixed with the water already in the engine will dilute the coolant.

 

[losh1971]

Having dumped my coolant well over 12 times 4L is about all the rad will let out if stock rad. I find it quite hard to get all the old coolant out and it normally takes thermostat removal and flushing with a hose. I can dump coolant six times and it still comes out with a tinge of green, even if i bring the engine up to temp between each dump.

 

[losh1971]

If you run Nulon green, mix at 1/3 ratio coolant to water. It will help transfer heat better than the recommended 50/50. The corrosion inhibitor ratio will still be fine in what is basically an Eco.

 

[Rooney69]

Ok update time. I ended up removing the old radiator and popping the new one in, all fits snuggly and all connections work as should. I then put in 3.4L (somehow?!) of green coolant concentrate and started it up. No issues and it idled for 5 minutes and I took it for a 6km drive and nothing bad happened. When I got home I let it idle and I opened the bleeder valve and some air came out for a few seconds and then green coolant shortly after. Temp sits in it's usual place and nothing else feels off. Strange how even after 5 flushes (on old radiator) I could not get more than 2.5L out, but then 3.4L (900ml more) went in to the new radiator. Cars man.

 

[Trevor loves holden.]

Like I said leave top hose off and once it starts flowing keep adding pre-mix till you see a stronger green then pop the hose back on and top it up, best way is get a 2L milk bottle add some tape around cap end till it fits snug in the radiator so the water level is higher than the bleeder valve then crack it open and let it run till all the air is out making sure the bottle level is above the bleeder valve all the time.