coolant flush on 1.9 AAZ

[crawdaddy]

Doing a coolant flush soon before the temperture drops. 
What is the capacity of the cooling system?
And what is the capacity of just the engine?
After done the flush, my system is full of just water, just wondering how much should drain of water and to top up with coolant?

[Black Smokin' Diesel]

The system holds around 6 to 6.5 liters. I don't know about the engine alone.

[Vincent Waldon]

.... and when you are done the flush you completely drain the system of all water and refill it from scratch with fresh G11 or G12 coolant.

[crawdaddy]

I read somewhere the system holds 6.8 quarts, is that imperial or US quarts? Do the conversion, that's 1.3 L difference.
Zellers had this on sale "Prestone® Extended Life Antifreeze/Coolant", they say the following: "Prestone® Extended Life Antifreeze/Coolant is compatible with ANY antifreeze/ coolant – regardless of color – for use in ALL makes and models of cars and light duty trucks. This patented formula provides a high degree of performance durability and carefully balanced protection against temperature extremes and rust corrosion of all cooling system metals, including aluminum."
Does it have to be G11 or G12??
How do I competely drain the whole system? You are saying the engine too Vincent? Will removing the bottom hose do that?
 

[Rabbit on Roids]

pull the thermostat. its under the bottom water neck. on the bottom of the water pump. pull the 2 10mm bolts and it will come off. then you will be staring at the t-stat. put a bucket under there, then pull the t-stat out and let her gush. thats the only way ive found to drain the block while its still in the car. or drive out one of the soft plugs.

[smutts]

Apart from rolling the car onto the roof, or superglue, what is the official way of keeping the thermostat in place whilst you get the elbow and "o" ring back in place past that wretched power steering pump boss?
Mines a 1.6 so the 1.9 might differ.

[Vincent Waldon]

Apart from rolling the car onto the roof, or superglue, what is the official way of keeping the thermostat in place whilst you get the elbow and "o" ring back in place past that wretched power steering pump boss?
Mines a 1.6 so the 1.9 might differ.

Shop vac on the upper rad outlet works a treat. 

[Vincent Waldon]

Does it have to be G11 or G12??

Lots of folks run generic green coolant on their engines and never report a problem...on the other hand, the service manual is pretty specific about coolants (and power steering fluid, as an aside).

One thing for sure... you can't mix generic green with G12... so once you pick, stick to your choice. 

[Black Smokin' Diesel]

Does it have to be G11 or G12??

Lots of folks run generic green coolant on their engines and never report a problem...on the other hand, the service manual is pretty specific about coolants (and power steering fluid, as an aside).

One thing for sure... you can't mix generic green with G12... so once you pick, stick to your choice. 

Yes green stuff will be fine, I've used it in a 16v, 1.6na, 1.6td and my 1.8t. Never had an issue.

[Rabbit on Roids]

Apart from rolling the car onto the roof, or superglue, what is the official way of keeping the thermostat in place whilst you get the elbow and "o" ring back in place past that wretched power steering pump boss?
Mines a 1.6 so the 1.9 might differ.

Shop vac on the upper rad outlet works a treat. 

or set the t-stat on the water neck upside down. then install the water neck with the t-stst sitting on top. voila.

i like vinces trick preddy darn good too tho..

[crawdaddy]

worked on the car today, I forgot to say in first post that I'm also replacing my leaking rad.
Thermostat housing is behind the bracket that holds the power steering pump, I remember replacing the water pump way back, It was a *** to do. Removed the rad, drained coolant into bucket. lower hose in large bucket, turned car on, thermostat opened, coolant started to flow, until it stopped. Measured all coolant that came out, No way near the amount of 6.8 Quarts
then put garden hose in the upper hose, did that for a few times

[Black Smokin' Diesel]

worked on the car today, I forgot to say in first post that I'm also replacing my leaking rad.
Thermostat housing is behind the bracket that holds the power steering pump, I remember replacing the water pump way back, It was a *** to do. Removed the rad, drained coolant into bucket. lower hose in large bucket, turned car on, thermostat opened, coolant started to flow, until it stopped. Measured all coolant that came out, No way near the amount of 6.8 Quarts
then put garden hose in the upper hose, did that for a few times

Wait what? Don't turn the engine on when youre flushing coolant. It'll empty itself if you remove the t-stat. It takes 5 minutes to pull the PS pump and bracket.

[crawdaddy]

Black Smokin' Diesel: Why? Because too heat in the engine without coolant/water? Or, after all done, air pockets in system.
And it will not take 5 min to remove that A/C, power steering bracket

[Black Smokin' Diesel]

Black Smokin' Diesel: Why? Because too heat in the engine without coolant/water? Or, after all done, air pockets in system.
And it will not take 5 min to remove that A/C, power steering bracket

Both. As soon as the engine starts it heats up quick without coolant. With no coolant there's nothing telling you how hot it's getting. Temp gauge won't work without coolant and the coolant tank cap won't release excess pressure (thus making ton of vapour). With the t-stat in it takes a long time to bleed the air out. A good trick is to drill a 1/8th hole in it.

Sorry I didn't notice you had AC. Definitely makes everything harder. If you're having a hard time bleeding the system I found that driving around a bit without the coolant cap help coolant flow better. It can make a mess if it overflows though.

[macka]

another little trick is to blow out the system using a compressor. I did the OEM flush and it moved some scaling pretty good. A friend of mine who had some blockage issues filled his system with vinegar and spun the pump with a drill. He had the t stat out. When he drained it, the scale literally slipped out like mud. He rinsed the system with water, then filled it with prestone diesel antifreeze.