Technical How to drain the cooling fluid?

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Technical How to drain the cooling fluid?

Final update.

If you are unable (like me), to remove this hose from the radiator, then there is another easy way to change to cooling fluid.
1. Remove the thin hose that goes to the upper side of the expansion tank.
2. Have a garden hose ready.
3. Start the engine. You will notice that as soon as the engine starts the fluid comes out of the thin hose.
4. Continuously refill with water, (do NOT let the tank empty).
After a few minutes with the engine at idle, the fluid coming out will become more and more clear. Remember that the car has almost 6 liters of it.
5. Repeat the above 3 - 4 times so the water that comes out is as clear as the one that's going in from the garden hose.
6. Turn the engine off.
7. Get 5 - 6 liter of distilled water in a container ready to refill the expansion tank.
8. Start the engine as above, but this time refill with the distilled water.
9. When you have used all the distilled water, continue with the Paraflu.
10. You must use 3 liters of it, so QUICKLY before the engine circulates the diluted Paraflu and it starts to come out of the thin hose, put the 3 liters in and the thin hose to it's place on the tank.
Don't forget to replace the metal ring that holds the hose in place.

If the expansion tank is dirty from the inside and has there pink deposits, you can do the following after #6.
a. Remove the thick hose that goes under the tank
b. Remove the 2 screws that hold the tank in place and get it in your hands.
c. Empty it and pour 2 spoons of rice in it.
d. Place the closure in place, secure both exits with your palms and start shaking it, to every direction, until the rice hitting it from inside removes all this pink deposit.
e. Wash every bean of rice thoroughly.
f. Install it in place and reconnect the thick hose securely.
 
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Final update.

If you are unable (like me), to remove this hose from the radiator, then there is another easy way to change to cooling fluid.
1. Remove the thin hose that goes to the upper side of the expansion tank.
2. Have a garden hose ready.
3. Start the engine. You will notice that as soon as the engine starts the fluid comes out of the thin hose.
4. Continuously refill with water, (do NOT let the tank empty).
After a few minutes with the engine at idle, the fluid coming out will become more and more clear. Remember that the car has almost 6 liters of it.
5. Repeat the above 3 - 4 times so the water that comes out is as clear as the one that's going in from the garden hose.
6. Turn the engine off.
7. Get 5 - 6 liter of distilled water in a container ready to refill the expansion tank.
8. Start the engine as above, but this time refill with the distilled water.
9. When you have used all the distilled water, continue with the Paraflu.
10. You must use 3 liters of it, so QUICKLY before the engine circulates the diluted Paraflu and it starts to come out of the thin hose, put the 3 liters in and the thin hose to it's place on the tank.
Don't forget to replace the metal ring that holds the hose in place.

If the expansion tank is dirty from the inside and has there pink deposits, you can do the following after #6.
a. Remove the thick hose that goes under the tank
b. Remove the 2 screws that hold the tank in place and get it in your hands.
c. Empty it and pour 2 spoons of rice in it.
d. Place the closure in place, secure both exits with your palms and start shaking it, to every direction, until the rice hitting it from inside removes all this pink deposit.
e. Wash every bean of rice thoroughly.
f. Install it in place and reconnect the thick hose securely.

I'd have said your better off chopping of the Fiat hose clip on the rad hose and then replacing it with a jubilee clip when your done. Your method would require some good 15-30L of fluid to be disposed of correctly compared to 5L of coolant if removed correctly and you can't guarantee the concentration of what antifreeze mix you've installed. Ideally it should be mixed in a large container first if one is available.

Your method is also no doable on 70-80% of Pandas as a lot do not have the separate expansion tanks, only early models with AC did.
 
You are completely right.
My mechanic though suggested to let the clip rest at it's place, because many of them break during the effort. So I thought that it would be nice for other people to have this alternative.
Bedsides that, if someone just empties the coolant by the original method, would never get to flush it copmletely. It can only be done using distilled water over and over again, till it's clear, right?
 
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Any hints & tips on how to get the "quick release" connector off? I've been at it for almost an hour now and it is being most reluctant. Access is an issue, as it is simply not do-able from above with a diesel. I have jacked her up and can now get two hands on it, just, but I simply can't get it off. Do both buttons have to be in at the same time, or is it one side at a time and wiggle off each side a bit?

Is this really any quicker than a good old-fashioned jubilee clip? Quicker for FIAT when pushing things together in the factory, maybe, but not for anyone else..........discuss.
 
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Thanks folks, but I have eventually got it off! The quick release connection is a plastic assembly that is fixed to the bottom of the larger rubber pipe that connects to the radiator. There are no clips to cut off at this joint and no tools should be required to make and break the connection. The metal clip that could be removed is a bit further up the pipe and disconnecting there would not allow the radiator to drain properly.

The thing is that there are a pair of buttons on either side of this connector and they both have to be pushed in whilst giving the whole assembly a manly pull and jiggle. It won't jiggle much and it really doesn't rotate, so twisting isn't really very effective, or even possible.

The major problem is due to the location of the connector when it is in situ. It is difficult to get good access and to really pull the connector with both buttons pressed. I had to jack the driver's side right up and get an axle stand in so that I could get right underneath and really get both hands on it and give it a bit of oomph. For info - I was on my back, with my head under the driver's footwell and my legs sticking directly out the front.

The main danger here is that you could get absolutely covered in fluid, which is really not recommended. I managed to get it off until it just started dribbling out, then got out, shoved my basin underneath and then reached under and opened it right up. Job done........EVENTUALLY!!
 
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