General Punto mk2 coolant

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General Punto mk2 coolant

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Oct 10, 2010
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Just wondering should I use the red or blue coloured coolant in my
mk 2 punto.
I think theres some difference between the 2.
also should the rad hoses be changed after 18 years????
tony
 
As a general rule the blue stuff is two year, the red stuff five year.
Coolant strength is important to prevent freezing and there are various ways of checking.
If you have a meter, check the voltage between the coolant in the reservoir and a good earth. Any more than 500mV is a pointer that the anticorrosion package is depleted and the system is starting to act like a battery and eating up the metals it comes into contact with. After a change you should be less than 100mV.
If there is a bad earth somewhere the current can try to go back to battery via the coolant. Switching on the various circuits you can see changes to the coolant voltage. A big spike in reading is a strong indicator that that circuit has a bad earth path.
 
I flushed my coolant recently and used Comma XSM5L 5L Xstream G30 (red).

[ame="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Comma-XSM5L-Xstream-Antifreeze-Coolant/dp/B0052X4DOE/ref=sr_1_1?s=automotive&ie=UTF8&qid=1518533982&sr=1-1&keywords=Comma+XSM5L+5L+Xstream+G30"]Comma XSM5L 5L Xstream G30 Antifreeze and Coolant Ready Mixed: Amazon.co.uk: Car & Motorbike[/ame]

I have a 1.2 8v mk2b, I part added a holts radiator flush, ran the engine for a while, took bottom hose off to drain it, added water, ran engine a while, dumped it, same again, then I added the new coolant.

As ziggy mentioned to me, it is a real b*tch to bleed the air out, I had to stop on a hill, bleed the air out using the screw near the throttle body, had to do this so many times, I was also suffering from the dreaded gurgling / bubbling noise behind the dash as well as temperature needle moving up and down (as air passing through temperature sensor I imagine), but after 3 - 4 weeks it went because I persisted with the bleeding.

It is worth buying a litre of concentrate also, I had a feeling water was left and I had not drained it all so to be safe I added about 500ml of concentrate to bring the mixture closer to 50/50.

Several months on and I've had no issues, temperature needle is just below mid.
 
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Well i think ayla has posted everything id do :)

Upto u if you use a rad flush

If i was sellin car - id go cheap an use blue
But if ur keepin it - go red

Again when flushing with water
Add 1litre neat concentrate as there will be trapped water!

Then add 50/50 to maintain a strong mix

Ziggy
 
I have a Fiat Punto MK2 Sporting Year 2000 Model, I just took these photos, can people confirm these are the two correct bleed screws?

Also what's the easiest technique to bleed the system?

I read one person say they fill the antifreeze bottle to the very top, then open the rear screw until coolant flows out in a steady stream whilst they keep topping up the fluid at the very top, then closes it and opens the front one above the radiator until the level drops to the maximum fill line.

It seems to me that might be easier then opening both screws at once.


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deeinlondon yes those are the 2 Bleed screws
Having just had to replace my Thermostat...
Found the easiest way to bleed the air out the coolant after (i found this in a very old thread on this forum)
Park Car facing uphill
remove both bleed screws
fill reservoir to the brim
fill an empty 500ml bottle with coolant, place bottle onto reservoir and squeeze (Your'e basically forcing coolant into the system and forcing air out).
When Air stops coming out the hose bleed screw (the one near the carb). put the bleed screw in
Squeeze the bottle again until air stops coming out the radiator bleed screw.
You will need to keep topping up the coolant and the bottle during this process.
Once all the air is out you can use the radiator bleed screw to drop the coolant to the proper level in the reservoir.
After i did this I had no gurgling from the heater, temp is fine (slap bang in middle of Gauge where it should be), i have no leaks from replacing the thermostat and lovely hot air from the heater.
 
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What happens if you can only work on the car on a flat surface?

I'd rather try this on my driveway which is flat

Or is using the jack in the car to raise the front a possibility?
 
I can't see that it would be an issue being on a Flat surface,In the past i used to do all my cars on a level surface but that's a luxury i don't have anymore as my driveway slopes and anything involving jacking the car up means a lot of wheel chocking :(.
Main reason the Punto is such a PITA to bleed air is that the Radiator hose bleed screw is a lot higher than the Coolant reservoir as there is no header tank as such.
So basically you end up trying to fight against gravity in order to get the coolant level higher up in the system than the coolant reservoir level sits at.
Only advantage really from having the car facing uphill was it made the Bleed screw lower down and the Reservoir higher by a few inches compared to being on a level surface, my Drive is about a 30 degree angle.
But Forcing coolant through the system with a bottle should work equally well on a flat surface, best suggestion is try it and see if it works OK
I also found that when you upend the bottle onto the coolant reservoir it helps to push it down a little creating a seal when you squeeze it, also the bottle effectively increases the Height of the coolant level in the tank to a similar level to the bleed screw and kind of acts like a header tank.
I know some people try running the engine to get the water pump to force the coolant in and the air out, i tried that BUT main issue is the engine warms up pretty quick and then you end up Going Ouch trying to put bleed screws in when there is hot water coming out.
I did the fill using the bottle with everything cold and only ran the car after i had bled all the air out. Once everything had cooled down again i forced more coolant in with the radiator bleed screw out to see if there was any more air in the system (there wasn't).
Also been keeping an eye on the coolant level last couple of days since i did the job and levels haven't changed.
I would also suggest that if your'e doing the job on your own then it helps to remove the air filter as you can access the bleed screw more easily, and you can also reach the bottle to squeeze at the same time.
Initially I put the bleed screw in hand tight to seal it, then tweaked it with a screwdriver , radiator bleed screw in mine i just hand tightened,seems to be perfectly adequate as if i remove the filler cap of the reservoir after the Engine has been running it makes a hiss , which shows system is pressurizing ok.
 
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