General swapping coolant and brake fluid

[Mdeko]

just a quick check my car is due a serice tomorrow, i intend to swap the coolant and brake fluid aswell as all the other bits (sparks/oil/filters etc..). .

Is it just a case of removing the hose and draining the old coolant, then filling it up with fresh and then keeping the bleed screws open until coolant comes out of them. All with the engine off??

if so this may be a silly question but how does the coolant travel round to the engine block and radiator if the engine is off?

How much liquid does the coolant system hold (mk2b 8v)??

 

[5abr3]

just a quick check my car is due a serice tomorrow, i intend to swap the coolant and brake fluid aswell as all the other bits (sparks/oil/filters etc..). .

Is it just a case of removing the hose and draining the old coolant, then filling it up with fresh and then keeping the bleed screws open until coolant comes out of them. All with the engine off??

if so this may be a silly question but how does the coolant travel round to the engine block and radiator if the engine is off?

How much liquid does the coolant system hold (mk2b 8v)??

When the engine off, laws of physics cause the fluid to reach the lowest potential it can, it basically has little choice but to fill most of the system leaving only a few air gaps if any, you cant do it with the engine running as you would ruin the engine running without oil or coolants and it would be alot more dangerous for you.

Once you have filled it as far as you can you should run it a little to remove the air and top it up and repeat until you have no air in the system.

 

[tam2oo5]

It travels with pressure mate, but like above dont run the engine with no coolant what so ever. Fill it untill its at max, then turn the engine over. It will drop , so do the same again untill it is stable.

 

[Mdeko]

ok thanks for the replies. . . i know not to run it without coolant it will overheat in seconds. . . . but thanks anyway for the warnings

Anything else i should be aware of when changing the coolant & brake/clutch fluid?

How much liquid does the coolant system take?

 

[dj_jl]

AFAIR it's around 3.75 litters.

 

[Mdeko]

Well in the end i decided to let a local and trustworthy (so i thought) garage to do it all for me for the princely sum of £200. .


well....


When driving it back from the garage it started overheating (by which i mean the needle on the guage went up 1 [at max 2 notches] aobve what the normal driving temp is on the guage and it didnt stay there long it kept fluctuating. I pulled off straightaway (was doing 60 at the time) and stopped the engine when it was safe todo so and coasted to a safe stop (i panicked when i saw the needle go above what it should be lol) well anyway i got the mechanic to come out to me and he filled up my coolant some more, the idiot must not have filled it correctly and not bled it properly, wont be using them again!!

i am proper pi##ed off with them.

Well anyways what im wondering is has this risked my HG going? i have kept the fluid topped up this afternnon and it hasnt overheated again since. the fluid has droppped each time ive checked it (from max line to half way between min and max and the second time i checked it had dropped 1 cm or so) but im putting this down to air still in the system as the level is dropping by less each time i check it if you get what im saying and there is also a slight water moving sound on startup but i know this will clear by itself over a few days as ive had it before when i had it and the previous owner let it run low on coolant.


One other thing, 8v owners when you start your car does the oil light go off instantly (as mine did before today) or does it stay on for 1 or 2 seconds until the oil pressure has stabilised? (as mine does now, Please note ive changed from the garages oil to selenia 20k, dont know if this amkes the difference? i know the selenia is thinner than what was in it before and the light does NOT come on when driving, it just comes on for a second longer than normal)

so basically what i want to know is:

is my HG about to go/gone because of slight overheating?
Is the oil light normal?

Thanks and soprry for the essay
__________________

 

[tam2oo5]

My oil light goes on with the rest of the lights then goes off with the rest, about 1 - 2 seconds for dash to be stable.

 

[Punto Ye Ye]

my car does the same but my oil lights goes off. After it finishes making a soft sound btw it quite weary