Coolant

[Banshee]

My header tank has dropped a bit low however I've looked and the coolant is Green :S, can't seem to find Green in any of the shops.

Can I mix blue with it?

 

[solarman216]

you should not be using either, you need red, you have ali,steel,copper,cast iron and brass bits in contact with the coolant, best is red, motor factors £15 for 5 lt inc vat, I use nothing but, Rick

 

[Banshee]

you should not be using either, you need red, you have ali,steel,copper,cast iron and brass bits in contact with the coolant, best is red, motor factors £15 for 5 lt inc vat, I use nothing but, Rick

See I've been looking and from what I can see pre 1998 should be using blue :S, whats the difference

 

[solarman216]

pink/red is the top rated stuff, all the others have reservations re metal composition, we use Alfi 11 in solar systems even better than red/pink but £22 for 5lt plus vat but lasts 20 years plus in a sealed system only yesterday visited a 22 year old system did AF check and still good to -5 c but customer requested I change it so did so, Rick

 

[Banshee]

pink/red is the top rated stuff, all the others have reservations re metal composition, we use Alfi 11 in solar systems even better than red/pink but £22 for 5lt plus vat but lasts 20 years plus in a sealed system only yesterday visited a 22 year old system did AF check and still good to -5 c but customer requested I change it so did so, Rick

Gonna get me some red in the morn from the motor factors

 

[edgerton19]

May be Nissan OEM coolant as that is green, don't mix the colours they are not compatable as they have different corrosion inhibitors.

If you change to red drain, flush and refill.

 

[solarman216]

well said, the inhibitors are anti each other so that is why I stick with "red" allways, Rick

 

[Banshee]

well said, the inhibitors are anti each other so that is why I stick with "red" allways, Rick

OK so how do I do a complete drain?

And how much will I need to refill the whole system?

 

[Lazy-Ferret]

There is a drain valve at the back of the engine, but to be honest, I could not find it on mine... Think it may be behind the Turbo.

I had the same problem, Coolant was bright Green, had no choice but to top it up with Blue, as I needed something.

When I did the water pump, I basically did what it says in the manual, re-filled with clean water, ran for 10 mins, took bottom hose off, to drain, and repeated 3 times. I then filled it with a 50.50 mixture of Pink/Red.

Interestingly, the system is supposed to hold 10 litres, incl Header, so about 8.5 in engine. When the Pumps was off, it took 6.5 litres to re-fill, excluding the header. When I undid the bottom hose, and re-filled it only took 4 litres, so when you re-fill the last time add neat anti-freeze up to the 4.25 litres, as you will already have the water in the engine block.

 

[Banshee]

There is a drain valve at the back of the engine, but to be honest, I could not find it on mine... Think it may be behind the Turbo.

I had the same problem, Coolant was bright Green, had no choice but to top it up with Blue, as I needed something.

When I did the water pump, I basically did what it says in the manual, re-filled with clean water, ran for 10 mins, took bottom hose off, to drain, and repeated 3 times. I then filled it with a 50.50 mixture of Pink/Red.

Interestingly, the system is supposed to hold 10 litres, incl Header, so about 8.5 in engine. When the Pumps was off, it took 6.5 litres to re-fill, excluding the header. When I undid the bottom hose, and re-filled it only took 4 litres, so when you re-fill the last time add neat anti-freeze up to the 4.25 litres, as you will already have the water in the engine block.

Nice one, are you talking about the hose on the radiator?

 

[Lazy-Ferret]

Nice one, are you talking about the hose on the radiator?

Yes, the one right at the bottom of the radiator on the passenger side. It was a pig to get anything onto the jubilee clip on mine, you may want to make sure you have a 7mm spanner available, and a ratchet one would be a dream.

Make sure you take the radiator cap off when you drain it.