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How drain coolant from 1.9 120 Vectra c ? Only 2 litres came out from radiator

2K views 16 replies 6 participants last post by  Vs30elite 
#1 ·
Hi
In the process of replacing the coolant in my Vauxhall Vectra C 1.9 cdti 120 bhp.

I undid the radiator plug which was extremely tight taking it out had to pull it out with pliers and it snapped the thing to undo it with and having troubling getting it back in .

So I took the rad plug our and only about 2 litres of water came out of the radiator. The car was full of water at the maximum level in the reservoir so I know that the car wasn't low on coolant.

Is there other parts I need To take off to drain more coolant ?

Thanks
 
#7 ·
I didn't see any coolant pipes direct to the radiator, only air pipes. I undid other coolant pipes nothing came out.
I forced the plug back in and tried with tap water how many litres water take to fill up and it was about 3 litres.
Before I put the actual antifreeze in I want to be sure it hasn't got old water in it.

Do you know the coolant capacity for these Vectra 1.9 120 bhp ?
 
#10 ·
Ok Dave.
Do you know what capacity it takes that's all I need to know.
I refilled with tap water before putting coolant in and it took 3 litres.
I'm assuming there is still tap water in it somewhere ?

Edit : just seen from post above, about 7litres
 
#9 ·
I don't where you're looking (condenser perhaps ?) but all the pipes going to the rad are coolant pipes.
I always do some research before working on something i know nowt about,perhaps Dave is right.
btw the coolant system holds about 7 litres.
 
#11 ·
Don't assume you can drain 7 litres out though some will always stay in the engine and heater matrix. Fill it and drain it a few times with fresh water then on the last time fill it with pure antifreeze. 3 litres is nearly a 50 50 mix and it will quickly mix in eith the water anyway.
 
#13 ·
Thanks
I understand a minority of the water will remain in the system but if the coolant capacity is 7 litres I expected to get out at least 5.5 to 6 litres minimum. When I drained the system and put the plug back in it took about 3 litres of tap water to fill the system to maximum in the coolant reservoir.

I have undone several hoses to see if anything came out such as the hose that the front coolant pipe goes into and the hose on the thermostat but no water came out of those.
I read online somebody with the same engine had said to someone they had to remove the thermostat to drain it properly, I hope not because it's quite a bit of messing about and it might not make a difference anyway.

I have put several litres of water in the header tank and let it drain out through the radiator, will this have gone through all the system and flushed it all out ? It was clear water afterwards .

I did assume that by undoing the radiator plug that basically all coolant besides the bit in the heater matrix etc would drain out but as I say only about 2 or 3 litres came out, I don't see any other coolant hoses on the radiator so I think as it only took 3 litres to fill there must be another 4 litres or so of tap water in the system ?

I want to get that out before adding the actual coolant
 
#12 ·
I remember seeing a video where the guy put his hose pipe in the coolant reservior with the engine running until clear water came out, then started putting the coolant in, once he'd put roughly the correct amount of coolant in he put the drain plug back in and topped it up to the correct level.
Not sure how much of a good idea it is but it seemed to work as the running engine pumped the water round the system!
 
#14 ·
That's not a bad idea.

I have a jet washer here but the parts are in the shed all separated I'm leaving sorting that out for another day .
I would have considered doing this at a gas station using their pressure washers bit the radiator plug is damaged the thing that you grip on it at the end snapped off the plug was extremely tight taking it out the radiator. I had to hit the plug back in to get it into the radiator and I have obtained a replacement radiator plug from the scrap yard for when I drain out this Tap water and refill with actual coolant . To do that I need to figure of how to be able to drain at least another 3 litres of tap water out as the capacity is apparently 7 litres but only getting about 3 litres out atm .

Cheers
 
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