Proper way to change coolant in a G?

My car has green coolant in it. I would like to put the OEM blue into the car.

 

Has anyone changed their coolant by themselves?

 

I have some questions:

 

1. What is the proper procedure for changing the fluid to ensure close to 100% change? I want to make sure that I get as much of the 21 litres of green stuff out. What is the trick to doing this?

 

2. There are 2 drain plugs underneath the car. Ok. but the car holds 21 litres between the engine and the front radiators. I bet that opening up only these 2 drainplugs will not drain half of the coolant volume, as it is stuck in the engine passages and radiators. How do you remove more fluid?

 

3. Is there a procedure to "flush" out the old coolant? Do I drain (partial), then refill with water, run car, drain more, repeat, etc? Or is there a way to purge it all the first time?

 

How much water will be left stuck inside the cooling system after purging? I plan to add the 16litres of straight coolant first, and then top up with distilled, to account for the volume of water still stuck inside the car. This water will of course be tap water if that is what is being used to "flush out" the old coolant. Hopefully it is not much water...

 

I would like to remove as much as possible the first time, since I want to use distilled water for the 70/30% mix of the new stuff. I do not want to have to flush with distilled.

 

4. Then how do you refill? The service manual states to fill via the "reservoir tank plug". Are they referring to the little overflow reservoir and screw-on cap that you check the fluid level in? Seems like that would take forever to fill with 21 litres. And you would get lock of air locks, as 21 litres of air comes rushing back via this little opening. Is this correct procedure?

 

If you do have to use this little hole to fill, do you do it like with other cars where you run the car to temperature and keep adding coolant as the level drops and air is burped out?

 

Hey Lambo Techs: Surely there must be an easier way. Are there other plug or ports that they do not mention?

 

 

 

My car has green coolant in it. I would like to put the OEM blue into the car.

 

Has anyone changed their coolant by themselves?

 

I have some questions:

 

1. What is the proper procedure for changing the fluid to ensure close to 100% change? I want to make sure that I get as much of the 21 litres of green stuff out. What is the trick to doing this?

 

2. There are 2 drain plugs underneath the car. Ok. but the car holds 21 litres between the engine and the front radiators. I bet that opening up only these 2 drainplugs will not drain half of the coolant volume, as it is stuck in the engine passages and radiators. How do you remove more fluid?

 

3. Is there a procedure to "flush" out the old coolant? Do I drain (partial), then refill with water, run car, drain more, repeat, etc? Or is there a way to purge it all the first time?

 

How much water will be left stuck inside the cooling system after purging? I plan to add the 16litres of straight coolant first, and then top up with distilled, to account for the volume of water still stuck inside the car. This water will of course be tap water if that is what is being used to "flush out" the old coolant. Hopefully it is not much water...

 

I would like to remove as much as possible the first time, since I want to use distilled water for the 70/30% mix of the new stuff. I do not want to have to flush with distilled.

 

4. Then how do you refill? The service manual states to fill via the "reservoir tank plug". Are they referring to the little overflow reservoir and screw-on cap that you check the fluid level in? Seems like that would take forever to fill with 21 litres. And you would get lock of air locks, as 21 litres of air comes rushing back via this little opening. Is this correct procedure?

 

If you do have to use this little hole to fill, do you do it like with other cars where you run the car to temperature and keep adding coolant as the level drops and air is burped out?

 

Hey Lambo Techs: Surely there must be an easier way. Are there other plug or ports that they do not mention?

 

Wow where to start......................

 

The drain plugs in the pipes in the middle of the car in front of the engine bottom is the correct place to drain when you drain have the cap off. After all has drained you can start the engine for just a moment for 10-15 sec. only as ther is no coolent but this will pump some of the coolant out of the engine. If you want to flush this is up to you myself I would not as more water is worse then the slight mix in the two coolants. Who knows how much will stay trapped, when we tear down a engine there is always coolant trapped in the engine maybe 1/2 to 3/4 of a gal. You can also use a cooling system pressure tester to pump air thru system and out the drain plugs to try to remove as much as poss but there will always be some also some my be in heater core.

 

When you add the new coolant I would pre mix it before you add. this way you make sure you have the right mix. Just in case it hold more or less then the book says. Why 70/30 mix are you in a very cold area. Best mix to keep the engine cool is a 50/50 mix unless you need the extra freeze protection 50/50 mix is good to -36 deg F.

 

To fill yes thru the reservoir but it is best to remove the trunk linner in the upper radiator tubes are more plugs like the drain ones. Remove them or loosen them fill the cooling system as it fills it will push some air out in front when coolant starts to come out the ports in the front tightn them back down. At this point I would fill the reservoir and use cooling system pressure tester fill the system with 15 psi and go loosen the plugs in the front starting with the left one and bleed the air pressure off. Then top off the reservoir and pump it back up to 15 psi. do this untill clean nice coolant and no air comes out at the plug. Then do the same for the right side. Each time I bleed the air off I will then top off the reservoir it takes a little bit of time.

 

After no more air and just clean coolent come out then I pressure test the system at max pressure it is on the cap about 21 psi check for any leaks at the drain and bleed plugs or any hoses.

 

If all good then start the engine turn the defroster on and set the temps to HI blower speed max. At this point reservoir lid is still off as the engine warms up keep a eye on the temp make sure not jumping around (air bubbles). If the level drops top it off. Before it gets to hot you want to put the cap back on the cooling system as with out any pressure it can come out the top of the reservoir. Let it get up to normal temp and the fans turn on run the engine at 2500 RPM make sure the heater to blasting hot air out this will help make sure no air trapped in heater core.

 

After the engine has cooled down check the level in the resevoir top off if ness.. Test drive the car atleast 5-10 miles best to let it set over night then check the coolant level agian. Sometimes even after all that the level would drop over night. I would always try to keep a Gallardo over night if we had to do something where we did a full drain on the cooling system for that reason.

Why 70/30 mix are you in a very cold area. Best mix to keep the engine cool is a 50/50 mix unless you need the extra freeze protection 50/50 mix is good to -36 deg F.

 

He might mean 70% water, 30% anti-freeze.

 

And I agree with what Jeff says...Just drain as much as you can...Don't worry about a little bit of the green left in there. And mix a couple gallons at your 70/30 mix and refill.

 

Again, as Jeff says...Keep an eye at you level for the next few days/drives.

the color is just a dye, not going to mess up the mixture. pink, green, orange, what ever, doesn't matter

 

for flush, the technique jefflambo mentioned certainly works. use distill water to make the mixture. i think 50-50 or 40-60 is good if you are in hot weather places. otherwise, I'd keep definitely 50-50.

 

 

 

Gentlemen, thanks for the info. Especially for the detailed info JeffLambo!

 

I did mean 70% G11 to 30% water. But as you say, maybe 60/40water is fine. We are in Canada, and it can get cold in some places, but usually not where we live. Only down to maybe -18C or 0F.

 

Having a higher % antifreeze does give you a higher boiling point, up to 70% AF to 30% water, so I was thinking about summer heat more than winter cold.

 

JeffLambo, thanks for the tip about the front radiator bleed points. Are these bleed screws the ones in the photo? Do you just unscrew them counterclockwise to open? These actually look like bolts for attaching the tiny metal nipple for the small rubber tube, rather than a bleed screw. You can also see the white align mark on them, which suggests to me that they should not be opened...

 

All the rest of the info makes sense.

 

I am going to try to flush out as much old coolant as possible, since I am told the G11 will not mix with the green stuff, and that as much as possible of the green stuff should be removed. Like Turbo50Mike said, a bit left should not hurt anything.

 

 

Gentlemen, thanks for the info. Especially for the detailed info JeffLambo!

 

I did mean 70% G11 to 30% water. But as you say, maybe 60/40water is fine. We are in Canada, and it can get cold in some places, but usually not where we live. Only down to maybe -18C or 0F.

 

Having a higher % antifreeze does give you a higher boiling point, up to 70% AF to 30% water, so I was thinking about summer heat more than winter cold.

 

JeffLambo, thanks for the tip about the front radiator bleed points. Are these bleed screws the ones in the photo? Do you just unscrew them counterclockwise to open? These actually look like bolts for attaching the tiny metal nipple for the small rubber tube, rather than a bleed screw. You can also see the white align mark on them, which suggests to me that they should not be opened...

 

All the rest of the info makes sense.

 

I am going to try to flush out as much old coolant as possible, since I am told the G11 will not mix with the green stuff, and that as much as possible of the green stuff should be removed. Like Turbo50Mike said, a bit left should not hurt anything.

 

Yes thos are Banjo bolts and that is where we bleed the air off when you fill and with the pressure test I could not recall if it was banjo bolts or if it had plugs. The white paint mark is from assembly to show they torq it for QC check.

 

A 50/50 mix or lower is the best for heat. The coolant cannot absorb or dissipate heat as good as water does. So if you go over the 50/50 mix you lower the cars ability to get rid of the heat. Boil with a 50/50 mix and 21 psi is above redline temp so incresing that dose not help but the mix can not absorb the heat (going thru the engine) or dissipate (going thru the radiators) as well. The truth is straight water is the best at being able to do that but then you have corrosion and freeze issues with pure water.

Coolant change is done.

 

Note of caution: About 8L of clean water remains trapped in the ginormous cooling system. In my case very soft water, which is perfectly fine. If you are in a hard water area, forget doing this task yourself unless you have a vacuum bleeder.

 

So for any of you wanting to change the coolant yourselves, top up with the correct amount of straight coolant first. Then top up with soft or distilled water. This is very important. Also, there will be lots of air trapped, so run through a few hot/cold cycles and top up as necessary.

 

Also remember to remove both banjo bolts shown above on the front rads and put a piece of cardboard behind them so that coolant does not splash on the electrical connectors. It will take a VERY long time to run 100% clean water out of the system. This requires few starts of the engine and bringing the water up to temperature so that thermostat opens.

 

Just to clear up the ongoing question: G11 gives the best performance at a 70% coolant/30% water mix.

 

Best protection in heat and cold.

 

It gives you the coldest protection, as well as highest boilover protection of any other mix ratio.

This info is supplied by the blue G11 coolant manufacturer. It is also written right on the side of the coolant jug.

 

Not sure if this is the same thing that you (Jefflambo) are referring to, or are you saying the opposite?

Just to clear up the ongoing question: G11 gives the best performance at a 70% coolant/30% water mix.

 

Best protection in heat and cold.

 

It gives you the coldest protection, as well as highest boilover protection of any other mix ratio.

This info is supplied by the blue G11 coolant manufacturer. It is also written right on the side of the coolant jug.

 

Not sure if this is the same thing that you (Jefflambo) are referring to, or are you saying the opposite?

 

The 70% coolant to 30% water looks good on paper, but anti-freeze has 4 times less heat transfer than water...I.e. If you ran straight coolant in your car, sure the boiling point might be 330 deg F, but you car is going to overheat in less than 5 miles.

 

You should use the least amount of anti-freeze necessary to keep the system from freezing over in cold weather. i.e. If the coldest your area gets is -5 deg F in the winter, then set your ratio to something that will handle that - No need to have protection to -40 deg F if you don't need it.

 

On top of that, even with a slight amount of anti-freeze in water, it won't turn into a 'block of ice' if it falls below the protection temp; it turns into a 'slushy' of sorts.

 

A 50/50 mix is generally safe for all areas, and less AF could be used in 80% of the USA.

Ok, now that makes sense! Thanks for the clarification. 50/50 is what I am taking it to!