Lotus Elan and Lotus Elan Plus 2 Forums

Dear Collective

Who'd have thought draining, flushing & refilling would be so difficult ? Having now obtained some sealant & thermostat gaskets I applied them and so to refill the system - add the flushing agent - run the engine - drain it all down again - hose flush it again - coolant refill - job's a good'un.

Immediately hit problem with 1st refilling. The Manual says a capacity of 7.9Litres. Car is Sprint with original small rad albeit with a 3-core.

I filled it up to 4 litres, squeezing hoses as I went.......Could I get any more in ? Could I b****x. Front of car jacked up RHS by over half a foot - still no luck.

So I am assuming a huge air lock between heater & block.

BUT

out of curiosity, I re-measured what I had drained. It came to about 4 litres.......

SO

1) Are the capacities different to the manual ?
2) If not, where is the water that should have drained out trapped ? I can understand an air lock - but when I flushed with a hose water was running freely - and clear - from the outlets.

Flushing was undertaken by a hose through top rad connection; revers flush thru bottom rad connection; bottom heater connection through block; top heater connection through heater hose from thermostat housing; also through thermostat housing back through block.

All comments gratefully received.

Rgds
Richard

Any benefit to removing the water jacket plugs on the block when flushing out the cooling system?
Phil

This is what I use to refill cooling systems : http://www.amazon.com/UView-550000-Airl ... B0002SRH5G

Eliminates airlocks.

I have done the same yesterday and measured 4 litres out and 4 litres in. Does the water trapped in the block really add up to 3.9 litres making 7.9 in total ?

My block was flushed with a power washer at the beginning of the year when I rebuilt the engine , also my rad was new , however what came out when flushing looked rusty coloured , I refilled and flushed twice before adding a 50/50 mix of blue antifreeze and water , but taking a sample from the rad cap it still looks murky ?

So do I need to remove the brass block plug and do it again ?

Steve

Holy thread resurrection!

I recall speaking to Miles about this a little while later. His relaxed comment was ?oh, you?ll never get it all out? so I chilled a bit. So long as it was clean, I was happy.

Regards
Richard

Can't really comment on capacity but on the murky water I can. Like you I had engine out and water plugs removed, good wash of lots of dirt and rust out of block. Less than a year and few hundred miles and the coolant is murky again.

I plan another flush in near future. Plan to remove block plug to drain, re fit and back wash engine from thermostat housing. Then wash radiator and heater in normal direction.