Ok so maybe I'm a fool but I don't know how to flush and clean my system and put in new coolant. Up here in Maine we finally had a nice day today (80 degrees) and I was out driviing city roads for about an hour and all of a sudden my engine was over heating BAD! All the way up to the H so I quickly pulled over and checked everything. About 5 minutes after having the car off I noticed that I had a lot of coolant leaking, whats that all about? The reserve seemed to be pretty full once I opened it. 45 mins later I drove home and it was just about the half way mark. I'm just really worried something is really messed up. Any experience with this? Also what coolant do y'all use? I want to make sure I use the best and can learn to flush it when needed. Thanks in advance!

 

Sounds like your thermostat did not open or your fan is malfunctioning. I would replace the thermostat regardless if it was the culprit and then check to see if your fan is working properly by letting the car idle until normal operating temperature is achieved. The coolant drain is on the drivers side bottom of the radiator.

 

I just drained and refilled my coolant last weekend (no flush). I got about 2 gallons of the original blue coolant out. Refilled with a 50/50 mix of Zerex G-05 and distilled water. The only place I could find G-05 around here was at Napa. Make sure you squeeze all the hoses to burp the system while refilling.

 

My issue is the draining. How exactly do you drain it? Did you say the drain was on the driver's side? Is it underneath the car?

 

Is the bottom of the radiator underneath the car?
Hmmmm, I 'll get back to you.

 

haha I mean like is it something I have to lift the car for? Or is it reachable from opening the hood when draining? I guess I just don't know how to drain it.

 

You will have to get under the car to drain it. I had to jack the front of the car high enough to get access. You can put a floor jack under the plastic pads just behind the front tires and hoist there.

I'd let the engine cool down before doing this so you don't get burned by hot coolant. Crawl under the front and look up at the bottom of the radiator on the driver's side. You will see an access hole in the steel frame with a red plastic circle inside. That circle is the valve to open and close the drain. Use a flat blade screwdriver to open it counterclockwise. Have a pan ready, because the coolant will immediately begin to drain out the back side of the radiator just above this red valve. Let the coolant drain for at least 30 minutes, and you should get a little over 2 gallons out, so make sure you have a big pan, or several small ones.

When done, close the red valve clockwise and fill the coolant reserve tank with new coolant. You can either buy some that is pre-mixed 50/50, or buy the concentrate and mix it 50/50 with distilled water. While filling, squeeze the various coolant hoses to help release air bubbles that may be trapped in the system.

 

Wow, thank you for the detailed instructions, I really appreciate it.

I did get the car home and it seems to be ok but I'm worried something in the fan may be malfunctioning.

 

Changed my coolant yesterday, using Rhino ramps to gain access under the car to drain the radiator. All went well. It seemed like pure antifreeze is what I drained out. Dark blue. I then filled with distilled water and ran that to rinse and got more blue mixture out. I found I had to turn the heater on hot to be sure the heater coils got rinsed out also. New orange/yellow MB coolant installed now.