Coolant Change - What do you normally do ?

[darkage]

Mitsu dealership told me they only sell 5L of Premium blue coolant. theres no more cheaper concentrate being sold ?

@ $120 ex-gst for premium pre-mix 5L, it would need 2 bottles for 7.4Litre capacity of my car. (4b12 - Outlander, should be same as lancer)
Expensive for a proper coolant replacement which would be $240 ex-gst.


Is it possible to get close to every single drop out of the cooling system ? (ie. via compressed air from radiator top as per workshop manual, cylinder block drainage plugs might be a pain. probably need to be careful not to blow seals)


I was thinking of flushing my system just with distilled water, since I do not know the history of my coolant. (2nd hand car) Im assuming its already got genuine coolant (faint blue look) but you really never know.

Nulon has blue coolant as well, certainly more cheaper but my current coolant system rocks since my fluid deterioration counter is @ 22 after 87,000km and temps seem solid. never seen the CVT temp above 79 to 82 degrees. so probably should stick with OEM even though it costs a arm and a leg if you buy 10L

How much (in litres) do ppl normally drain out of their cooling system without further action ? Im guessing its what ever capacity the radiator is, and a very small amount from the block.

Im just thinking how to get out as much as possible to avoid further dilluting new coolant, when I want to flush the system with distilled water. I could hope for the best and assume I have existing genuine coolant but would still have the same issue of how to remove 100% of the old stuff.


What do ppl normally do when replacing coolant ?

[darkage]

I suspect since its 8 year life coolant thats why its mostly expensive..

Nulon seems easy to get and is blue, but premix is 8 year and concentrate is 5 year.. weird.

http://www.supercheapauto.com.au/Produc ... ANT/523187

workshop manual just mentions the following -

*similar high quality ethylene glycol based non-silicate, non-amine, non-nitrate and non-borate coolant with long life hybrid organic acid technology.

haha Nulon is cheap, wonder if still high quality.. I might research a little before changing coolant.

I guess $260 odd for 10 Litres of Genuine coolant might be okay if its replacement interval is every 8 years. There are 3rd party products, but you never know if they are up to the job. So far impressed with how low my temps are for engine & CVT trans.

hmmm

[Lancer1993]

What do I do? ask the dealer if its due or now and let them take care of it.

I like doing this kind of work but not on a relatively new car which has a warranty clause where they do the services for the next 3 years.

[burfadel]

The difference in the logevity of those blue coolants is probably the age. They have improved a lot in recent years, the concentrate is probably old stock if people are opting more for the user friendliness of premix.

There are two that are under the Nulon Lube guide recommendations, the 8 year/500,000 km fluid or the 10 year/1,000,000 km fluid (Nulon ONE).

[yatza]

go buy some coolant test strips (repco/supercheap should have them in stock) and see what its actually like. if its fine i wouldnt replace it.

[Lancer1993]

Test Strips?

[yatza]

this is how they work (couldn't find a video that wasn't an advertisement) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6zNVlm3PNC0
just gotta make sure you use the correct kind of strips (organic and non-organic)