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[Essex_Andy]

On previous cars I have owned all I have done is undo bottom hose on rad and let all run down the drain...flush through a few times then refill with appropiate antifreeze and distilled water.

Is this the way with an Omega?

Also I have been told that pre 2000 model year BLUE antifreeze....2000 onwards RED antifreeze
Is this correct?

Thanks.

[jonathanh]

there is a drain tap on the bottom of the rad - passenger side.  Open it and your done.  Be careful, I've heard that they can break off!

Can't help on the antifreeze type - other than I'm running a late 1999 on blue

[Essex_Andy]

I had one them plastic taps break on me so now I just take the bottom hose off...plus the rubber washer that seals the tap tends to break up....

[nixoro]

I didn't even know there was a change in antifreeze I have always used the Red when I have changed it and thats on a 97P and a 94M and both seem to be ok.

[rpont]

Draining by the tap at the bottom of the radiator only drains about half the coolant, the other half is still in the block.
You can use the red but should rinse the blue out properly if that was in it before. The blue and red mix ok but you still only get the two year life if there is blue in it. With red only the lifespan has been extended to ten years.

[Gwilym]

Red and blue only represent the life span of the coolant. Very easy to undo radiator cap (front nearside) and drain. Flush through with a hose until it runs clear and then fill up.

10 - 15 mins I reckon.

I use red!

[Markie]

its all been said but you dont get it all out unles you leave open and flush ( garden hose but not too much pressure)

[jonny2112]

Any ideas as to how best to clean the inside of the expansion tank? Mine appears marked which confuses me (not difficult I know) into thinking it needs topped up!

[Markie]

Any ideas as to how best to clean the inside of the expansion tank? Mine appears marked which confuses me (not difficult I know) into thinking it needs topped up!

Before topping coolant up, remove the expansion tank ( think its just two coolant hoses and a clip) some engine degreaser or flush or something similar.....i would remove it to get better access  

[Markjay]

Draining the rad alone will get about half the coolant out (total capacity is just short of 10L).

So...

Drain the rad, then fill with water and run until the stat opens. Allow to cool (around 2 hours) and drain the rad again.
Repeat this process a few times, this will gradually dilute the remaining antifreeze and eventually you will have just plain water in the system.
After the last drain add antifreeze concentrate into the expansion tank - you will see that you can get 5L in which means that the mixture will correctly be 50/50.
Run until warm and then top-up the expansion bottle.
That's it...
But even if you use the Red antifreeze, don't leave it for 5 years - repeat annually.

If you want to flush, add the flushing agent after the first cycle so that you can make sure that it will be properly flushed out over the subsequent cycles.

This is a basic coolant change, but if the cooling system is in bad state, then you will need a more involving solution – like taking the stat off, draining the block, and leaving overnight with some heavy duty agent or Caustic Soda etc.