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[kcl]

I've read the excellent how-to about this but I still have my doubts before taking on the operation. How do I make sure I have 50/50 mixture in the system? Doing as told in how-to gives only a rough idea of the mixture (keeping an eye on the drained water colour). How accurate and exact is the assumption that only half is drained from a V6 at a time? Should I trust that, pour in a flushed system pure coolant 4,5 litres and fill the rest with water? Am I able to put 4,5 litres in at a time?

And, a comment to the how-to: you should NEVER drain the fluid to the ground as seen on the pictures!

[Lazydocker]

And, a comment to the how-to: you should NEVER drain the fluid to the ground as seen on the pictures!

That's an environmental issue... Coolant shouldn't be drained into the water system

[KillerWatt]

How do I make sure I have 50/50 mixture in the system?

It doesn't have to be "spot b0llock" with regards the mix.

I followed the how-to (applying a bit of my own common sense as well), and I ended up going through 11 litres of anti-freeze by the time the job was done.

I did 3 lots of drains & fresh water refills, then it was 2 lots of drains & refills of a 50/50 antifreeze/water mix, followed by a final refill of what was probably a 60/40 mix of antifreeze/water.

I made the final mix that little bit stronger to allow for any water that may still be in the system, as I was only losing around 5 litres of coolant every time the radiator was drained.

The final 1 litre (800ml to be precise) went in the next day, as the fluid level had dropped slightly when I checked the expansion bottle the following morning.
The final 800ml was not diluted down either, it went in neat.

[kcl]

How do I make sure I have 50/50 mixture in the system?

as I was only losing around 5 litres of coolant every time the radiator was drained.

So I would get a decent mix by flushing the system some half a dozen times and then re-filling with 100% coolant? That was my point and, as you wrote, 5 litres will come out at a time, so the I would have around 4 litres fresh water in system after the last drain.

[Richard A]

Pre mix the 50/50 antifreeze.
regards
richarda

[kcl]

But will it not dilute with the water already in the system? And how do we know when to stop the "final flush" with 50/50 mixture? Are you telling me that the 50/50 red mixture will stay separate from the water already in the system and I will clise the drain plug as soon as anything red is coming out?

[Andy B]

Pre mix the 50/50 antifreeze.
regards
richarda

You're not going to end up with a 50:50 mix in the block if you put your coolant in premixed. You will leave around a gallon of coolant in your engine when you open the rad drain tap, so if you've flushed & filled it acouple of time with fresh water, you have effectively got just water in the engine. If you then put a gallon of antifreeze in, you know that when you top it up completely you have 50:560 water/antifreeze  mix.  

[Andy B]

But will it not dilute with the water already in the system? .....

Yes!  

[Agemo]

If you want to know how much anti-freeze is already in your system, you need a hydrometer, they are available as virtually "disposable" ones for a couple of Pounds in the UK. I am sure they are on sale in Finland too. Good luck.

[kcl]

If you want to know how much anti-freeze is already in your system, you need a hydrometer, they are available as virtually "disposable" ones for a couple of Pounds in the UK. I am sure they are on sale in Finland too. Good luck.

Yes, I'm aware of that but the main idea here was that how much water will be left in the system after flushing and would filling with 100% coolant give the correct mixture. Reading the posts above indicate yes; one gallon of water left in the system, filling with one gallon of coolant and topping up with 50/50 mix would give the correct result.

[Andy B]

If you want to know how much anti-freeze is already in your system, you need a hydrometer, they are available as virtually "disposable" ones for a couple of Pounds in the UK. I am sure they are on sale in Finland too. Good luck.

Spurious results with a hydrometer & red coolant/antifreeze.  

[Abiton]

And, a comment to the how-to: you should NEVER drain the fluid to the ground as seen on the pictures!

That's an environmental issue... Coolant shouldn't be drained into the water system

So what should one do with it?

I spent a few minutes trying to find out before I did a flush/change, and it wasn't at all obvious where I was supposed to put it.  Best I could find was to flush it down the bog.

Anyone got any definitve info, or does it vary from council to council?
 :-/

[lou]

just to add to this, I used "distilled water" for flushing and final mix. it only cost a few pounds for a gallon and ensures there are no impurities in the water that can affect the system.

[Proz]

When i did mine i flushed it through with a hose leaving the rad drain open for a while ........ topped up with water then ran till warm a few times draining another 3 or 4 times so i was sure it was nearly just pure water left .  Then i poured the red stuff in and ran till warm .
I thought that there would be 4-5 ltr of more or less clean water in so hence i poured the neat stuff in giving me approx 50/50  

[kcl]

Ok guys and gals, now I can also say "been there, done that". Drained and flushed four times, in between letting it warm up with heaters full on, until outcoming water was clear. Poured in about 4,3 litres of coolant, ran it warm and now letting it cool down, will check the level once more after next drive.

Big thanks to you all for your comments and esp. for the excellent how-to!