Vauxhall Zafira A (1999 - 2005) - 01 2.0 DTi How to drain radiator / cooling system

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Tue 8 Jan 2008 22:13
01 2.0 DTi How to drain radiator / cooling system - drew1103
I am thinking about draining the radiator and replacing the coolant in my 'Y' reg Vauxhall Zafira 2.0 DTi and also my 'W' reg Pug 206 1.4 petrol.
How do I go about it for both cars and is it easy enough to do at home. I think you take off the top hose and bottom hose and flush through with a domestic hose pipe, is this correct?

Edited by Pugugly {P} on 08/01/2008 at 22:20

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Tue 8 Jan 2008 22:32
01 2.0 DTi How to drain radiator / cooling system - Ruperts Trooper
The Astra-G, on which Zafira-A is based, has a radiator drain valve - coloured red at the bottom right corner of the radiator.

Release the pressure cap on the expansion bottle, open the drain valve - when most of the coolant has drained out, use the garden hose to fill the expansion tank AND run the engine to circulate fresh water all around the system - let all the water completely drain.
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Wed 9 Jan 2008 00:38
01 2.0 DTi How to drain radiator / cooling system - Dynamic Dave
And use a 50/50 mix of coolant / water when you refill.

Find out the quantity your cooling system takes, divide by two (obviously) and then add that amount of neat coolant first into the expansion tank, followed by the water. Reason being, you won't drain the entire contents of the cooling system, and as you've flushed it through, you'll have a certain amount of plain water left in the system.
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