I recently performed a coolant change.
All references state that a 1997 2.8 (M52B28) holds 10 1/2 Litres.
I removed the radiator plug which drained a little over 3 litres, then I removed the engine drain bolt which drained approx 2 litres, i also had the thermostat housing off and replaced the gaskets (it was leaking) and the rad hoses....all in all a little over 5 litres was drained.
I ran the engine briefly with both plugs removed in an effort to remove the remaining 5 litres of existing coolant, I squeezed hoses, and I even gave the expansion tank a blow job!
is this normal? where on earth could the other 5 litres be hiding?
Im baffled
A member of my family is a mechanic (40 years plus of experience) and was present when I did all this work, he's adamant it cannot possibly hold 10 1/2 litres and does not believe 5 litres is hiding somewhere.
Antifreeze Capacity? where's it hiding?
Antifreeze Capacity? where's it hiding?
Designed or not designed, that is the question.
Re: Antifreeze Capacity? where's it hiding?
I agree the original BMW owners manual states 10.5 litres (including the heater circuit) which does seem a big increase, proportionately on the 1.9 (6.5 litres) given that the engine oil capacity is 5 litres (1.9) and 6.5 litres (2.8).
- leahandsteve
- Joined: Sat 29 Sep, 2007 20:02
- Posts: 122
- Location: Stokenchurch (J5 M40)
Re: Antifreeze Capacity? where's it hiding?
TYpe in last 7 digits of your vin into this:
http://www.bmw-z1.com/VIN/VINdecode-e.cgi
will tell you all you need to know.
http://www.bmw-z1.com/VIN/VINdecode-e.cgi
will tell you all you need to know.
Re: Antifreeze Capacity? where's it hiding?
leahandsteve wrote:TYpe in last 7 digits of your vin into this:
http://www.bmw-z1.com/VIN/VINdecode-e.cgi
will tell you all you need to know.
thanks for reply....
that confirms its 10 litres so I'm still baffled.
Designed or not designed, that is the question.
Re: Antifreeze Capacity? where's it hiding?
Just replaced the water pump, thermostat and radiator on my 2.8 and the shop I bought anti-freeze from told me 10 litres capacity 50/50 mix (5 litres anti freeze plus 5 litres de-ionised water).. however I only managed to get the 5 litres of anti freeze and just 2.5 litres of the water in so I'm guessing that some of the water had remained trapped in the block and/or in the heater matrix..
1999 facelit Z3 Roadster 2.8 Auto in Cosmos Black aka 'Gloria'
Re: Antifreeze Capacity? where's it hiding?
I can remember a similar situation about 5 years ago when I changed the thermostat and coolant. I'm just about to change the coolant again ( when the rain stops!) but my plan is to disconnect the top and bottom hoses and flush through with the garden hose for a while from the top. Have a missed any potential problems if I do this??
- Southernboy
- Joined: Thu 07 Oct, 2010 12:39
- Posts: 6437
- Location: Johannesburg
Re: Antifreeze Capacity? where's it hiding?
There's a quantity of water in the heater matrix, plus there's an amount in the engine block. When you drain the radiator, it largely only drains out coolant from the radiator and the cylinder head... so you have a residual amount still in the system.
In the "old days" there used to be a "tap" fitted to the side of the engine block from which one could drain the block too.
Using a garden hose to flush out the system is OK, but bear in mind you will be leaving a couple of liters of tap water in the system. If you want to get it out, you will need to pump distilled water through in sufficient quantity to flush the system and then drain the system as per the bottom of the radiator, measure the amount in liters collected, and calculate the amount of coolant you will need to mix into that drained amount to compensate for the "clean" water still in the engine / heater matrix etc so you achieve the correct mixture specified.
ie. If your system specification is 10 liters, and you have 8 litres of clean water drained into the container, there will be 2 liters still in the engine - so, the mixture you will need to make with the 8 liters will need to be greater than 50 / 50.
In the "old days" there used to be a "tap" fitted to the side of the engine block from which one could drain the block too.
Using a garden hose to flush out the system is OK, but bear in mind you will be leaving a couple of liters of tap water in the system. If you want to get it out, you will need to pump distilled water through in sufficient quantity to flush the system and then drain the system as per the bottom of the radiator, measure the amount in liters collected, and calculate the amount of coolant you will need to mix into that drained amount to compensate for the "clean" water still in the engine / heater matrix etc so you achieve the correct mixture specified.
ie. If your system specification is 10 liters, and you have 8 litres of clean water drained into the container, there will be 2 liters still in the engine - so, the mixture you will need to make with the 8 liters will need to be greater than 50 / 50.
Re: Antifreeze Capacity? where's it hiding?
Ive always been told to "back flush" a rad...Zedbedee wrote:I can remember a similar situation about 5 years ago when I changed the thermostat and coolant. I'm just about to change the coolant again ( when the rain stops!) but my plan is to disconnect the top and bottom hoses and flush through with the garden hose for a while from the top. Have a missed any potential problems if I do this??
as water returns from the block via the top hose to the rad and is fed back cooler to the block via the bottom hose......
so in this particular case i would remove the rad, turn it upside down and put the garden hose in the bottom hose which now becomes the top because its upside down.
Good point, I did three flushes with de-ionized/distilled water prior to adding antifreeze in an effort to dilute the existing contents right down to distilled water onlySouthernboy wrote:and calculate the amount of coolant you will need to mix into that drained amount to compensate for the "clean" water still in the engine / heater matrix etc so you achieve the correct mixture specified.
(I'm not putting tap water into it, the water here has the ability to grows skeletons in my kettle ), each time driving around a while between flushes/fills, then I measured what was drained and mixed accordingly.
A coolant tester from HalFrauds helped with this
I still think 5 litres is a lot to be hiding somewhere, it must be one huge heater matrix!
Designed or not designed, that is the question.
Re: Antifreeze Capacity? where's it hiding?
I will probably remove the rad and back flush as it's relatively easy to do. I have 5 litres of long life antifreeze so as long as I can flush as much of the old coolant out as possible and can get the 5 litres in and topped up with water it will have a 50/50 solution. I really don't see the point of using anything other than tap water, which I have used for years with no problems. OK so your kettle may get a layer of limescale inside but that is the accumulation of dozens of kettles being boiled. We clean our kettle with white vinegar regularly and it takes many fillings to show any sign of limescale after cleaning.
Re: Antifreeze Capacity? where's it hiding?
I've always stuck with the blue stuff as specified for fear of the green or red antifreeze munching through seals etc, is this non-sense?Zedbedee wrote:I have 5 litres of long life antifreeze
I'd like to put the red type in as it lasts longer.
Designed or not designed, that is the question.