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Draining
and refilling the RV8 coolant system
Following a query raised on
the V8 Bulletin Board, Peter Garton sets out the procedure he uses to drain and
refill the coolant system on his RV8.. (Apr 12)
It must be emphasize right from the start that refilling the coolant in
a 3.9 litre V8 engine with an RV8 is a job that can take several days. The reason
for this is the series of air locks encountered by the amateur. The airlocks result
in no heating or a loss of water level visible in the expansion tank! Patience
and still more patience is required here. Thus we can commence by draining off
the coolant. It is vital to remember the following steps:
1.
Position the heater control to to the "hot" setting but note this
alone can cause trouble if the heater valve cable connection is slipping resulting
in the cable not levering the operating valve over to the hot position!!! Therefore
it is wise to check that nothing is loose and the valve is really turning from
left to right. This valve is located at the rear of the engine and is difficult
to access easily.
2. Remove the filler plug located on the lefthand
side of the engine - originally plastic or it may have been replaced by the better
brass plug. The plastic ones are a problem and can easily be damaged thus the
replacement by a brass one. Remove too the expansion tank cap!!
3.
Slacken the clip of the bottom hose located at the bottom of the radiator
and disconnect the hose. Assuming there is no reason to suspect the radiator is
blocked or there are other problems, one can now start the reverse process and
refill the cooling system. | 4.
Reconnect the bottom hose.
5. Fill
SLOWLY, via the filler pipe,
and watch the coolant level in the expansion tank.
6. It can happen that the filler pipe starts to overflow prior to the
coolant reaching the marking level on the expansion tank.
4. One now
squeezes and releases the top hose and one can see the expansion level going
up and down and there is usually a sound of gurgling and bubbling. Maybe the filler
plug will also overflow and so replacing the cap temporarily eliminates this.
Continue squeezing and then refill a bit more until no more air bubbling seem
to be in the top hose area.
5. Refit the expansion tank cap and fill
until no more water will go in without overflowing.
6. DO NOT FILL
VIA THE EXPANSION TANK, EVER!!
7. Start the engine and wait until
the fans start to turn.
8. Wait to cool and recheck the levels.
The level in the expansion tank will go up and down depending on whether the engine
is hot or cold!!
9. Check the water level via the filler plug again
and squeeze the hose several times when the engine has cooled down. This procedure
can take several attempts.
10. Now is the time to check that the heater
is actually working, which it should be, since the heater valve is still open. |
