I posted some time ago as I could not find out where to fill the cooling system from empty. I still can't! The car manual states it should never be refilled using the top-up reservoir - take it to a dealer. So where would a dealer fill it from? All I want to do is to flush the system and fill with a new 50/50 mix of AF & water - I thought it would be simple! Any help appreciated. GTS
I'll give you a guess....exactly where the manual tells you not to.
yes, just make sure you bleed it all fully :-)
There is a cap on the top of the engine. Mix around 50/50 water and antifreeze, then tip approx 4litres in to the top of the engine. Run it at idel for 5 mins then rev it to 2000rpm for a further 5mins and away you go. The handbook is wrong.
Just make sure it isn't the oil filler cap.
Thanks Conor & Neil. Now you know what the next question is...how do I bleed it properly? There does not appear to be a bleed screw anywhere. Searching google I could only find advice to squeeze the top and bottom rad pipes. GTS
OK so it is filled through the top-up reservoir. Next prob is how best to bleed it after? Googling uncovered lots of problems with air-locks on Rover cars...
I've always thought the best thing to do in these situations (Pug 205's are the same wrt bleeding) is to create a header tank using a piece of pipe and an old bottle and keep the fluid level above the highest point of the engine and keep it topped up until it is all bubble free and not pulling any more coolant in. Make sure it is a good fit on the reservoir opening or it will all end up on the ground.
Chris
Quickest "dirty" way is to find the hose connector that's at the highest point, disconnect it and slowly keep filling the system until water flows out of it then reconnect it. Squeeze the hoses as advised at first to get rid of most of it.
Not sure if it applies to your car but on most, you'll need to have the heater control set to hot otherwise you get airlocks from the heater matrix.
Run the engine until warm with the radiator cap off, sometimes it helps to have the car on an incline as you try to get the air out, but each car is different. Sometimes you can help it by having previously loosened a hose enough to be able to ease it off - enough to get the air out, but still tight enough to hold the water.
Heater matrix can sometimes be a problem, check both in and out hoses get hot with the fan on. If not you might try the trick of loosening the upper of the two hoses enough to let any trapped air out.
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