Dino coolant flush

No one has responded, so I will.
There are different ways to do it, but this is what I do.

If you change it frequently there is no reason to try to get every bit out-- that's how you end up with air in the system, which can be a real problem

The "pink tray" is a child's plastic snow sled-- a long, thin thing to catch the coolant. Coolant is poisonous to pets, so make sure none are around.

Griot's Garage is their suction canister device. This makes it less messy, but you can just let the coolant run out.

You can also put the front wheels in the gutter with the rears on the sidewalk or driveway to tilt the car. The key is you want to have the rear higher than the front.


1) have pink tray under radiator area
2) lift rear onto stands at medium height
3) remove drain plug at lower driver’s side of rad (17mm open end wrench)-- some coolant will flow into tray
4) set up Griots Garage suction device and hold big end of suction tubing against opening where plug was in rad
5) have someone remove cap on surge tank--- coolant will come out and most will be sucked up into canister
6) have someone loosen bleed screw at top of rad- more coolant will come out and be sucked up.
7) replace drain plug and tighten
8) close bleed screw
9) fill surge tank almost to top
10) Hold rag around bleed screw so coolant can’t spray out of little hole in screw, loosen bleed screw and listen for when no more air is escaping. Close screw.
11) fill surge tank and open bleed screw-- close again when coolant but no more air is coming out--
11) start car and run until top hose gets hot, open bleed screw and let any air out then close it firmly
12) refill surge tank to 2/3 full
13) lower car to ground, slide out pink tray, suction up coolant in it, rinse it out
14) put car in drive and rinse out coolant where it spilled
15) drive car to dry wet areas
16) check coolant level in surge tank after it has cooled and add if necessary.


Jim Oddie

 

Just out of curiosity, how often are Dino owners changing coolant?

 

Go extended life these days for sure and save the headache for once every 5 yrs.

 

Not often enough the old school green coolant is supposed to be flushed every 3 years, the upgraded long life coolant BMW blue, or Pink is good for 5 years and the newest purple is good for 10 years. Do not mix different types of coolant also be careful of coolants that may not be compatible with iron if you upgrade. The older engines tend to have iron components within them. I upgraded one to BMW blue it seems to work fine. flush it well with chemical flush ( in this case) and then with fresh water, then determine the coolant capacity and put half of that into the system then top up with water, this will even out the mix for any fresh water still on the system from the flush.If you upgrade make sure you write it on the coolant fill tank so that nobody adds the factory recommended coolant to your upgrade. Mixed coolants can coagulate
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Another issue on older cars is heater cores, they get plugged or half plugged with sludge. On an older vehicle when I do a flush I will disconnect the heater system and back flush the heater cores. its pretty easy with a flush machine but a garden hose will work. make sure the heater valves are open and flush it backwards to drive out anything that is caught in the core. Also on a Dino or similar car the heaters are open with a valve on the hose actuated by a cable, make sure the valves are opening properly the cables tend to get seized and loose the adjustment, not much use flushing if the valve is only half open. These valves also will leak its common, don't worry about minor sweating on these, I like the blue coolant because it will plug these kinds of things, it will give off a blue powder residue and the leak will stop.

 

Is that a intended feature of the blue coolant (to dry up and seal small leaks?). Never heard that before but very handy if that’s the case.


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I suppose it was intended I’ve seen it a few times we are talking about very small leaks it does seem to have that property

 

Is the OAT Orange coolant adequate for Dino 246

 

I would steer clear of orange Dexcool. I am living a nightmare with my old truck. I have flushed it with oxalic acid probably 15 times now and my cooling system still plugs up with brown Dexcool sludge. Check YouTube for Dexcool problem. Some people say they don't have problems with it but those that do are screwed. I used to use Mercedes coolant but most Mercedes forums say Zerex G-05 is the same thing and approved by Mercedes. Price is about the same but you can get the Zerex just about anywhere.

 

The OAT coolants are said to have a bad reaction to solder which is used on copper radiators, heater cores and other copper components such as valves. If all copper (solder) has been removed it's ok.
The problem with HOAT (Dexcool) is that its a European car, people will add OAT to it And that is not good. HOAT is a direct replacement for Green, OAT is not.
The HOAT was developed to reduce the electrical charge caused by coolant moving through the system, it was causing noise in computerized systems.
This is why I just use BMW because it is compatible with old BMW's and new BMW's. And it's blue it stands apart from the others unlike pink OAT and orange HOAT. Whatever you do make sure you flush it well until you have clean water coming out with the thermostat open or removed. And clearly mark the coolant fill so that people know what is in there. PS, I'm a mechanic I would rather just use the factory recommended coolant but I have customers (and managers) asking for upgrades so when I do I recommend blue.

 

Thanks. So Pink is not a reference to Orange OAT - much appreciated, I thought the coloring might be close.

After the Dino Rally where nobody had any failures and I was left with 5 gallons of distilled water (from unused emergency carry along) I decided to flush my Jeep Wrangler JK early and then saw MOPAR specified OAT in it. After two years OEM orange OAT looks brand new in the Jeep and I'm fine with that.

I also do not mind changing Dino coolant every two years and using only distilled water as the H2O component in it. It isn't that big of a task yet I seem to always make a mess in the garage anyhow


PS - humorous story from Last years 50th Dino celebration in Italy. A Citroen was passing opposite direction to my FIAT rental car in narrow streets of Monopoli, Italy and our exterior mirrors clashed. Citroen didn't stop and I figured fixing the mirror plate was cheaper than letting the rental car company do it.
I found myself going to the FIAT dealer and buying the MOPAR parts in Italy - LOL

 

Just had my Dino filled with Mercedes blue and distilled water by my mechanic. It’s supposed to be good for at least 5 years, so I don’t think it’s the same as Zerex which I had been using.

 

Zerex is a brand name that makes all types of coolant. BMW and Mercedes blue are both G48 so yes they mix - there are more coolants coming into the market all the time - if you want to know - check the exact OEM coolant and check what you want to upgrade to - research is key there is no set global standard right now and several markets are developing coolants

 

Thanks. I meant to say I had been using Zerex G-05, prior to the switch to Mercedes extended life.

 

G-05 and G-48 are very closely related. G-05 had nitrites. The G-48 replaces the nitrites with an organic acid salt.

 

Zerex is actually a Valvoline line they have a pretty good chart that breaks down coolant types here - still good idea to research OEM though before making a decision
https://www.valvoline.com/our-products/antifreeze-products/antifreeze-education/engine-coolant

 

Mercedes BMW Porsche Saab Mini VW all blue all G-48

http://www.abis-ostrow.com.pl/files/editor/Tabelki/BASF/Glysantin_G48.pdf

 

If I read this correctly, the best coolant for Dinos is the MaxLife product with AlumaGuard?
https://www.valvoline.com/our-products/antifreeze-products/antifreeze-education/engine-coolant

What are you using in your Dino?
Thanks,
Scott

 

Maxlife is a coolant designed to be compatible with anything, it will mix with all types of coolant that is why they recommend it for older cars because if someone puts the OEM coolant in or if it wasnt flushed out properly it will be ok. The problem with that is you are back to the 3 year formula, you might just as well use green. Notice they say it extends the life of your vehicle by keeping the engine at an optimum temperature. Umm doesnt the cooling system itself do that? Plus if you add 2 incompatible coolants to a system because it has Maxlife coolant and you think you can just throw anything in there you are in for a rude awakening.
If you want to upgrade to a 5 year or 10 year coolant you need to do some research and don't mix - otherwise you can just use Green or Prestone or Maxlife.