Will do in the next 2 weeks. Searched the posts, still have questions... Can the radiators be bled with the wheels on the car? ie. Using a lift... I really don't want to play around with the single lugs right now... I saw brian cralls old post abourt using an "Airlift" vacumn system. I see them advertised for $100 or so on the net now... Who uses this? Apparantly it uses a vacumn to fill the system, but may "compress radiator hoses as the vacumn forms." The idea of an old radiator hose hidden somewhere being "compressed" scares the hee-bee-jee-bies out of me. Sounds like a recipe for a leak... Also, would the Airlift get out any debris??? Coolant? Regular prestone?
I'm going to bump this up for you. - I'd like to know about it as well. I've never heard of a vacuum coolant changer. - sounds interesting.
I purchased the AirLift vacuum coolant system tool after reading Brian's description of the tool. Used it on my 348 spider when I changed coolant this past winter. Amazing tool! No bleeding, no mess etc. I recall well the difficulty filling and bleeding my former TR. That said, after Birdman used my AirLift to service his Mondial with 20 year old hoses, and the trouble he encountered, I recommend using on cars with new or very healthy rubber!
20 year old hoses = trouble waiting to strike. It's a good idea to have healthy hoses on your car, probably one of the most important maintenance items there is. Pulling a small vacuum when filling the system shouldn't hurt anything. The large hoses will "suck-in" under vacuum but should pop right back when filled and the vacuum is released. The advantage to doing it this way is that it draws coolant into areas of the cooling system that might be hard to get filled. Some cars have cooling systems with lots of "ups & downs" and you end up with air locks and it can take quite a bit of time to get it full by doing it the usual way.
BPU699, no reason to get too crazy in your early TR coolant change technique. Just remember your basics. No lifts or center bolt wheel removals needed. There are four coolant drain locations (drain plug on the bottom of each radiator, and drain plug on the rear of each head). There are four bleeder locations (one plug at thermostat housing, one bleeder at each radiator return pipe, and the fourth one being more of a "technique," that being turning the ignition on with the heater control on full hot which will allow coolant to flow through the heater and bleed the air out). Use your favorite flush and coolant products, and when satisfied that the flushing is complete with fill, bleed, run, cool, and drain, and repeat a time or two to your satisfaction, then use distilled water for the last fill, bleed and drain (as the drain will never drain all of the house tap water out, so it is nice to have only distilled water left in the system to add your coolant to). As you fill the system with coolant, turn the ignition on with heater control in full hot position and remove the three bleeders. Slowly fill your system as you watch each of the open bleeders. Close each bleeder when you see coolant flow with no air. To do this you may be filling the expansion tank a little higher than normal. Just lower the level back down when the bleeders are closed. Run the engine to operating temperature and shut off. Slightly crack open the bleeder on each radiator return pipe to confirm no air remains and close. With the engine COLD, confirm that the thermostat housing is fully blead (ignition on, heater control full hot position) by adding to expansion tank with housing bleeder plug removed until coolant exits without air. Replace bleeder plug and adjust expansion tank level as needed. Hope this helps. EDoug
I have my Ferrari coolant power flushed every three years or so. A power flush gets out all the crude that just draining and flushing with a water hose won't get. Most auto shops have a power flush machine and will do the job while you wait for less than $100 including fresh coolant...
In a TR? Back in the day a power flush was done with an air fitting that you chucked into a hose type fitting affair that you connected to the system and added water w/ compressed air then flushed, reverse flushed, and final flushed, and yes, it flushed out a lot of crud. I didn't know that was available for the TR outside of a dealer. I'll have to ask around. - Thanks.
A TR is a car with the same type of cooling system as any other car and a power flush system that works on a Honda Accord will also work on a TR...or any other Ferrari for that matter. I have had the cooling systems on my former 328, TR and 348 and current BB512i all power flushed at a small independent auto shop near where I live. They have a machine that you fill with a cleaner and fresh coolant...the machine first forces out the old coolant, then flushes the system with a cleaner and then refills the system with fresh coolant...you get to see the old coolant with all the crap in a catch tank...its well worth the few dollars IMHO...
Where do they hook up the machine? On most domestics its just hooked up to the flow tube to the radiator. On the testrossa the radiators are buried in front of the motor...seem impossible to get to. My friend owns one of these flushing aparatuses (bought it for his muscle cars), and I have access to it. But, where do you splice/attach it??? I haven't really started to look, but there doesn't appear to be any obvious place?
Thats a good question. I would not let anyone who did not already know the answer to power flush my coolant, but I suppose one could show a tech.
